Tom with Linnhe on the ferry to Manly Beach.
This was our first day in Sydney(Mar. 1), after arriving at
8am! Trying to stay awake in the fresh air, wind, sun and
sand! and the company of good friends. (some of the dates
on the photos are wrong, as our camera was still on USA time, now we have changed it.)
Tom with Carrie, Daniel and Linnhe digging a hole in the sand.
Tom and Linnhe discuss the digging process, while Daniel gets down to business from inside the hole.
Daniel in the hole awaiting the crashing waves.
Tom supervising, will the big wave fill Daniel's hole.
On the way back to catch the ferry, Linnhe gets a lift. notice the "ear" steering!
Labels: Back in Sydney
Sydney Again!
We made it safely to Sydney again! Even though folks here tell us it has been a cold and rainy summer, we have had great weather since arriving. We are staying with Geoff and Carrie Mallinson and their two kids, Daniel and Linnhe, in their WEC apartment. Geoff and Daniel met us at the airport on Sat. morning. That afternoon, we all went to Manly Beach via train and ferry. Lots of sun, sand and walking, and a picnic. Very good for helping get over the jet lag. We were definately tired out and ready to sleep thru the night.
Sunday we attended Central Sydney Presbyterian Church, where we had mostly attended two years ago. We were warmly welcomed and also went out to lunch with Philip and Amy Kern. We had stayed in their basement flat for the month of March on our visit in 2006. It was great to catch up with them.
After lunch with the Kerns, we took a bus down to the city and walked thru the Botanical Gardens, still as beautiful as before, very green due to the wet summer! We met Geoff and Carrie out in a suburb, Auburn for their evening "house Church", a group of WEC-ers that are focusing on church planting among Turkish folks in that area.
Monday, today, Carrie and Tom and I did the coastal walk from Coogie to Bondi, one of our favorite walks that we had done twice in our previous visit. Only this time we did it in reverse.
We had a bit of difficulty in catching the bus back to Coogie, but it all worked out ok and we were able to pick up Daniel and Linnhe from their pre-school only a few minutes late.
So we are off to a great start here, Tom has some meetings planned for tomorrow and later this week. We will have to get some pictures up soon.
Christi-Lynn and Allison in Sydney
Christi-Lynn and Allison arrived in Sydney on a Tues., Apr. 4, and we started right off with sightseeing by taking a bus from the airport back to Stratfield to the WEC apartment. They arrived early... and were out of customs by 7:30am. So after time to unpack and a short rest, tea at 10:00am with the WEC staff, we went out by ferry to the Sydney Opera House and then to the Botanical Gardens.
Arriving, only slightly dazed after 20+ hours of travel.
Into the water waiting for the ferry at Meadowbank, to head to the city.
In front of the Sydney Opera House.
In the tunnel waiting for the monorail for a trip through the city and around Darling Harbour.
On the monorail.
The second day, we took them on one of our favorite walks, the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. Bondi beach in the background.
Walking over the fabulous rocky path.
On Friday, we went out to the Blue Mountians, this is the path down to the Valley of the Waters.
At the base of Wentworth Falls.
The two sisters by the Three Sisters, the rock formation in the background.
The Saturday trip was an afternoon outing out to Olympic Park where we swam at the Aquatic center and the girls both found gold!!!
Sunday, after church at Central Sydney Presbyterian Chruch, we went out to Featherdale Wildlife Refuge so the girls could pet the kangaroos and meet the koalas.
Monday thru Wed. evening we were in Cairns, about a 3 hour plane trip north to the Great Barrier Reef. We went out to Green Island and snorkeled! What an experience! It was so beautiful and the fish were amazing! We also hiked thru a rainforest and the Cairns botanical gardens.
Christi-Lynn in the underwater experience.
Allison enjoying the coral....searching for Nemo the clown fish!!
We have had alot of fun and have more adventures to post too! I can't believe that the time here is coming to a close as we leave for the States tomorrow early afternoon and because we cross back over the date line we leave and arrive on the same day, so Allison and I will arrive in Rochester just before midnight, before Easter, and Christ-Lynn will arrive back in Mass. for Easter with Dan and Carol and Family. Tom will have two more weeks here to finish up some of the projects that he has been working on.
Aquarium with Carrie, Daniel and Linnhe
On Monday, Carrie and her kids and I went to the Sydney Aquarium, located in Darling Harbour. The first pic is one that I took on an earlier trip to Darling Harbour at dusk.
We entered through the big shark teeth, "look at the big teeth mummy"
Can we really touch this?
The aquarium is very child friendly, and has amazing underwater viewing tanks for the seals and one for the sharks.
This is a mother shark with a baby swimming along underneath her.
We got to touch the star fish, too!
Terry with Daniel and Linnhe
Daniel looks like the center of attention! No, we did not throw him in, he is up against the glass of one of the wall size viewing tanks.
To Maroubra
One of our first walking trips here in Sydney was the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk, which we enjoyed very much. However, by the time we got to Coogee, we didn't have energy to explore Coogee. So this past Sat. We decided to take the bus to Coogee beach and spend the afternoon looking around and enjoy the beach. It had been raining of and on in the morning, but it looked like it was clearing up. When we got to Coogee, we were fascinated with the rock and cliffs on the south end. So we decided to explore.
Looking south, see the rocks!!!
On the trail to the rocks, looking back toward the north of the beach.
Terry out on one of the rocks close to the water.
Tom standing on the edge! The water was so beautiful!!
It took us three tries to get us both with the time delay on the camera!! I wasn't as quick jumping down the rocks to join Tom, so he then tried it. He was much quicker!
One of the expansive rock "beaches" along the trail. By the time we got to this point, we realized that we were fairly far along and that the trail would end up in Maroubra. So we decided to press on. Some parts of the trail looped up through a neighborhood.
Look closely, between the two center houses is a set of steps leading down to the rocks. Wouldn't it be fun to live in one of those houses? We almost didn't see the path, as from the front it looked like a private way, but there was a small post with an arrow and the coastal walk symbol which we finally noticed.
Cloud reflection in a tidal pool.
Ocean swimming pool on the north end of Maroubra Beach.
Maroubra Beach in the distance. Just as we got to the place where we could see the beach, it started to sprinkle. The wind was blowing and the sun was also shining. Very amazing sight. As we got closer to the beach, we saw a spectacular rainbow, which lengthened as the clouds changed the amount of sunshine.
The rain actually stopped and we did get to walk in the water and read on the beach. We were there about an hour, then more sprinkles. So we went across the street to a little Thai place for dinner.
Sunset
Wanderings
These are some pictures from a couple of different short walks around the area.
The first two of the buildings are row houses in our neighborhood near the university. I thought that they were very cool.
On Monday evening, we took a bus out to the Balmain area of town, it is one of many peninsulas and also has a ferry wharf. There is a long, narrow park along the eastern side facing Darling Harbor. We found an interesting, large anchor.
Tom, with the Anzac Bridge in the background.
Terry with the buildings and docks on the outermost parts of Darling Harbor.
A week ago, on a Sunday afternoon, we bussed out to the Botanical Gardens to enjoy the water, foliage and read under the trees.
Pyramid shaped green house, unique...also the theme is unique if you can read the green foliage edging at the bottom.
Fruit bats up in the trees, we did not sit under this tree. We chose one that had very noisy cockatoos, that were flying and squawking. Flying to fast for pictures!
Castle buildings at one of the entrances.
Another view of the Sydney Opera House, with the bridge in background.
Tom with Linnhe on the ferry to Manly Beach.
Tom and Linnhe discuss the digging process, while Daniel gets down to business from inside the hole.
On the way back to catch the ferry, Linnhe gets a lift. notice the "ear" steering!
