Cairns, Queensland March 3 - 6 Then Aunt Elaine and Uncle Hec at Dumbalk March 7

We arrived in Cairns on a Jetstar flight from Sydney at 2:00 in the afternoon. Cairns (pronounced Cans with a nasally "n") is at the very top of Australia and is tropical, however, the temps while we were there were in the low 80's with little humidity.

Mary's sister Kali, who lives in the area, picked us up and surprised us with a hamper of goodies and supplies. Here's the short list:  Rusty's markets for pastries, fruit, salads; rye sourdough bread from Le Crouet at Freshwater; pastries from Frenchies Patisserie  and date scones from Kewarra Cafe - basket of goodies - eggs, bacon, mushroom, pate' bread, butter, cheese and biscuits, fruit, bread knife - umbrella - water bottles x 2  insect repellant, citronella candles. We were so well supplied that we could have just stayed on our balcony overlooking the bay. There was a bottle shop just below us. it was heaven!

Balcony view at night

View the next morning

This Airbnb - a one bedroom apartment with the balcony cost $83 a night. I want to move here!

The first evening we went out to explore Cairns. I was a tiny bit tired after the "forced march" through Sydney we'd experienced. So I was happy that there were all kinds of restaurants close by. We chose a place favored by Mary's sister Elizabeth when she was here - Tha Fish.

Mary and Kali about to tuck into a big plate of battered "whitebait." Basically, they were about to eat tiny fish the fishermen rejected!

The walk around Cairns after supper was beautiful. The next day Mary and I were up early for a walk along the Esplanade. The views were stunning.

 I was just a tiny bit freaked out by the signs posted all along the walk. Man-eating crocodiles inhabit this area - injury or death? I decided to stay off the beach.

Crocodiles that aren't nice!

Kali was a great tour guide and took us all over the area. We had a lovely picnic up in the rain forest. The views were just fabulous.

Kali put together a terrific picnic lunch: Caprese salad, green salad, kale salad,
and homemade spinach ricotta capsicum fritattas and houmous with veggies

The view!

Goomboora Park Brinsmead - then to Barren Gorge, then picnic lunch - at Lake Placid - up to Kuranda - secret lookout then Barren Falls

In the evening, Mary and I ate fish and chips on our balcony.

The next day, Kali was at our apartment at 7:00 AM and we were off for the day. Our first stop was - Crystal Cascades - where we took a walk along a rushing stream. There were pools along the way that were so inviting that Kali and I jumped in. The water was warm and soft.

Kali assured me there were no crocodiles here!

Afterward, we stopped at Limberlost  Cafe for breakfast. The cafe is in a nursery so we were surrounded by greenery. Then off to Trinity Beach for a beautiful walk.

Trinity Beach

We finished the day at the Raw Prawn and celebrated Kali's birthday there. More stunning views of the bay from our table.

DUMBALK

One thing we definitely wanted to do was visit Mary's Aunt and Uncle - Elaine and Hec near her childhood home. Elaine and Hec will be celebrating their 93rd birthday soon and they are both so fun and sharp the time just flew. It was like a little reunion, preparing me for the big gathering of hundreds of family members coming up this Sunday in Nathalia.

I thought the three in front were "stunners"

We are in the Dandenong Ranges, right on Mount Dandenong. Stay tuned.

Who's that beauty with the big sunnies?

The Botanical Gardens and Mardi Gras

This was the day we did 22,000 steps. I can tell you that my ankles, knees, and hips know it for sure. The day started out quietly and reflectively and ended with Mary and me in the middle of 300,000. This is how it all went down.

We took the train to Circular Quay (pronounced "key") on the Harbor and then walked to the Opera House. We were able to get into the lobby to have a look around. With Stephanie being an Opera Singer we felt we needed to make this pilgrimage.

Then into the Botanical Gardens which are like the Central Park of Sydney.

There is a beautiful view of the Opera House and the Bridge.

We rested for an hour or so and then went off to see the Fish Market, shopped in a huge downtown flea market called Paddy's market, drank a beer in the Palace Hotel and then went off to see what this Mardi Gras thing was all about. It all began in 1978 with a few people making a statement about recognition for LGBTQ people. Since then it has grown into an international celebration. We had no idea it was happening when we scheduled our visit but realized that we had to go and take a look. As we finished our beers Mary said, "let's just go and see what is happening." We'd heard to get a good view of the parade you had to get a place by 11:00AM and certainly no later than 4:00 PM along the parade route. As we got closer and closer to the parade venue the crowds got more intense.

Here are some people making their way to the parade with us.

We thought this might get a bit wild. We were shocked that when we arrived at Oxford Street, we were in the third row back. We had a perfect view.

Slowly the excitement grew as more of the parade walkers showed up.

And then the fireworks began and the paraded was underway. The theme was fearless.

Here's how it looks live:

I kept feeling the crowd pressing in on us from behind but had no idea about how many people had arrived and lined up behind us until we decided it was time to leave. People were pressed shoulder to shoulder and back to front all trying to see for at least 25 rows. Mary and I took at least five minutes just getting through the press of people who were all in a very celebratory mood.

Tomorrow we leave Sydney for Cairns.

Sydney Harbor, Manly Beach, the Bridge and the Rocks

Mary has me so busy touring that I haven't been able to get to the blog. Thursday 17,000 steps. Friday 21,000 steps. and Saturday 22,000 steps. Our goal today is to hang out around Sydney Harbor which is one of the most beautiful in the world. The Harbor is where the Sydney Opera House is located and of course, the Harbor Bridge. I took so many pictures of the Bridge and the Opera House that they kept showing up all the time.

We took the ferry out to Manly Beach and hung out there for most of the morning. Here is the view from the back of the ferry.

Manly Beach is right out at the entrance to Sydney Harbor. It reminded us of the vibe of Key West. We loved walking along the beach and found a terrific restaurant with beautiful fish and a view to match.

Fish and chips. We both had an order like this!

The view!

The beach!

We rode the ferry back to Circular Quay in Sydney and then decided to start riding public transport. It was so easy and the tram let us out a block from our hotel. After a short rest, we decided to walk the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We rode the train to the other side of the bridge and then walked back.

Just getting started

The views of the harbor and the Opera House from the bridge were amazing. Here are a few of the 100's of pics I took. I went a little wild.

As we approached the other side we noticed some commotion happening down below. 

Commotion

What a lucky bride and groom!

We walked around an area called The Rocks.

Another "bridge pic"

And ate at an Irish Pub. The whole area was rocking on this Friday night, the day before the celebration of Mardi Gras on Saturday.

Nothing like a refreshing Guinness.

Reveler

And then we took the train back to our hotel. But not before another pic of the bridge from the platform.

Only 21,000 steps today. Tomorrow we plan to hit the botanical gardens and take a look at Mardi Gras in the evening. Spoiler alert - it was wild! Stay tuned.

The Big Bus: Sydney Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and Bondi - February 28

Sydney Day 2 February 28, 2019

Mary and I were surprised that after 40 hours of traveling we didn’t feel too bad when we woke up on Thursday morning at 6:00 AM. The night before we shopped for some breakfast food that included All Bran, for reasons I won’t go into here. Today was the day we decided to take the Big Bus – hop on and hop off tours of Sydney and the beaches. And that’s what we did. One tour took us through the city and the other took us out to the beaches – Bondi being the most famous.

Today I decided to try to dress inconspicuously and not like the other tourists we encountered. Here’s my “blend into the Sydney scene” outfit. We hope that on Saturday we can walk across the Sydney Harbor Bridge in the background.

Typical Sydneysider with Bridge in background

The bus tour was fantastic and we loved seeing the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. They look just like the pictures we’ve seen but there is something so exciting when you see them close up.

We found a wonderful place right on the docks to have lunch and some beverages. We got hungry and thirsty at about 11:00.

 

Mary had the BIG fish and chips and I had the little fish and salad. It was so cool sitting on the dock and watching the boats and the people.

We saw this little trio sitting right out in front of us.

And this looked like a group of monks ready for a fun day on the water.

Seeing the Opera House was breathtaking. Maybe someday Kara and/or Stephanie might perform there.

Sydney Opera House

    

              Bondi Beach was beautiful.

Bondi Beach

And we had to have something to eat while we sat and watched the surfers and other beautiful people lounging on the sand.

 We were so tired after the 8 hours of bus riding, picture taking, and eating that we decided to go to the grocery around the block and buy something we could eat in our room. We enjoyed it thoroughly. But I definitely want to go to this place tomorrow. 

Coffee and Booze for the Working Man

That’s it from Sydney for today.

Mike and Mary

Arrival in Sydney Australia Wednesday February 27

It took almost 30 hours door to door from our home in Lima to the hotel in Sydney. We left home around Noon on Monday, lost the whole day Tuesday and showed up in Australia on Wednesday. The 15-hour flight from LA to Sydney was a long one. But the trip was smooth and all of our connections on United Airlines were excellent. We loved the Boeing 787 Dreamliner we flew the last long leg and we pampered ourselves with extra legroom by getting Economy Plus seating. We did have an interesting experience as we waited for our flight to LA in Denver. A yogi girl was doing headstands and poses right there in there terminal.

Yoga Girl

The cabin crew on our flight from LAX to Sydney was interesting. No one looked younger than about 55 and the oldest looked like she was maybe 70. I wondered if they knew we were flying and wanted us to feel young.



On the flight, I did some squirrel drawings as I am "auditioning to be the illustrator for Cody Ridenhour's upcoming children's book. Here is my first effort, Codes, with graphite and colored pencils on a shaking plane.

Squirrel

We got to the hotel so early that our room wasn't ready but they gave us a key to the showers in the pool area so we could get cleaned up and out of the clothes we'd been wearing continuously for the past 30 hours.  We had to stay awake to ward off the jet lag so we headed out to find a great meat pie at Harry's Cafe de Wheels. The weather was so warm we sat at a table outside and enjoyed the treat.

Harry's

Meat Pie

We visited a large indoor flea market where Mary finally found the perfect bag to carry all of our stuff around with her on trips and a super cute hat. Here she is enjoying some Asian food at yet another outdoor cafe in Chinatown.

Mary new hat and cute as a button

We ended the day almost 17,000 steps, 30 hours of travel and 9000 miles under our belts at the Queen Victoria Building (the QVB). And we ate something there too!

The QVB

We have been amazed at the diversity here in Sydney. I told Mary as we walked through crowds of people that made it seem like we were in Times Square, "We are rubbing shoulders with so many Asian people and Indian people that we won't have to travel to China or the Subcontinent to interact with people."



I am working on a video to post later. It's 8:00 PM here in Sydney and 4:00 AM in Lima (3:00 in Chicago). May have to finally sleep in a bed after I finish this glass of Chardonnay.