Sydney's Royal Botanical Gardens

Typical Tree in Oz

Indian Cuisine

Dave and I enjoy Indian cuisine. Well the food was good, but it was served on cafeteria trays which was kind of weird.

Customs House

Within the same day of visiting MOS, we also stepped inside the Customs House which is also the Library of New South Wales. It is designed very nicely inside. Check out the Ingo Maurer lighting.












The floor in the middle of the interior is glass. Under the glass is a model sized Sydney complete with working lights.

Museum of Sydney

The next weekend,
we went back
downtown because the weather was nicer.
It was still cold and pretty much remained cold for the first month we were in Sydney, but at least it had stopped raining for a brief day. In case no one knows, this is a reason that Australia is called the "land down under". Everything with the weather is backwards, or "upside down". The coldest months are June though August and the weather starts to warm up for us here about September.
So to enjoy Sydney right now, you drink a lot of coffee and tea.

We went to the Museum of Sydney (MOS) and learned a little about the local history and the founding of Australia. The majority of the first European settlers here were convicts, supervised by a select few that were not. However, Aborigines are a story all for themselves. Sadly, their history is very much like that of our Native Americans. Without massacring the history, here are a few simple websites that help explain.

http://www.australianexplorer.com/australian_history.htm
http://www.dfat.gov.au/aib/history.html

The tall piece of wood has words on it and is described here.

Edge of the Trees
Janet Laurence and Fiona Foley, 1995

From the edge of the trees the Cadigal people watched as the strangers of the First Fleet struggled ashore in 1788. We can only imagine what their thoughts would have been. This sculptural installation by artists Janet Laurence and Fiona Foley symbolises that first encounter. Richly embedded with materials and language, the sculpture evokes layers of memory, people and place.
http://www.hht.net.au/collections/museum_of_sydney#top

First Night Downtown Sydney

Our first exploration of downtown Sydney was a cold, wet one. These are the first pictures we have of everything. But still excited, we walked around for hours at the harbour.

In the most unconditional weather, the Opera House is still packed with people drinking wine and coffee after the show. Dave and I hope to experience a show once while we are here. Everyone seemed like art critics and we felt like we fit in.

Even the Rocks Square district is a very artistically oriented area. Unlike the picture shown above, on Saturdays they have an art market that is very bustling and packed.

Dave's First Day At Work

Dave's first day at work, I surprised him with a nice dinner when he got home. We enjoyed it outside.

Path to Store

This is the street we take to the grocery store. It is a pleasant walk through quaint little homes.

Occasionally there is a quiet old man listening to Russian music sitting outside on his front stoop watching strange Americans go by with a shaky cart full of groceries.

All In The Same Day

After checking into the apartments, we went to our room. Having no idea what it was going to be like, we slid the card and walked inside. Thoroughly modern Sydney provided us with a plush and adequately sized living quarters and a view to enjoy the outside courtyard below. We were pleased.

When we were finished admiring our room we ventured to get groceries. Not having any car, we asked the front desk manager in the lobby where the closest place was. It was too far to bring back arms full of bags.
"They have trollies", he said.
"Oh really, where can we grab one?"
"They're just outside the store."
"Where is the closest one that we can get on to take us there?"
The man looked confused. "Oh no. Not a bus. A trolly. A shopping cart. We call shopping carts trollies here. What is a trolly in your country?"
"A bus."
"Oh. Well you can easily walk there, and then bring a trolly back."
"You mean a bus."
"No. A shopping cart."
"So......we just roll the cart back to the apartments??" Dave and I were confused.
"Yep."
"And that's normal?"
"Yeh...people do it here all the time. You just take it up in the elly, leave it in your room, and take it back the the shop when you go back next time."

We are still not sure if he told us that to make us look like fools or not, but needless to say a shopping cart sat in our room for 2 weeks. If that doesn't throw off feng shui -I don't know what does.

After Arriving

After arriving in Sydney's airport and being dismissed by the drug trafficking pooches, we headed toward the long line awaiting us at the border patrol. Nervously we awaited to step up to the next officer and present to them a claims statement of what was in our luggage. We had nothing to be nervous about but the whole idea of being examined made us uneasy. And the fact that they could take away my chocolate stash. We made it through fine (minus chocolate) and followed our way into the crisp air to catch a taxi.

Our taxi driver was very friendly and loaded our luggage. We hopped into the back seat and handed him a paper with an address circled of where to take us. "I've neva' heard of that street." We didn't know what to do and grabbed his map to try to direct him while he managed to escape from the airport traffic. Always double check the address you are given. This happened to most everyone Dave knows that came to Sydney as well.

Dave paid the driver after unloading our luggage and we walked up the steps to the Meriton Cameo Full Serviced Apartments.

Over Land

Wake Up Mate

This is the morning of July 9th, our first day in Sydney, Australia.

After we wake up from a 24 hour flight, we are being served "brekkie" in our nicely accomodating Qantas jet.

Dave and I have to do the first thing everyone has to do when they first wake up. However, we are trapped.

The woman closest to the aisle is sleeping rolled up in her blanket like a cadaver.

We did prefer her to sleep because she had the personality of one as well.

Opening Scene

"Im thinking of creating a blog about us and our travels. Do you think its a silly idea?"-B

"No. I don't think its silly at all."-D

To Be Continued.....