Sydney, Australia

Fiona and John catching waves at Collaroy Beach which was just across the street from where we were staying.
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What can I say - we have become confirmed "hostellers". We are at a place called Collaroy Beach, which is about 45 minutes north of Sydney, and a beautiful beach. It is across the road from this hostel. Having never stayed at a Youth Hostel before, this was one of those serendipitous moments. We didn't have a great experience at the airport, but let me tell you, once we got here, it was brilliant. Everyone has been fabulous. We have a family room which has two sets of bunk beds in, one single and one double. They provide sheets and towels, we have our own bathroom and way, way more room than we had in the RV (campervan). And we are literally across the street from the beach (where we were boogie boarding today - yes even me, Lynne).

Sydney Opera House from the Ferry we took from Manly Beach into Sydney.
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We arrived at the start of a long weekend, which we didn't realize, but it hasn't stopped us. We went into Sydney, what a clean and pretty city that is. We spent all day at the Australian Museum, as part of Fiona's schooling. We watched an aboriginal display and spent a long time with one of the scientists from the museum showing us "behind the scenes" of mineralogy. Hopefully, you will hear more from Fiona about that. Anyway, we are having such a wonderful time here that we decided not to go to Kangaroo Island, but to stay here. Even though we are older than most inhabitants of this hostel, we are not the oldest, and it’s a really cool place. We booked another hostel in the city center for Thursday night before we take the train to Brisbane, and another hostel in Cairns. They are graded much like hotels, with stars - this one is a four star! It is also nice to stay in one place for more than five minutes.

Sydney Opera House and Bridge at Sunset
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Today we decided to try and take the bus to Palm Beach to see the Barrenjoey lighthouse. Needless to say when Fiona saw it, and the climb, she was not happy, but once she started climbing the rocks themselves (her favorite thing to do) she had fun. It is not an easy climb let me tell you. Here’s a little history about the lighthouse itself:

Barrenjoey is located in the suburb of Palm Beach, at the farthest northern tip of Pittwater. It was originally named "Barrenjuee" (meaning little kangaroo or wallaby). The areas’ name has had differently spelling throughout history, Barrenjoey now being the accepted name. A customs station was established in 1843 as the Headland marked the entrance to Broken Bay and Pittwater which were considered to be the back door to Sydney for smugglers.

Fiona with an Aborigini at the Australian Museum - Men are allowed to play the didgeridoo, but not women
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In 1932, the Barrenjoey Lighthouse was converted to automatic operation with the installation of an acetylene gas apparatus with a power of 6,000 candles. In 1972 the light was converted to electric operation and a new lamp capable of 75,000 candlepower.

Okay, perhaps that was more than just a little history, but I thought it was a pretty interesting place (I guess I'm probably alone in that).

Then back to the hostel and beach for a few more days before moving on. We actually did spend one night in Sydney at, you guessed it, another hostel. This was because we were leaving really early to catch a train up to Brisbane. We also stopped at the Powerhouse Museum and saw an exhibit on the Great Wall and the Terra Cotta Warriors, which, hopefully, we will be seeing in real life next month.

Look at me I'm boogie boarding in Australia!
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Over the past few weeks we are learning how to travel wisely, and spending two or three days before moving again, is perhaps not the best way to go. We will be re-evaluating the rest of our trip, I'm sure. We also have no phone here - there was no internet in New Zealand but phones, and here there is internet but no phones. We have hooked up skype though and have been able to talk with family. For all you Skylake campers out there, maybe we could move to this hostel one year? It’s a very cool place with its own pool and games room, kitchen, all they need is a stage for campfire night! Talk to you all later.

This was the "good" portion of pathway up to the lighthouse - which was a very long climb.
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………………Lynne