Carol's Story: A Journey Through Hobart and Sydney!

Beautiful Sydney Harbour at night.
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Sean's mom and Aunt Carol visited for nearly 3 weeks at the end of January. They explored in and around Hobart, then vacationed with us to New South Wales, which included visits to Sydney, the Hunter Valley Wine Region, and the Blue Mountains.

We invited Carol to write the blog which she graciously accepted as follows:

Total pictures of beauty upon arrival.

After a long trip across the pond, a delay in Fiji resulting in a missed connection in Sydney, and some new, unplanned-for connections, we arrived in Hobart on Jan 16 to the excited greetings of Avani & Sean at the airport, and the "Angel of Mercy" Indira, greeting us with Margaritas at the house. Our non-stop Australian adventures commenced the next day!

Our travel guide, Indira, took us on a tour of Hobart -- scoping out the downtown and waterfront areas, and instructing us on the accessibility of their house to downtown by foot. Hobart, situated on the River Derwent, can be easily appreciated by walking. We visited The Cascade Brewery, the oldest brewery in Australia. The tour covered the entire process of beer making, culminating with most generous samples of their products! Parts of the surrounding grounds gave one the impression of a rain forest. One of my most entertaining moments was when Avani locked herself in a restroom stall because she wanted "privacy"!

We spent many big days shopping. We walked to Salamanca Place to go crazy in the Saturday Market. The market is located on an old dockside street lined with sandstone warehouses converted into restaurants & arts & crafts shops. Hundreds of vendors are there with myriad products.

The next day we set out for Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula. One of our stops was the Tasmanian Devil Park, & my first look at a real Tasmanian Devil! These little black furry animals, (about the size of a Beagle) are cute but "not so cute" (whatever), but are quite vicious with sharp, dog-like teeth. They are being protected here, because they face extinction in the wild. They are under threat from a mysterious oral cancer. At this park, we also mingled with very tame kangaroos & wallabys -- up close and personal.

Traveling on down the peninsula, we arrived at the Port Arthur prison. It was established as a penal settlement for the worst convict offenders in 1830, & has over 30 ruins & historic sites, a museum, & a buriel site - the Isle of the Dead, a small island in Carnarvon Bay. The clouds finally gave way, & our outdoor tour was under a steady rain. It was difficult to pay attention, but we managed. We sought shelter in the restaurant on the grounds. The skies cleared, and we were able to continue our exploration of most of the buildings on the grounds. The ruins of the Broad Arrow Cafe were especially poignant. This was the site where on Apr. 28, 1996 , a single gunman killed 35 people, & injured dozens more. It had more of an effect on us because the parents of one of Indira & Sean's friends ran the restaurant, she worked there as a young girl, and also was friends with the gunman's sister. The ruins remain as a memorial to the victims.

We also had a chance to drive to the top of Mt. Wellington in Hobart. From the observation point at the top of the mountain (approx. 4000 ft. elev.) one has a panoramic view of Hobart, the waterways, & the nearby communities. The weather was good, resulting in a pristine view.

On our trip to Richmond, "the village in the valley", we stepped into Tasmania's living past. It is 20 minutes from Hobart, & is the best preserved Georgian village in Australia. It has Australia's oldest bridge (built by prisoners), Catholic church, primary school, and post office. Avani loved gummy bears from the candy store, & the geese down by the bridge.

After 8 fun-filled days in Hobart, we all left for a week in Sydney. From the airport, we hired a cab/station wagon to transport the five of us and all our luggage to 24 Boundary St -- our 3 story condo for the next six days. Australia Day (like our July 4th) was happening on our first weekend there. There was all kinds of excitement at Sydney Harbor.

Our first stop was Paddington Market -- a weekend, high end swap meet. Again it was difficult not to go into a buying frenzy. Thanks to Sean & Indira's navigation skills, we became quite adept at handing the subway systems, knowing how to get back home without getting lost, etc. etc.! So ... onto the harbor & the surrounding area.

Our first sight of the famous Sydney Opera House was memorable. (After many, many pictures of it, it became part of "our turf"!) The magnitude of the harbor area is incredible. There is so much to see before one uses the ferry system to get to other sites to see more! After a full day of taking in the activities (eating, drinking, taking many pictures, etc.) we witnessed the Aussie Day spectacular fireworks display. Despite the thousands of people in attendance and exiting the area when we did, we didn't get lost from each other, and we successfully arrived home! Avani handled the day like a trooper.

We bought an all-day ferry pass. (covered the subways too) and went to Taronga Zoo. We saw the rest of the animals native to Australia, koalas, etc.. We took a second ferry to Manley Beach, & the final one to Luna Park -- an amusement center that made a big impression on Avani, & resulted in a little "pretend thing" with her animals & Grandma Marel, for the remainder of our trip.

We also enjoyed Sydney's Bondi Beach. We picked up our rental car & drove there. It was a beautiful day (Summer arrived when we got to Sydney!). After "beaching it" for a couple of hours, Sean, Indira, & Carol hiked on the cliffs extending from the beach -- a fabulous view of the South Pacific Ocean!

Our drive to the Hunter Valley wine country was a relaxing way to spend the day. There was beautiful scenery, lots of good wine to taste. As in all the time of our stay, Indira was our chauffeur!!

Then we left Sydney & headed for the Blue Mountains -- so named because of the blue haze created by the eucalyptus oil in the air above the mountain gum forests. It's only 107 km from Sydney, but we went from summer to late fall weather. We stopped at the Sydney Olympic Site on the way. Tried to imagine how it was in 2000 with all the people. We arrived at our lodging in the Blue Mountains in early afternoon. A great place with a floor to ceiling window in the living room that looked out upon a tree-filled canyon with Cockatoos flying wild! All of us took a short hike into a rain forest. It had been raining too, so everything was wet, and very, very green. I've never seen ferns that were as tall as palm trees. This is truly a hiker's paradise. Sean & Indira postponed their hike until afternoon. They dropped Carol, Marel, & Avani offin town (Leura) on their way. The trio explored the little town, then walked back home - about 1.5 miles.

On our last day, we explored Echo Point, one of the many scenic vistas in the Blue Mountains. One could spend a month here, & still not have time to take in all the wonderland. At the tourist area at Echo Point, people were being entertained by an Aborigine playing a didgereedoo.......and selling homemade boomerangs. Of course the tourists from Sacramento had to have those! We then headed for Wentworth Falls where Sean, Indira, and Carol hiked down to the falls. The view was spectacular. Surprisingly, Carol did make it back to the top with no ill effects!!

Loading back into our totally packed car, we headed back for our last night in Sydney. We had dinner in Chinatown, & went back to our hotel at the airport. It would take volumes to describe all of our adventures. It was just a great time spent with Sean, Indira, & Avani in a very exciting place. Sean, Indira, & Avani left for Hobart at 8:30 A.M.. Marel & Carol left for U.S.A. at 2:00 P.M. The trip home had no delays -- arrived in Sacramento at 6:30 P.M. FEB 3!!! --- total pictures of beauty upon arrival.