Sydney

Bob met me at Central Station downtown Sydney. We hopped on the train to Macquarie Park area where he lived. Once we arrived, I got to have my own room with a very comfy bed. We both had a small nap, with plans to get up by 11 am so we could swing by his outdoor church BBQ.

Bob has a bed out in his living room where he now sleeps. He likes to be near the door entrance so he can easily get to his neighbors if he needs any assistance. Bob has leukemia and sometimes feels quite ill. In saying that, however, he's up and walking around outside everyday.

It was a Salvation Army church. They were all about love and loving people. It was a good direction, but not my cup of tea. The people were nice though, mostly from the neighborhood. There's a lot of low income, disability and recovering addict residents, as well as ex-convicts who are trying to start over. Made it an interesting place ;)

I was pretty tired from the overnight bus, so it was a quiet day. We did some laundry, socialized and made plans for the following day. We spent the evening watching a movie, then I had an early night.

The next day, we went into town. Caught the train to Milsons point where we got off and walked across the harbour bridge, down the steps to "the Rocks" and then walked along the Quay in Sydney Cove. We checked out the Opera house and Royal Botanical Gardens. We saw many flying foxes, ibis, cockatoos and even a tawny frogmouth (commonly mistaken for an owl). Then, we walked to Mrs. Macquaries Chair (a point in the harbour) and I found some funnelweb spiders along the way. I thought they'd be big, but they're the same size as the ones at home... only venomous.

We had sandwiches for dinner, then stuck around till nightfall to see the city lights. As dusk came, all the cockatoos came to their sleeping tree in the gardens by Farm Cove. They were landing on people, hoping to get food. Very social birds, guess that's why so many people have them as pets. Much better to see them flying free though.

The Harbour looked really nice with the city lights and opera house. It was a nice day, though a long one. We headed back home and slept well.

After all the walking the day before, we took it easy for the next day. Hung around the house, popped over to the mall and watched a movie before bed.

The next day we headed out to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains for a day hike. We started at the 3 Sisters, went down the Giant Stairway (only 861 stairs this time) and followed Federal Pass to Leura Forest where we sat at a picnic table to eat our lunch we packed. We were only half way through when we heard a "hello" from the ground beside the table. There, down on the ground was a sulfur-crested cockatoo waddling toward us. He said hello about 3 times before Bob caved and gave him a bit or bread. Didn't take long for him to go up on the table and start helping himself to lunch as well. Took a big piece of bread that I had to take away after a few nibbles. Looks like this visitor comes often! Even knows how to greet. Wasn't until I gave him a piece of my apple that he flew up into the trees.

After we finished eating, we continued to see Marguerite, Linda and Lila Falls, then up the stairs to Fossil Rock lookout. Such a nice view and great change of pace from being in the city. We headed back home for a quiet evening. Bob was pretty tired as it was a good hike for him, so we decided to take the next day off.

In the late morning, even though Bob wasn't feeling that great, he still wanted to go to town. So, he showed me a second hand bookstore, and left me there so I could venture on my own (I was hoping he'd go home and get some much needed rest). I walked along the main drag, George street, for a while, then went to the interent cafe for an hour before heading back home. I made some vegetable soup for dinner, and made enough for a few meals. Bob needed that as all I saw him eat was bacon, eggs and bread :(

We went over to Manly the next day. Caught the ferry over. It was nice ride through the harbour. What a pretty place. A bit touristy, but sure had some nice beaches. There were a few of them and one was even great for snorkeling. Wish I knew that before we came over. I would have brought my mask and snorkel and gone for a swim! Such clear water. A bit chilly at first, but you get used to it. Then we followed the trail to North Head. We stooped at a pond along the way where we had lunch. Lots of tadpoles and dragonflies. There were many lookouts along the coastal track. Really nice. Bob made another friend on the track, and he joined us the rest of the way. We walked to the military grounds (we saw "the Biggest Loser" being filmed here. The contestants hard at work doing the yoga plank, and the coaches yelling at them), saw the 3rd quarantine cemetery where 241 people were buried and the memorial walk. I saw 2 snakes along the way. Small, thin, browny-grey snakes that moved quickly into the thicket to hide. Never can get a good look at them. Many orb spiders as well. Love their yellow markings on their legs.

Wonderful view at the north head out over the ocean and looking back towards Sydney. We caught the ferry back to the city then headed home to meet up with another couch surfer (who is now Bob's friend) named Miho, from Japan. We socialized for the rest of the evening.

The next day, we all headed to the city to go to Paddy's Market. Bob had a few things to do, so he was meeting us back at home. Miho and I bought some vegetables, looked at a few shops then went to Chinatown where she introduced me to Emperor puffs. They're yummy doughy balls with yellow custard inside served hot. Very good, but fattening. Glad they're small!

Then we went to the Chinese Gardens in the Darling harbour. Man, was it ever busy. I forgot it was Chinese New Year, so many people were visiting. We took our time going round, then went to the bay and walked to Town Hall. Miho left to meet up with a friend and I went to Hyde Park. There was a man who was making all kinds of bubbles to entertain the public. It was cute watching the kids chase them. Then I headed back home and we all met up later in that evening to talk about our daily activities.

We all did our own thing the next day, and I went to Bondi Beach. It's a very popular place to suntan, swim and surf. There was a market going on as well, so I took brief browse through there before finding a nice spot on the beach to relax. I had only a short swim as I had to leave my bag on the beach with my towel and I didn't want it stolen. The beach was pretty crowded.

The water was nice, but I did see 1 blue-bottle jellyfish, so I didn't feel bad about not going back in. I spent the next 2 hours reading my book and people watching before heading back. I planned on making dinner for everyone so had to go to the grocery store before home.

Tacos was the meal, and the entire 1 kg of beef was devoured! I was very surprised, and happy. They liked my cooking! Yay! We had a couple drinks and watched some comedy movies for the rest of the evening.

Today, Miho went to Manly, Bob stayed home and rested and I went into town to get some African currency and take a tour of the opera house.

The tour takes you into some of the halls, and watch historical videos on the Dutch architect, Jorn Utzon. I learned that he won the design competition in 1957 and they started building the foundation in 1959, estimating to take 3 years and cost 7 million (Ha! Pretty optimistic!).

In 1962, he found the "spherical scheme solution" to build the roof shell design so it would be structurally practical. The roof is covered in cream and beige coloured tiles so as not to blind people when the sun shines on it.

1972, finally completed the construction and the opera had its first test run with an orchestra playing in the concert hall. The total cost was 102 million to build. Just a little over estimate, lol.

It is now a world heritage site and has many concerts, recordings, ballets, plays, operas and other events as a daily occurrence. The concert hall was really neat. Even the chairs are designed to absorb the same amount of sound as a person so you always have great acoustics, no matter how busy. There are dishes that come down from the ceiling above the stage as well so the orchestra can hear each other without it going to the viewers. Pretty neat!

After that, I headed home to have dinner with Bob and Miho as it's our last evening together. I head off to the airport tomorrow for my long flight to Cape Town, South Africa. But I am excited!