Anyway, we arrived in Sydney on Wednesday evening, April 23rd, and hit the sack to prepare for 3 1/2 days of sightseeing. We started our vacation with a Sydney sights highlights bus tour. This tour took us all around the city for great stops and photo shots. We stopped at Macquarie's Chair in the Sydney Botanical Gardens with great views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. This was a specially designed chair for the governor's wife to look out over the harbour. Other great sights/areas that we visited included The Rocks, Circular Quay, Chinatown, Darling Harbour, and Kings Cross. We also stopped at The Gap, the heads of the harbour and had our "morning tea" at the world famous Bondi Beach. It then rained for much of the afternoon so our options were limited but we did ride the Monorail tram around Darling Harbour and managed to remain somewhat dry.
On Friday we took a tour of the Blue Mountains just west of Sydney. Our friends from the US, another John Deere family, were also in Sydney and went on the tour with us. We did a short bushwalk to Wentworth Falls but it was foggy out (or as Evan says - there is "foggy-fog everywhere") so it was difficult to see. We stopped in a small garden town for lunch, Leura, before heading to Katoomba and Scenic World right in the heart of the Blue Mountains. At Scenic World we rode three great rides so that we could see the rainforest from many different viewpoints. We first rode the Scenic Skyway over the rainforest and Jamison Valley. It gave us a 360 degree view of the rainforest and also had a glass floor so that we could watch the rainforest below us. We were easily able to view Katoomba Falls and the Three Sisters rock formation from the Skyway. We then took the Scenic Cableway down a 545 meter drop into the rainforest - quite an exciting and breathtaking drop! And finally, we rode the Scenic Railway . . . backwards . . . up a steep incline out of the rainforest. This railway is the steepest railway in the world with a 415 meter accent/decent. Evan (and the rest of us) found this very exhilarating . . . even Kaden got to ride! We then made a quick riding tour through the Olympic Park in Sydney before taking a river cruise back home. It was a long but FUN day!
On our final full day in Sydney we rode the ferry through Sydney Harbour and got off at the Circular Quay so that we could go on a tour of the Sydney Opera House. We learned alot about the opera house and enjoyed the tour, even though Evan was quite bored throughout! As we were exiting the Opera House a performance was starting outside so we were able to watch a live show from the steps of the Opera House. We then took a ferry ride back through the harbour so that Evan could claim his reward (for putting up with so many adult activities) . . . a trip to the IMAX theatre. We watched an African Safari show for 45 minutes - a perfect length for Evan's very first "movie" trip. After the IMAX movie we walked the busy streets of downtown Sydney to the Sydney tower so that we could travel to the top and take in the 360 degree view of the entire city. After all of the walking and activities we were beat and the boys were longing for home so we called it a night.
It was a great family vacation filled with lots of adventures and great sights!
We did have several celebrity sightings while in Sydney as well that some of you may find interesting. We have been watching The Biggest Loser Australia while here and while in line at the IMAX we recognized Cosi, one of the contestants on this season's The Biggest Loser, that had just recently been voted off the show. He lost an amazing 75+ lbs. so it was great to recognize him and note that he still looked slim! Then, while waiting for our flight the next morning, while in the Qantas Club Airline Lounge, we had another celebrity sighting. The MTV music awards for Australia had just taken place the night before in Sydney and 50Cent (the American Rapper) was one of the lead guest performances. Well, 50Cent and his posse were hanging out right by us in the club lounge. Believe me, they REALLY stick out in Australia so it's hard not to miss them!
Well, tune in soon for more blogging about our most recent Australia trek - we have some exciting pictures and stories to tell!
Australian Education: DONUTS ARE EXPENSIVE IN AUSTRALIA! (Like many other things . . . ) We thought Krispy Kreme were expensive because of the American name but we have found that donuts are often $2 - $2.50 each everywhere you look! Needless to say we don't get donuts often!
While in Sydney Bryan also found a store that sold Dr. Pepper by the can . . . my favorite . . . that you can't find anywhere in Australia. Well, one can cost $2.80! Which seems like alot but all pop is expensive in Australia as well . . . a small bottle of pop from the gas station usually costs around $3-$3.50.
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