Sydney, Australia

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Opera house and iconic green and yellow ferry, taken from our ferry back to to Milsons Point

 Our east coast express tour continued with an overnight stop in Glenwood, part way between Burnett Heads and Brisbane.  In the morning Toby had a chance to let out Mario's chickens and we played with Max, the big fluffy "guardian" dog, all the while enjoying another cool, cloudless morning in Queensland.  Our flight to Sydney was short and we arrived at our apartment in Kirribilli early evening to enjoy the views of the Harbour Bridge lit up in the night sky.  

The bridge at night, from the Mary Booth Lookout Reserve

The bridge from our apartment balcony

We only had one full day in Sydney but we made the most of it with a walk across the Harbour Bridge to a too-quick stop at the Australian Museum, a fun visit to the Policing Museum and plenty of time lazing, walking and wrestling in the beautiful Botanical Gardens.  We took the ferry back across the bay and got some great views of the Opera House.  

Hard at work in the charge room at the policing museum

Sydney Harbour from the Botanical Gardens

Ice cream by the Sunday market in Kirribilli

We did have most of another day before our 8.25pm flight to Vancouver so we wandered down in the morning sunshine to the nearby Milson Park, a small, pretty park right on the bay by the yacht clubs.  

Milson Park. Sydney is a very pleasant city, especially if you dodge the summer heat

After a late check-out we made one final stop, luggage and all, at the Maritime Museum.  We got to see around a battle ship, a replica of a 400 year old spice trading boat, and a submarine, which was the highlight.  Quite extraordinary that 60 sailors would live in this cramped tube for weeks or months at a time without seeing daylight.  Not for everyone.  And so much engineering packed in too.  Systems for the diesel engines, the electric propulsion system, the air system, as well as the missile systems and so much more.  

A replica of Duyfken, a small Dutch spice trading ship of around 400 years ago 

On top of HMAS Onslow

Food is essential to morale on a submarine

Navigating a submarine

Looks about the right size for an eight year old

One of my favourite images at the Wildlife Photography awards exhibition at the Maritime Museum

We completed our visit to the museum with a look around the Wildlife Photography awards exhibition and some of the other museum displays.  Then it was time to head to the airport where we had a few quiet hours before embarking on our 14 hour voyage across the Pacific.  I had not been looking forward to this flight, the longest I think I've ever been on.  In the event it was fine, quite comfortable, lots of good movies (The Alpinist, Last Known Coordinates, and a bit of Mary Queen of Scots, as well as an accidental second viewing of the sub-par Burn After Reading), decent food, and some occasional sleeping.  The kids were amazing, no complaining, doing their own thing and being nice to each other.  There is no denying that the screen helps but they also had a good go at sleeping and just generally handled it all very well.  Oddly we arrived in Vancouver 3 hours before we left Sydney having crossed the international date line.  Welcome home (almost) to us!                 
Good morning! Time to relive June 13th, 2022

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