Day 88 Sydney to Hong Kong

 

An early start to travel to the airport and we wait for the taxi to take us the short way to the station as the train is the cheapest way by far to reach the airport, although it involves a lot of changes between lines. Our bags suddenly feel very heavy and we are all a bit daunted about leaving the relative comfort of Australia for the almost complete unknown of Hong Kong and beyond! Mercifully the enterprising Lebanese (and frankly ancient) taxi driver strikes up a deal with David, matches the train ticket price and drives us all the way - Result!

 

Unfortunately we have tickets to fly on the day of Qantas staff industrial action - but as far as we know when we arrive this is only affecting domestic flights - it is only once we are through check in and talking to the Security Officer that he advises us that ground staff, catering and several other unions have called a 4 hour strike as part of a pay and conditions protest. No bags would be loaded or unloaded and no refuelling and cabin maintenance for 4 hours causing enormous knock on delays. We dont know how long we will be here so we hurry to the gate and make camp near a socket so we can take advantage of the free wifi throughout the terminal and catch up on last minute charging. Mercifully our fllight is unaffected and we board and take off on time.

  

  

Another "delicious" selection of Qantas in flight food - they had promised to be a worthy rival for  British Airwarys and we were looking forward to flying with them - sadly we have been left disappointed by the staff and service we have encountered on our 5 flights with them. Several mix ups and errors, not least about children's meals have not been handled well and some staff have been downright indifferent. We have passed our comments to Qantas!

The flight passes with no dramas apart from an occasional shortlived turbulence and we descend into Hong Kong. Immediately we feel out of our comfort zone! As expected the Customs Officer refuses to stamp the bear passports and we are moved in very efficient fashion along with the other passengers to belt 5 to collect our bags before negotiating our way to the loo and then the bus to take us across to Kowloon. It is mind blowingly busy, incredibly noisy and very humid. We find our bus with no problem - the signs are fortunately in Pinyin(chinese characters) and English but also have pictures! We board and wedge ourselves in alongside far too many other hot and grumpy travellers for our trip. The girls are open mouthed at their first sight of the skyscraper skyline but we are all too tired to ooh and aah too much. We count the stops as the bus progresses as we have to get off at the 6th stop. The pavements are heaving - there are people everywhere and the lights are amazing. 

Enormous electric bill boards and signage hung from every wall, across doorways and spanning the roads. Music blares from most corners and their is a smoky, steamy fug in the air. The smells range through the scent spectrum from the delicious scent of freshly cooked waffles, perfumes and garlic all the way down to dried fish, cigarette smoke and sewers. The traffic noise if unimaginably loud; engines,sirens and the constant hum of a city. The girls are obviously uncomfortable and we have somehow managed to miscount and miss our stop. We are now lost with only a very basic map and address for guidance. Amazingly, David manages to ask exactly the right young couple who not only explain in broken English how to negotiate our way to the Dragon Hostel on Argyle Street - but also take pity on us and escort us all the way to the lift lobby.

The room is on the 7th floor and can only be described as compact, with an eclectic mix of patterns and textures, an ensuite toilet/shower and an amazing view of the road - we are too tired to care!

 

Our next step is to attempt to eat something - it is now nearly 9pm and the girls have eaten very little on the plane so we take a chance on a nearby restaurant which is well populated with locals. The menu is erm... interesting but we manage to get an ok dish of rice and something which looks a bit like crab sticks and spam - yum!

day 87 Sep 19 Mon Sydney

Our last full day in Australia is spent back in the Circular Quay and CBD. We go to the Post Office and send another box of bits and "treasures" home before climbing onto the Harbour Bridge for an alternate view of the Opera House and Harbour.
A quick walk through the hugely expensive and very "Japanese" and "Asian" focussed Duty Free Shopping Galleria and then home to pack for an early start in the morning.

day 86 Sep 18 Sun Sydney

Sunday in Sydney - and it is Sydney Marathon day and also Family Sunday on the transport network which means that we can use buses, trains, ferries, metro and some trams for $2.50 each all day - this is too good an opportunity to waste so we head to Darling Harbour to take in another glorious space and location. Darling Harbour is one of the world's leading waterfront leisure and entertainment destinations- originally derelict docklands and now sparkling international playground.We are also here to visit the Sydney Aquarium - as promised to try and see the elusive duckbilled platypus to complete our Australian "Big 5" animal list - the only one we havent seen in the flesh. Sadly this is as close as we get as the platypi are less than co operative today!

Taking advantage of the cheap travel tickets we board the iconic Manly Ferry, another "must do" for Sydney visitors. It is 7nautical miles via the magnificent waterway of Sydney Harbour and running since 1855, the ferry is the original and still the best way to make the journey from Circular Quay to Manly Wharf.

And who should we bump into on the trip to Manly?!!!!! What are the chances of this happening! On a massively busy Sydney weekend, in an enormously hectic ferry terminal the girls suddenly shout again...  "Mummy - there's Hazel and John and Sandy..." we don't believe them but they are, of course, correct! We share the ferry ride back to Circular Quay and sadly say our very, very last goodbye!

As the harbour draws closer and our ferry ride nears it's end the sun is beginning to set on another fantastic day.

day 85 Sep 17 Sat Newcastle to Sydney

Sadly and ironically our gas bottle runs out mid kettle boil and with no bbq for our last eggs and bacon breakfast we drive towards Sydney and the Formule 1 at the Olympic Park where we will stay for the next 3 nights. Our room overlooks the Olympic Stadium and the Athletics Stadium and is on the 5th floor. 

We all leap into the shower and allow ourselves a different outfit from within the rucksack which has been stored safely away unopened for the last month. Our other clothes are relegated to the laundry pile to be tackled later and we take our last van drive to the Jucy depot to say goodbye to the van. We then catch the bus and train to the Circular Quay and catch our first glimpse of the wonderful Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. 

The girls are overjoyed to see such an icon in the flesh and happily listen to yet another one of "Mother's interesting information sessions"! This time all about the Opera House! 

• The building covers 1.8 hectares (4.5 acres) of land and is 183 metres (605 ft) long and 120 metres (388 ft) wide at its widest point. It is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 metres below sea level.
• Conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally being opened in 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II. This was a long time after starting with his competition-winning design in 1957 - the delay largely due to the fact that the design was beyond the engineering capabilities of the time.  
• The roof evocative of a ship at full sail was actually inspired by the segments of an orange and if deconstructed would fit together into a sphere. 
• The house is host to over 2500 events every year and as more than 5 performances spaces.
•  1,056,006 glossy white- and matte-cream-coloured Swedish-made tiles although they look white from a distance.
• The Concert Hall, with 2,679 seats, is the home of the Sydney Symphony and contains the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, the largest mechanical tracker action organ in the world, with over 10,000 pipes.
• Sydney Opera House was formally recognised as one of the most outstanding places on Earth with its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List on June 28 2007.
• IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND WE LOVE IT!

We contemplate trying to get tickets for a performance just to "tick that box" - we have a choice of Bryan Adams at $140.40 each or the opera Lakme at $75, sadly La Boheme is not being performed tonight and we err on the sensible side and vow to come back to Sydney again to enjoy its' delights.

 

We walk through to The Rocks district and wander through the Sunday markets, lunching on sushi roll, a Japanese omelette and a hot corn on the cob on a stick. We enjoy just being within the hustle and bustle of the city and within such an iconic location. The views of the cbd (that is central business district to you and me and our new favourite abbreviation),

 

the bridge and the opera house are amazing whichever direction you walk in and the afternoon draws to a close and the sun sets on the city and we spend time just strolling, standing and gazing and taking in our surroundings. We catch a train back to Central, another to Lidcombe and out to Olympic Park before enjoying supper at an Italian restaurant in the park complex.

 

day 83 Sep 16 Fri Nelson to Newcastle

Off to another Port today - This time Port Stephens. We stop off at Anna Bay and the phenomenon of Stockton Sands. A 35km mass of ever shifting sand dunes. A beautiful place - but not possible to negotiate without a 4x4 or a little local knowledge. So we book our places on another one of Nicole's surprise trips - sandboarding.  This involves boarding a "sand bus" which takes us slipping and sliding across the dunes to a spot in the middle of nowhere but surrounded by enormous dunes. 

We spend the next hour or so climbing up the ever shifting sands ( very hard work) and then sliding down seated on a short, narrow board using our hands to keep balance on either side. 

  

We all manage a wipe out and a face full of sand or two along the way but have a great time.  

 

We have the area to ourselves for almost an hour when the next tour group arrives. 

Bus loads of Koreans suddenly descend on the previously quiet and tranquil sands. Their tour guide demonstrates correct use of the sand board and how to climb up the dunes... it becomes more amusing to watch them than actually boarding ourselves and our peace has been shattered.  They are not really dressed for it either! The moral of our morning is never trust a Korean to take a family photo!

Our sand bus comes back to collect us and we drive back over the sands to a waiting milkshake in the beachfront cafe. Thus marks the beginning of "Sausage Rollgate" in which a father and a small child almost come to blows over a savoury snack. This continues while a mother and a slightly older child explore nearby Nelson Bay. 

 

 

In the calm after the storm we all explore the many little beaches surrounding the town and are delighted to find pelicans in abundance surrounding the fishing tables at Salamander Bay as the afternoon is drawing to a close. One takes a liking to Tiegan - she is not so sure! We stand an watch their antics for a while, enjoying their duck dabbling and rowdy jostling for fish scraps at the waters edge - and they make the most bizarre sound - a cross between a honk and a pig oink.
Rowan spots a pair of dolphins in the water quite close to shore and we follow them along the beach until the sand runs out. Their are some beautiful beach front properties here and we are quite taken with the place. We try and find a late afternoon snack and ice cream but are unsuccessful instead we find another glorious little beach complete with bunnies on the grass verge, dolphins in the water and a cockatoo playing on the shore line.

The day is complete when we drive to our next camp spot and spot a field by the road with 20 or so wild kangaroos grazing in the dusk. Not sure who was watching who as, unlike the very tame roos at Aus Zoo, these were extremely wary of any noise or movement. Seconds after the click of the camera they took off into the safety and cover of the trees. Amazingly we are the only people at the rest stop tonight. There is huge investment in Highway 1 going on, and enormous development, widening and improvement of sections the road happening and some rest areas are no longer there or are inaccessible. This area was just off the road in an area still under construction which is why we think it was so empty.

day 84 Sep 16 Fri Nelson to Newcastle

Our last full day in the van and we are in Newcastle -we all love the city immediately despite it's industrial feel. As we drive in along the newly developed marina and waterfront area we spot Nobby's Head. Formally an island but joined to the mainland by a causeway in the 1800s and now home to a modern lighthouse station which is open occasionally to the public. Huge cargo ships are being pulled by several tugs out along the narrow channels and out to sea and we watch their progress and maneouvres as they start their journeys. We enjoy a walk along the sea wall out to the point together and then back along the beach and the surf and waves of Nobbys Beach. 

We drive around the bay to Newcastle Beach and the Bogey Hole. The first convict dug bathing spot in Australia - sadly it is all fenced off and we can only look down on it and wonder about the prisoners quarrying the stone and what hell they must have felt they had landed up in.

We drive up to a cafe and enjoy a wonderful drink and ice cream overlooking the main beach.

After lunch the girls decide to spend their last full afternoon before Sydney back on Nobby's beach and  we dig, tunnel,build sand castles, jump waves, boogy board and people watch for the afternoon.

It is a really great afternoon which ends far too soon. We drive to our last free rest stop - 60km out of Sydney - and our last night in the van. Sadly the bbqs which we had hoped to use had been removed and so we have to cook our sausages and burgers in a frying pan instead. We are approached by a lady from the Bahamas who is travelling with her husband up to Cairns via Brisbane where they will pick up their 18 year old daughter who is in Australia for a year. It transpires that this is their first night in a campervan and they are grateful for our limited knowledge. We are happily pass on the boogie board, our Camps 6 bible and bits and bobs of food which we will be unable to use before we leave e.g. the spray oil which has been invaluable for using the free bbqs, kitchen roll and our last pasta, rice and mayonnaise. It is a really cold night, even David feels the drop in temperature and we find ourselves making hot drinks before bed.