Oh man, I gotta tell you, we were feeling really ready to go home at this point. I mean, we had been feeling that a few days ago but today I was almost counting the hours. Even though it was a pretty relaxed and stress-free vacation, we were still tired.
But, we still made the most of our last day in Sydney. We actually walked over to eat at Pancakes on the Rocks again and on our way I spotted a few lorikeets preening and flirting and eating on some trees right by the road! Oh I was so stoked to see them in the wild, but right there in the city! They are SO colorful and so fun to watch. So I was snapping away and happy that I was able to get close enough. Yay for more wildlife!
We ate our pancakes, which were very yummy, and boarded a ferry to cross the harbor. I took lots of video as we made our way through the harbor, which really is very big so it took us a while to get to the ocean and stop at a place called Manly there. Yes, Manly is the name. Interesting, huh?
We didn’t really have a plan for the other side but there was a tourist office there and we picked up a map. We headed to the nearby beach and on our way we were laughing at all the Manly signs. Like, “I’m the best Manly banker for you,” and stuff like that.
At the beach, we watched the surfers for a while and were both feeling pretty sleepy. It was one of those cloudy days that switch between hot and cold all the time, rainy and then not but always humid. Anyway, we actually stretched out on a low wall by the beach and took a nap there. It was much needed, though my energy didn’t last as long as I would have liked.
Well, we saw a little pathway going around the area and decided to check it out. We had no idea what we were getting into. We thought we would be going through residential areas but instead we ended up hiking through trees and scrub and all along cliffs and whatnot. OK, I guess the Taylors need more hiking!
It was actually pretty cool. We walked along some sea cliffs then come out onto a small beach, then hiked up to a parking lot and went on from there into the trees and scrub. We were meandering through that with a few vistas of the harbor every once in a while and at one point we ran into a wall with a small opening for us to stoop through, tiny for Nick. Then we came to a very calm pond at the top of these cliffs where we heard a frog singing loudly. It looked like the perfect hideout for frogs and I would have liked to have a little lunch there or something if we had had something on us to eat. From there, we passed through more trees with spiders overhead and saw some very interesting flowers and mushrooms along the way. Then we ran into some old military fort with little bunkers everywhere. Wow, this was turning out to be quite the walk!
We eventually came out to a museum and a residential area. We went inside and they had a huge map of the area all laid out, like looking at a HUGE googlemaps. They could tell we were lost so they told us where to go from there to get back to the ferry.
So we walked down a road and appreciated some flowers along the way. I saw some movement at one point and peeked through the brush to see what it was. A chicken! Haha! Oh wow, I saw a chicken in Australia! Eventually, we turned down a path back into the woods and ended up walking to a beach where a stream was coming through to the ocean. Again, it was nice here and I would have liked to linger if we were not short on time.
We walked up from the beach to continue on, passing a woman humming to herself and oblivious to the world, and came out on a residential area. I saw a big hill ahead of us, feeling like I was in San Francisco, and checked our map to make sure we had to climb it. We did. So we hiked up this hill and saw some beautiful hibiscus and other flowers along the way. Finally we came down near the ferry and the wharf and took some pictures of all the boats there.
We saw the ferry coming in and made our way quickly so that we could get on it. We sat on the outside of the ferry on the way back and had a few splashes here and there. At least it was nothing like our boat road to the Reef, ugh!
When we docked back at the main harbor, we stopped at Hungry Jack’s for lunch. We had to get our last Hungry Jack’s meal in, haha!
We walked down to the Tower and Nick’s glasses fell apart on the way! One of the screws came loose, which it had done twice already on the trip, and we were on the sidewalk looking for it. About four people stopped to ask us if we needed help and they started looking too! It was cute but I know Nick was feeling bad and embarrassed. Well these ladies were telling us there was an eyeglass place that would surely take care of it so we checked it out and they did, installing a new screw and cleaning his glasses free of charge. Aw, thank you Sydney.
So we made it to the Tower where we took an elevator up to the top, feeling our eyes pop on the way. I was excited to see the Opera House from up top but it was actually blocked from the buildings around it. Bad placement of the tower, dang it! And I was a little bummed that we looked behind glass the whole time, unlike the Eiffel Tower or the Olympic Tower in Munich. It gave us a good perspective of the city and the harbor though and was a fitting way to end our trip.
Having seen the city a little better, I noticed a monument glowing in the center of a park and knew we hadn’t visited it. With a bit more time left, we walked over to the park to check it out and were surprised to see hordes and hordes of bats flying around. Now, I suppose if one was flying in my face I would be scared, but otherwise I thought it was cool! They are really big so they are easy to spot, especially at dusk which it was at the time. At first you think, wow, that bird is out late and is BIG, but then you realize it’s a bat. I tried so hard to get a picture but the low light just wasn’t enough. I did get video though!
So we went to the monument, took pictures, and were feeling ready to go. We walked back to the hostel, gathered our bags, and made our way to the airport. The flight back went so much faster than before because I slept most of the time, which I was so happy that I was able to do, despite movies playing and babies crying.
We arrived in Honolulu on Saturday around 11am and I got to live the day all over again!
Pictures:
The lorikeet eating from a tree in Sydney.
Our trip on the ferry took us across the harbor and we saw a lot of people kayaking and boating out there. Some of the boats were very small like this one.
Manly beach with Manly folk surfing on it.
As we began our walk, we saw a few crabs on the rocks below. Crabs crack me up.
I am not sure what this bird is but he was sure posing for my camera!
We were able to see the harbor at certain points in our walk. It was a cloudy day but the clouds were big and billowy, making a cool background.
Here is the frog pond we came across. We could hear them but not see them.
Orange mushrooms, they look fleshy like fruit! But they are Australian mushrooms so they will probably kill you if you stare at them too long.
This was the strangest flower growing on these trees we passed on our hike. It looked like corn growing from the tree!
I don't know what a bandicoot is, but I like the sign.
These bunches of flowers could fit into the small of your hand. Nick said they look like fairy bouquets.
I thought these were interesting flowers as well.
At the beach on our walk, I saw quite a few of the big spiders.
Their webs were huge. You can see his web taking up the whole picture!
Here is the second beach we ran into on our hike, nearing the end of our journey.
I thought this tree was cool overlooking the beach, and I love the composition with the pathway too.
The big hibiscus we saw at the top of the hill near the end of our hike, foreshadowing our soon-approaching journey home.
More flora along the walk.
Not the most flattering picture of me, but I like the boats in the background. We would soon be running to catch our ferry back.
Just one example of them using Manly in their titles. MANLY Yacht Club, ug ug!
A look at Manly as we are heading out on the ferry.
This hotel - I am assuming that's what it is - looked so high class standing along on the edge of a little peninsula sticking out into the harbor from Manly.
It got a little splashy sometimes on our ride back but nothing too scary at all. It was a big ferry so we could handle some turbulence.
Coming back to Sydney one last time, you see the Harbor Bridge to the right.
And I had to get one last shot of the city and the Opera House with the wake in the harbor, haha.
And one last look at the majestic Opera House.
As seen from the Sydney Tower.
This is the monument we visited, which Nick decided was the Sydney Temple, haha.
Throughout the trip, I called Nick my pack mule. The poor guy would haul these backpacks around when we were going from city to city while I had the two smaller backpacks and he just looked silly.
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