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Day 8
Gosford
Today: 45kms, Total: 1061kms
Rest and relaxation and catching up with our friend Anne, then off to lunch with another friend further up the coast.
This evening I started experimenting with time lapse photography from Anne's verandah. Results will be published when I get the result I'm looking for. :-)
Day 9
Gosford
Today: 34kms, Total: 1095kms
Off to lunch at a lovely beach side restaurant with Anne at Terrigal (we'll have to stop eating out or risk being overweight with the Cruiser!).
The usual suspects. Note that our mere presence has scared the rain away.
Day 10
Gosford - Sydney <Map>
Today: 74kms, Total: 1135kms
The first item on today's agenda was getting the caravan ready for departure and out of the backyard.
After more man- & women- handling, we had it lined up so that it wouldn't wipe out her hedge when we towed it up the drive.
All that physical efforts was rewarded as Anne put on a lovely lunch for our departure (More FOOD!). What a simply gorgeous setting.
Then it was off down Highway 1 to the Big Smoke and Sue's brother's home for a few days. We had another family meal on arrival that evening, so I suspect that we shall not need feeding again for a week!
Day 11
Sydney
Today: 0kms, Total: 1135kms
More family time. Just sitting about chatting. Sue is doing a lot with researching her family's genealogy, so she was sharing some of the things she'd found out with the rest of her side of the family.
Day 12
Sydney (The Rocks)
Today: 32kms, Total: 1167kms
Today was a bit of a treat as we booked into a hotel at The Rocks in the heart of one of the oldest parts of Sydney. Sue had already booked us seats online for a performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute at The Opera House for tonight, so we decided that rather than worry about parking or catching public transport back to the outer suburbs at the end of the performance, that we'd shout ourselves a night in town.
We certainly had a win with the room. This was the view from the window!
There were a number of things we had lined up to do today and tomorrow while we were in the city. The first was to see an exhibition of photography of 'The Green Desert' that was on at the newly-restored Customs House at Circular Quay. (Circular Quay is the area at the extreme right of the photo above and is also a train and ferry terminal.)
One of the reasons we chose this area was that everything we wanted to see was within walking distance. Off we walked to the Customs House to see the exhibition, only to find that it was closed! The good news was that the exhibition was to open again tomorrow, so all was not lost and we strolled back to the hotel via the Overseas Passenger Terminal wharf. I guess we were reasonably happy that there were no large cruise ships docked as that would have spoilt the view from our hotel!
If you're around Circular Quay, there are two things that you really cannot escape seeing. One is...
...the Opera House, while if you turn 180°, the other is...
...the Harbour Bridge.
The Rocks area grew along with the first European settlement at Sydney Cove (now Circular Quay) and was the home to numerous warehouses, shipping offices and, of course, drinking establishments.
One of the more striking is the Australasian Steam Navigation Company building, built in the 1880s in the rare Anglo-Dutch style as offices and warehouses. It now houses galleries and restaurants.
A slightly windswept Sue looking over drinkers and diners taking in the harbour atmosphere as we make our way to the Opera.
(Techo/geeky note: Picture taken in Panorama mode on my new Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone. Can't say it's too shabby?)
The production of The Magic Flute was an Australian Opera Company version of the New York Metropolitan Opera staging including huge puppets and a really brilliant set <Link to the Met Review>. We both thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it was certainly not a tradition staging of the Opera. As we'd only had a small meal while walking to the Opera House, we finished off the evening with a Baskin Robbins Choc Chip + Hokey Pokey in a tub to nibble as we walked back to the hotel. Bliss!!
Day 13
Sydney
Today: 32kms, Total: 1199kms
We tried for the photo exhibition at the Customs House again this morning. Fortunately, it was now open again and we had an enjoyable hour looking at some exceptional photos of the greening of the desert lands in South Australia and New South Wales.
The Customs House is a significant heritage building dating from 1845 and was refurbished in time for the 2000 Olympics. In the main foyer there is a model of the Sydney CBD under a transparent floor.
Sue does thoughtful Godzilla impersonations over Pitt and George Streets.
After all this excitement, we went back to Ian and Jenny's for our last night in Sydney.
Day 14
Sydney - Shoalhaven Heads <Map>
Today: 181kms, Total: 1380kms
After planning a route to avoid most of the nastier areas of Sydney traffic into Charlotte (our GPS), we set off for our first rest stop of the day - Bald Hill overlooking Stanwell Park.
Stanwell Tops is a favourite Hang-gliding venue. The Sea Cliff Bridge can be seen in the middle distance.
One of the attractions of Stanwell Park is that Lawrence Hargrave, the father of Australian Aviation, conducted his initial experiments with man-lifting box kites here in the late 19th Century. Hargrave's work inspired Alexander Graham Bell to begin his own experiments with a series of tetrahedral kite designs.
Lawrence Hargrave (1850-1915) - engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer.
Further along Lawrence Hargrave Drive there is the rather unusual Sea Cliff Bridge.
The Sea Cliff Bridge replaced a section of Lawrence Hargrave Drive that was permanently closed in August 2003 due to rock falls. A public outcry emerged over the road closure so a new bridge was designed and opened in December 2005.
Yet another boring lunch stop. :-) This is on Lawrence Hargrave Drive at Coledale.
Our stop for the night was a very pleasant caravan park at Shoalhaven Heads outside Nowra.
After setting up, we went for a stroll along the beach. The wind had got up and was blowing spume along the beach.
It was so strong that even this windsurfer gave up and was carrying his board back to the carpark.
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