Pillsbury Press: Sydney, November 19: Last Day

Our last day started out rainy, so we opted for a leisurely breakfast at the café next door to the hotel. We met a couple from England, who kept bumping into the rest of the day. They took a three week cruise from Seattle to Sydney and were about to return to the United Kingdom tomorrow.

After breakfast we walked to the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park, a building I had passed a number of other times, but only went inside this time because of the rain. There was school group in the center space. The walls were covered with words that didn't make sense to me. I could read the letters, but I couldn't distinguish their meaning. The guide asked the students for the significance. Each slate represents a town at least one serviceman came from in World War I. Each includes a bit of dirt from that town and ranged from white sand from a beach to the red dirt prevalent near Uluru. So many places. So many young men. Australia lost a lot of their youth to wars that really did not involve them. In a corner of the building is a tiny museum with a handful of war artifacts ranging from a nurse's uniform (how was anyone that small?) to a camera from World War I.

From there we walked to the Australia Museum. I showed Don the exhibit I enjoyed last year of the 100 artifacts and 100 important people. Important people ranged from the nefarious Ned Kelly to an opera singer to politicians. I had not heard of most of the people.

The museum was crowded with others escaping the rain, including school groups. Like most other museums, this one is free.

When we left, the rain was done. We took a ferry back to Manly to continue yesterday's hike from the other direction. We ate a grocery store "sammi" for lunch, which the seagulls eyed up. The trail started near the local museum (also free) featuring an exhibit called "Hyphenated" about people who are from two different cultures (ex: Japanese Australian) and how the two sides influence them. My favorite was a Chinese Australian artist who superimposed words about how he felt on top of family photographs. He felt between the cultures.

The first two kilometers of the trail are paved and effortlessly wind through neighborhoods with people walking their dogs and going for runs. The opposite of the dirt trail we encountered the day before filled with tree roots, wooden stairs, and other obstacles.

Then we started to hit the obstacles.

At one point the path literally disappears when the tide comes in. Ooops. I saw dogs playing in the water, and hikers start the walk and disappear. We had to walk through a bog, puddles and all, in order to continue. Fine for me because I wore my hiking sandals. Not so easy for Don with his closed toe shoes and crutch. There was a longer high tide path.

Fortunately we were only going 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) that day. I was firmly ending at the half-way point where we ended the day before.

There was a lot of wildlife, both in plant and in animal form. We saw signs for penguins (squee!) and watched a kangaroo hop away.

Felt like we kept climbing up and up and up. Not so much down. The path hugged the coastline.

Since Don was not zooming ahead of me due to his foot, I was able to relax and enjoy the views and the flowers, and take a lot of pictures. Despite my concern that I would fill the memory card on vacation, I didn't. Guess I didn't take a lot of pictures. (I took over 2,000 on my camera, plus at least 1,000 on my phone, and Don took another2,000 pictures on his phone).

The most amusing sight was a public toilet. No the toilet itself, but the building surrounding it because it talked to me. No, I was not hallucinating. The bathroom informed me the toilet would flush either after I washed my hands OR opened the door. The door would open in 10 minutes no matter what. Then it played music so everyone around could tell someone was in the toilet. Don, who for once did not have to go, felt the need to go inside and check it out. Must add, overall we found free, clean public restrooms no matter where we were.

We took a bus back to the ferry launch and walked to a Yacht Club for their Tuesday night parmi dinner special. It was good! I noticed most of the restaurant had the same meal.

The sign about keeping an eye out for penguins piqued my interest, so I asked a local about it. He said they used to come in near the trail, but were scared off by a dog. Then they moved to another spot where they were also disturbed. He thinks they now beach at the Quarantine House at the other end. We had no other plans, so we took a bus out there and sat on the beach to watch our last Australian sunset, at least until another vacation.

Quarantine House is a huge complex. It used to be part of the immigration process, but now people can rent rooms. Yes, it is not far from Manly Beach, which is only a ferry ride away from Sydney, but it felt like it was as isolated as Uluru. It was so calm. I walked the beach getting my feet wet. Don sat down and rested. We didn't see any penguins, but we did relax. We also made a mental note to visit the Quarantine House in daylight on a future trip. It is good to make plans.

What we didn't realize was the last bus for the night had already come to that area. "No worries," the woman from Spain working in the tourism industry at the Quarantine House drove us back to the ferry even though we were not staying there and they were under no obligation to be nice to us. Again, reminded me of Uluru where people take care of each other.

A rare gelato before boarding the ferry.