Last Sydney Leg: two days

Our roundtrip ticket meant we began and ended the trip in Sydney. The first leg was a few days. The last leg, just two. We stayed at the Veriu Central, an art deco style hotel that is a quick walk from the Museum stop on the train in one direction, and Chinatown in the other. As with other trips, it was often a similar amount of time to take mass transit vs. walking. Unlike past trips, we opted for mass transit over walking. Sydney has a wonderful Tap On Tap Off system that has a daily cap of either $10 (weekends) or $16 (weekdays) (should double check the amounts). We maxed out most days in most cities.

After checking into our hotel at 1 pm, we changed and headed to the Sydney Harbor Bridge's pylon. This is about a tenth of the price of the Harbor Bridge climb, and a better option for someone with a bum leg. It also meant we could take lots of pictures. Everyone who has ever done the Harbor Climb swears it was the best experience of their lives (or at least of their trip), so I don't want to dissuade anyone, but we both knew it was not for us.

On our first leg to Sydney we met a man who suggested the Spit to Manly hike, followed by the ferry back to Circular Quay in downtown Sydney. It amazed us how far reaching mass transit it. Using Google Maps, we made it to the Spit Bridge, which we walked over, to the trail.

Like the Bondi to Cogee Walk we did during our first leg, this hugs the coastline and has varied terrains. It is 10k (6.2 miles) long. Passes less beaches, more "bush," as someone described it to us. At the halfway point the sun was getting lower in the sky and we lost the trail. We were at a parking lot at Tania Park. More misadventures in reading Google Maps and we made it to a bus stop just as a bus was appearing. We waved him down and he stopped for us. The ride took us to the wharf in Manly, where we took the sunset ride back to Circular Quay, otherwise known as the poor man's sunset dinner cruise (no dinner).

Dined at the Australia Hotel -- an historic landmark. Beautiful inside, but many, many stairs. They have a beautiful rooftop bar, but it was too many stairs for Don, plus too cold. He caught a chill on the ferry ride.

Mass transit to within a couple of blocks of our hotel. Sleep!

The next day started out rainy. We lingered over breakfast at the café next door to our hotel. Then lingered some more in museums. Most museums are free. The first one was the ANZAC war memorial. Australia New Zealand Army Corps. The Australians honor their soldiers in ways we don't do in the United States.

Then we walked a couple of more blocks to the Australia Museum. By the time we were annoyed by school groups and crowds doing like us to avoid the rain, the rain stopped and we walked to Circular Quay to catch the ferry to Manly. I feel like we are finally figuring out our way around Sydney -- just in time to leave. We walked around Manly before finding the trailhead. This end of the trail starts with a 2k walk on sidewalks along the main beach and through neighborhoods before becoming seriously off-road. There were times we wondered if we had lost the trail.

About to board.

Dinner at Yacht Club. 

Hunt for Penguins

Dark ferry ride back

Tram to hotel

Check out easy. Looking at ride share apps, that was cheaper than taking the train, so that's what we did. Seems counterintuitive.

Wish us luck on the 14 hour ride (probably more like 15 hours in the plane).

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.

Birds flying alongside our ferry

The ferry provides the best views of Sydney.

Sydney, November 18: Back to the Beginning at the End

The end of the trip was in sight as we returned to Sydney. Only six more pages of notes in my book.

Andrew dropped us off at the Brisbane Airport at 7 am for a 9 am flight. Due to their construction, this is the first time we needed almost every minute of that time. Every other time, we sailed through security and had time at the gate to pull out my laptop and blog.

We checked in to our ninth and final place to sleep. Fortunately we could check in early so we changed into shorts. 

Don's goal for the day was to climb the Harbour Bridge's pylon. I think of this as the poor man's version of the Bridgeclimb. For us, it was the one we were willing to do. Everyone who does the Bridgeclimb swears it is the most amazing experience ever -- even those who do it in the rain. I think they put something in their Kool Aid. We saw people doing it. It did not look like our definition of fun. For about a tenth of the price, we got similar views, were not strapped into a harness, and could bring our own camera.

The Pylon also includes a museum.

I once saw a comparison of the two experiences. If I can find it again, I will link to it here.

This still had over 200 steps. I was surprised it did not have an elevator. There were good views all around. We chose a time when the weather was sunny and clear -- an option not available for the Bridgeclimb because that often has to be booked in advance. 

We then walked across the bridge for the third time on this trip (the first was a round trip at the beginning) and caught a bus to Spit. Yes, Spit. A couple of weeks earlier we talked to a man who recommended the Spit to Manly hike since we enjoyed walking from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. This was before Don hurt his leg, of course.

Because mass transit is no reliable, even in a big city like Sydney, it took a while to catch a bus. Once we found the start of the hike, we had a great time. Unwilling to be on the uneven path in the dark, we walked the first half of the hike. We passed some beaches. Saw the cutest young couple. When the path got wider we paused to let them dash ahead of us, but they didn't. When they eventually caught up, I made a comment and the guy said "we stopped to kiss." The way he said it, and the stars in her eyes as he did, was utterly charming. They dashed past us barefoot wearing the tiniest of bathing suits. We were stumbling wearing our hiking shoes, shorts, and tee shirts. 

Ah...young love.

Don did great, but between the late start and the delay in getting a bus, when we reached the halfway point and couldn't find the continuation of the path we took it as a sign to stop. We asked for directions to the bus stop (for some reason, Google Maps wanted us to take the trail and we were lost). 

By some miracle, we quickly caught a bus to the ferry terminal and the poor man's sunset cruise back to Circular Quay. It amazes how far you can go using Sydney's mass transit. I suppose it is the same could be said about New York City.

We ate at the Australian Hotel -- an historic bar Don eyed up on our first day in Sydney. They have a lovely rooftop bar accessible by an ancient staircase. After a long day of hiking and walking, that was not an option.