Australia
On to the next continent - Australia.... Flight number 15, but whose counting? It was great being in an English speaking country again, where the toilet seats are raised and you don't have to fear the tap water.
In 2005 I traveled in Australia with my dear friend Shira Gail, for 6 weeks. We had an incredible time there - and I never expected to be so lucky to get the chance to go back. Since I had spent a significant amount of time there, and since we were trying to pack in as much as we can before Passover and winter in the southern hemisphere - we decided that our trip to Australia would really be a quick stop just in Sydney. Since this is my second time in Sydney I feel like I was able to appreciate it more. It was an amazing feeling to stand somewhere and remember standing in the same place 6 years ago. Joey fell in love with Sydney. He spent most of the trip trying to convince me to consider moving to Australia. He was so blinded by Sydney's beauty that he even said, “Its not that far from the US”. Its probably the farthest point you can get away from the US. Yes the views, the birds, the flowers and the people are uniquely amazing - but Australia is so far from home. I Guess we will just have to go back to Australia to spend more time exploring the rest on another trip.
We were really happy with how much we had accomplished in our short stay, but we definitely left Australia wanting more. Since we both loved so many things about Sydney we decided to do a list of our ten favorite things about Sydney. (They are in no particular order):
1. Staying with the Hayman Family. Thanks to our friends Elana Benkovitz Sobin and Shira Benkovitz (and yes, you too Jonah), we were able to connect with their cousins in Sydney, who live in the Bondi Beach area. It was the first time during this trip (since Israel) where we felt like we were at home with family. It was a great feeling to be surrounded by such a welcoming family. They were all so helpful with giving us rides and recommendations of where to go, and helping us with how to take the bus and the train. We are so appreciative of their hospitality and hope we can reciprocate in the future!
2. The Jewish community in Sydney. It was such a great experience to learn about the Jewish community in Sydney. They have a great pizza place, Katzy's, Grandma Moses's Bakery and Stark's bakery, which we managed to try all in our short stay. On Friday night we went to one of the main shuls close by. It was a unique service that included a small choir beautifully harmonizing the prayers. The way it reminded me of Glee put a smile on my face. The next day we went to the Dover Heights Shul, which is known as the “shul with a view”. After services, during Kiddush we learned what the view was. The shul was set high up on the cliff, with nothing blocking a spectacular panoramic ocean view. We ate both Friday night and Shabbat lunch meals with two different families in their homes. The personalities were so warm and friendly, the conversations were full of life and humor and the food was perfection. We even got a chance to taste the famous Vegemite. Again, we thank the amazing Sydney Jewish Community!
3. Bondi Beach. After our exhausting flight from Bangkok, our 1 hour nap turned into a 4 hour nap! We didn't want to completely waste away one of our few days in Sydney so we quickly hopped on a bus to see the famous Bondi Beach. It was just as cool and beautiful as I remembered it. Since the seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere- the end of February/beginning of March is the end of summer and back to school season like our September. Summer was fading out and the new school year was about to start. You could really feel the crowd at the beach trying to soak up the last sun before the start of a new semester.
4. Darling Harbor. Darling Harbor is a waterfront area downtown which is famous for it's night life and beautiful views. The harbor is full of locals and tourists pouring out of packed bars and restaurants. The night life was very lively and fancy. The guys wore the typical button down shirts and jeans, but the girls were all stilettos and sparkles. After an hour of people watching we agreed that the scene was way more impressive than both NY and Miami. It looked more like a fashion event than a night out on the town.
5. Sydney Harbor Bridge - A famous thing to do in Sydney is to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. I did not get a chance to do it last time I was here because it was so expensive, but of course the prices went even higher since then. We decided that we would go for the second best, and much cheaper option of climbing the steps of the bridge pylon. We still got an amazing view of downtown Sydney, and learned a lot about the history of the famous bridge that has been connecting the central business district and the North shore of Sydney since 1932.
6. Circular Quay. This area in downtown Sydney is where the Opera House is located, and is one of the most famous city scenes in the world. The amazing architectural design is far more impressive in person than in pictures. Its complex shape and structure is so unique, it is almost fun to look at it from different angles and figure out its design. Circular Quay was especially interesting at dusk. As the sun started to set we noticed the seagulls flying pattern and shape had changed - only to discover that what we thought were seagulls were actually bats. The bats flew across and circled the harbor sky in groups of 5-10 at a time! We were really confused why there were giant bats everywhere so we asked a waiter at one of the outdoor cafes. He explained to us that the bats come from the botanical gardens not too far away, so seeing them here was not strange. When we walked closer to the location of the botanical gardens we saw many bats even closer and some hanging upside down in the trees. Seeing the bats that close up made us realize how big they actually were. These awesome bats are just part of the amazing wildlife of Australia.
7. The Taronga Zoo. We really got the chance to see Australia's wildlife at this Sydney Zoo. The trip starts out with a short ferry ride from Circular Quay to the Zoo's island location, which provides great views of the opera house and the bridge. Once you get off the ferry you enter a beautiful scene of Australia's best flora and fauna with the best view of the city in the background. We wondered through the exhibits and watched koalas, kangaroos and got face to face with a kookaburra bird. The highlight of the trip was getting to pet a wallaby. It is not the biggest zoo in the world, but the setting itself may make one of the most beautiful.
8. The Aquarium. Not only does Joey love to catch fish, but he also likes to see and learn about fish, so the Aquarium was on our list of things to do. They had many cool exhibits there, and had recently added giant Lego sculptures, which were really fun to see too. The best part of the aquarium was the shark tunnels and getting to stand in a real shark cage. It was a very cool aquarium and it is always fun watching Joey's inner child come out when he starts running from tank to tank.
9. Manly Beach. Part of touring around Sydney is using the extensive ferry network that runs all round the waterfront. One of the destinations is Manly Beach. Just a short hop from the big city is this quaint beach town that feels a world away. Manly has its own aquarium (which Joey made us go to as well) right on the pier and was very nice. The day we went it was quite rainy and gray so the already sleepy feel of the place was even quieter than normal. We had the whole place to ourselves.
10. Casino. Last but definitely not least is our stop at the Star City Casino! Not that it was considered in our budget at all, but we felt like, why not?! We sat down at a roulette table, picked our usual numbers and just had fun. We are not high rollers, and we are definitely not big winners, but we got lucky tonight, and made some money. Unfortunately not enough to extend our trip, but definitely enough to get us a free ride to the airport the next morning! And just like that we end our Sydney trip on an even higher note.
