The Traveling Martens

Last couple days in Oz

We had a great, relaxing last few days. On Monday, we walked to the Sydney Aquarium and spent a few hours there. They have good sections on crocodiles (naturally), Barrier Reef fish (naturally), and sharks (naturally). We were amazed at how much we had seen and learned from our prior excursions seeing these animals in the wild. We saw more crocodiles on our rainforest boat trip and more saltwater fish live in the reef itself than any aquarium could hold. Our guides on those trips had also done a great job of giving us educational lectures about the animals we were seeing. However, seeing a shark again was a bit disturbing. Our memory of the shark we saw swimming in the Barrier Reef with us still gives us chills.

After the aquarium, we walked all the way back to the Kings Cross neighborhood to have Thai for lunch. Yes, the same little Thai hole in the wall that we just ate for dinner at about midnight the night before. It was so good, we had to go back!

Then we grabbed a newspaper and read in the park all afternoon, giving our feet a much needed break. We've been walking at least 5 miles a day, and our legs definitely felt it.

For dinner, we went back to a great pizza place nearby where we had eaten the prior weekend after the wine and food festival.

On Tuesday, we headed to the harbor, taking our time and walking all through the botanical garden downtown. There is a section of tall palm and other trees that are filled with bats, hanging upside down, chirping, and every once in a while spreading their leathery wings. We had seen them before, flying above the Sydney bridge at night and wondered where they lived.

From the harbor, we jumped on a ferry for our half hour ride to Manly beach, which sits on the northern piece of land where the harbor meets the ocean. Again, the ferry rides are amazing, seeing how many coves and bays exist within Sydney harbor, each bay might have three or four little natural sand beaches. The rolling hills above each bay all hold beatiful neighborhoods, each with its own character. Watson's Bay, Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, each place is like its own little town on the water, and then you have Sydney's downtown just a half hour ferry or drive.

Manly Beach has beaches on both side of the peninsula, with some overlooking the harbour, and its biggest beach looking out at the Pacific Ocean. It's a wide open sandy beach, with lots of surfers, volleyball games, snorkelers in some of the rock grottos on the side, and a constant stream of people on the sidewalk by the beach. There are several streets of restaurants, cafes, surfwear, and boutique clothing stores in the short walk between the harbour and the ocean sides.

Heading back on the ferry, our time was drawing near to say goodbye to Sydney Harbour. We sat on the pier for an hour, watching the boats go by and the colors change on the Opera House as the sun set. We then hopped nearby to the oldest pub in Australia, in The Rocks area, for a few drinks, before heading to a great Indian restaurant on the bay (which we had eaten at the weekend before, and vowed to come back- cheap Australian wine and great garlic naan bread).

posted by Mel and Stacy Marten @ 8:25 PM