Australia, Part One - Sydney

When Chris told me he had a business trip to Australia, we thought I might join him as it was scheduled around the Chinese Golden week,which is the first week in October and a good time for expats in China to travel outside of China as so many Chinese are traveling within the country.  Then the date of Chris's trip changed, so I didn't think I was going. But, finally, only a month or so before I returned to Shanghai, Chris decided to give me the trip for my birthday. I had always wanted to visit Australia, and figured if I didn't get there while we're living in Asia, when would I?

We left Shanghai on Thursday, September 4, arriving in Sydney on Friday, September 5. Even from Shanghai, it's a 12-hour flight.  We took a cab to the hotel and then walked through the light spring rain to a local pub for lunch. Given that China Eastern Airlines won't make concessions for food allergies, as is true with most airlines, and a lot of Chinese food contains sesame oil, our travel agent ordered me the fruit meals, which left me pretty hungry.  Back at the hotel, I took a nap while Chris worked.  I never sleep well on a plane, so the overnight flight had worn me out, even with only a 2-hour time change between Shanghai and Sydney.   By late afternoon, after my nap, we were getting hungry and wanted to explore a bit, so we headed out for a walk. I hadn't planned on it being so cold in Sydney, even though September is the start of Spring. Plus, it was raining, which it did on-and-off during two of our three days in Sydney.  In fact, I had packed mostly capris for our Australia trip, which I never wore.  I needed pants in Sydney and Melbourne and shorts in Port Douglas.

We walked down the hill - Sydney is very hilly - the opposite direction of where we walked for lunch and wandered along George street, one of the main streets of downtown Sydney. Lots of workers were heading out into the Friday night rush hour, mostly walking to pubs, but we did notice that Australians, at least in Sydney, seem to be very tall, as a general rule, quite good-looking and very friendly. Although apparently I sound like I'm Canadian to them.  :)  We weren't up for the cold and rain, however, so we quickly decided to stop at a nice, warm Italian place for dinner. We walked back to the hotel and went to sleep early, still catching up from our overnight flight. 

On Saturday morning, most of Chris's colleagues were just arriving, so he had time to take a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of Sydney with me. It's only 90 minutes for a complete loop - downtown Sydney isn't be very big. He hopped off at Circular Quay and I stayed on back to the Sydney Opera House, where I got off for lunch and to take pictures. The best view, the one we've all seen many times, is from the water, or probably actually for the air. But, from any angle the building is impressive. I had lunch on the lower level and people-watched for a while. I tried to get tickets to see The King and I, which was playing in one of the Opera house's theaters, but couldn't. I'd like to catch a show at the Opera House, so maybe next time.  So, I walked up another hill to the Botanical Gardens, which are quite lovely. I'm sure the gardens are a much different walk in November or December, as spring turns to summer, but even with few flowers in bloom and a light, cold rain appearing now and then, it was a lovely spot. 

 

I walked from the Botanical Gardens back to Circular Quay and did some shopping before heading back to the hotel. Chris's meetings turned to a late dinner, so I had room service and watched a little T.V. before falling asleep. My Fitbit likes Australia, as Saturday was just the first day of many that I walked well over the targeted 10,000 steps. 

On Sunday, Chris and some if his colleagues embarked on the Bridge Climb, a 3.5 hour climb of the Harbour Bridge. I decided not to try it, as there is no turning back and you're not allowed to bring anything with you, for fear of it dropping on someone's head below, I guess. I just knew I couldn't climb stairs for 3.5 hours at lunchtime without my blood sugar plummeting and didn't want to be stuck up on the top of a bridge with no snack or other way to raise my blood sugar. Plus, I wouldn't even be able to take any pictures. So, instead, I went to Darling Harbour and went to Wild Life, a small zoo next to Sea Life, the aquarium, on the pier. It was a nice little zoo, where I saw kangaroos and koala bears close up and lots of beautiful birds, as well as far too many snakes and other reptiles, plus a whole room, which I ran through, of mice and rats. Yikes! I will say it was pretty sad to see one mom trying to get her child interested in the animals by wheeling his stroller right up to the glass in front of the kangaroo exhibit, but the child was so busy playing on his iPad that he didn't even look up.

After Wild Life, I walked around Darling Harbour, which is filled with restaurants and shops and then walked back to George Street. I visited a great bookstore and then had lunch in another pub. Pubs are very popular in Australia, usually having gambling on the lower level and a bar and food upstairs. I walked to the George Street open-air market and then back to the hotel. I rested my weary feet in the hotel's hot tub until Chris came back. Later, I went to dinner with all of Chris's colleagues, plus one other wife, at a fancy French restaurant that put nuts in nearly everything. 

Early Monday morning, the whole group flew from Sydney to Cairns and then drove to Port Douglas, where the regional meetings would be taking place.  Overall, Sydney was nice, although more rainy and colder than I expected, but with really beautiful views and lots of exciting things to do.