Oh the Places We Go!

After making our way around turbulent weather to LAX from the middle of Indiana, we were still able to make our Sydney bound plane, and settle in for a fourteen plus hour flight.  What an adventure my friend of 25 years and I were anticipating for the next two weeks!  But first we had to sit back, watch a couple of movies, sleep, read, and watch a couple more movies.



With a fourteen hour time difference, we landed bright and early in Sydney, dropped our luggage at the hotel for afternoon check in and walked down to the Sydney Harbor to catch a ferry and enjoy the views of the city from this famous Harbor.  We were not disappointed!

Our first stop was Manly Wharf. We were blessed with fabulous weather, even though winter had officially started there.  We explored, walked the town, and ate fish and chips on the beach while taking in the fresh South Pacific Ocean air, and watching the impressive surfers do their thing.

After a full day of exploring, we headed back to The 1888, a boutique hotel in a primo location just a short walk down to the harbor, and across the street from the city tram. We enjoyed a delightful dinner in the lobby restaurant.

With my friend being an avid Twitterer, she read a tweet from Coldplay, YES THE REAL COLDPLAY, needing extras for a video they planned on filming in Sydney the next day.  Since "making the most of opportunities as they present themselves" seemed to be our theme of the trip, we headed out the next morning to try to get in the video.  What a fun experience.  We were able to see a neighborhood in Sydney we would have missed (Newtown), spend the day with fellow Coldplay fans (known to  break out in acapella  Coldplay songs without prompting), and participate in a really cool video - "A SKY FULL OF STARS"   See it here!  But our day didn't end there...we still had a bridge to climb!  So off we went to get the best view of Sydney and the Harbor - a fabulous experience, and a great way to learn about the city.

http://thebucketlistbondi.com/

 Sydney is a wonderful city, full of great spots to explore.  We enjoyed the Coastal Walk from Bondi Beach, and Featherdale Wildlife Preserve.  I found myself taking multiple photos of the Opera House because its appearance changed all day as the lighting changed in the sky.  It truly is a modern day masterpiece sculpture which happens to be a world class performance hall.

 The reason for our trip in the first place was to reunite my friend with her son who was just finishing up his semester abroad in the southern coast city of Melbourne.  After a few days in Sydney which barely scratched the surface, we were off to see Michael and have him show us around his favorite Australian hometown.  Melbourne has a much different feel than Sydney, with the Yarra River winding through Victorian buildings and large green spaces intertwined with splashes of modern sculptures, buildings, and colors.  I was awed by the famous Hosier Lane and the graffiti artwork found there.  We also took in a "Footy" game, and found it a fascinating combination of fast paced soccer, rugby, American football, and even basketball. 

We spent a day admiring the Southern Australia coastline by driving The Great Ocean Road, an absolutely spectacular coastline featuring The Twelve Apostles Marine Park with stunning natural rock sculptures.  This was right up there as one of my favorite Aussie experiences - so beautiful.

 No trip to Melbourne would be complete without visiting Port Phillip Bay to see the colorful Bathing Boxes inhabiting Brighton Beach since 1862, and the historic St. Kilda's Pier with it's resident penguins, which we barely saw tucked into the rocks.

 New Zealand was the location of our next experience. With just a few days to spare, we landed in Queenstown and made the most of our time there by exploring Lake Wakitipu and the surrounding area including Paradise and the Middle Earth Forest, Arrowtown, and wine country.  New Zealand is known for extreme outdoor adventures, so paragliding off the mountain seemed to be a must!  What fun we had!

 

Flying over Queenstown

This is one of my favorite photos because it captures the beauty of New Zealand and sums up all the fun we had on our entire trip!  Thanks Peggy and Michael for letting me tag along.  The biggest thanks has to go to my hubby for taking care of things at home so I could have such an amazing experience!  I love you Kevin!