Where did the last 10 days go?

As we have been on the go for the last little while, my blogging has suffered. It has been a busy time with the tour - up early, late to bed.
In a nutshell, we went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef (out to the Low Isles), had 2 nights on Dunk Island, 2 nights on Hamilton Island (my favourite), 1 uneventful night in Rockhampton, 2 nights on Fraser Island and now we are in Brisbane.

Kuranda Scenic Railway and Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

First day on the bus and it is a short drive. We are being dropped off at the Kuranda Scenic Railway that winds up The Barron Gorge to a little town called Kuranda. The views are stunning.


We did a lot of touristy things: went to an aboriginal cultural centre (tried to throw a boomerang), saw koalas, crocodiles and kangaroos in a wildlife park, went on an Army Duck and toured through the rainforest. Then we took a really long and high cable car back down the hill. I was pretty nervous but was glad I did just because of the great views.

Meeting my new tour group tonight

Today was a relaxing day enjoying a nice buffet breakfast, strolling through Cairns and swimming in the pool. Now I really feel like I'm on a holiday!
This evening is the drinks and dinner with my new tour group, who I will be spending the next 2 weeks with. The first 2 ladies I meet are Nelly from St. Albert and Joan from Edmonton. There are 3 solo female travelers and 1 solo male. The rest are 6 couples, all from the UK. The ages range from late 20's to late 60's (maybe 70's). Our tour guide is Zoe and the bus driver is Sid, both Aussies who seem super nice.
We had a 3 course dinner at the hotel restaurant, while it poured buckets outside.

Bye Bye Sydney (for now, anyways)

My flight to Cairns was leaving at 10:30AM, so I reserved a spot on the airport shuttle bus at 8:30AM. It was 20 minutes late and the traffic was a nightmare. I think everyone was leaving now that the games were over. There was a huge queue at the airport to check-in, but the Qantas staff were very good at getting everyone where they needed to be. I made it with 15 minutes to spare.

The approach into Cairns was bumpy because there were a lot of clouds. A driver and car were waiting there for me, so I had a pleasant ride to the Shangri-La (no crammed airport shuttle). The hotel looks right over the ocean and marina. Internet access and breakfast are included - ah the luxurious life!

Race Day!

In order to catch the train, I woke up at 4:30 AM, ate some cereal out of a coffee mug and headed to Olympic Park. I ran into David Guss on the train (he had a late night, so he looked a little sleepy). I got to the start line in plenty of time to warm up. The weather was great, not sure what the temperature was but probably around 12C to 15C, some clouds and little wind. The start was staggered, with the younger guys starting first, then the younger women (that's me), then older guys, etc. The course was two loops around the Olympic Park, very flat. I was at the 5km mark at 24 minutes, 10km at 50 minutes and 15km at 1:15. I was faster than I had expected, but then I started getting really tired. A woman in my age group was just in front of me, so I focused on staying with her. We finished a few seconds apart at the very end! I came in at 1:48:03. My best finish, so I was quite happy and relieved. Phew.

They gave out medals for all of the age groups. There was a guy, Bob, who was in the 75 to 79 age group who finished in 1:50ish. Very impressive.

Lisa, my friend from Sydney, and her friend Chantel came down to watch the finish. It was so nice of them, especially considering it was so early on a Sunday morning. Thanks girls!

Colin, Wendy Shank's husband, found me at the finish area. I run with Wendy in the Tues/Thurs 10K group. Colin came out on his own, so we went for dinner and then on to the Closing Ceremonies that night.

Day before the 1/2 marathon

I took the train out to Olympic Park to pick up my race number and timing chip. I wanted to hang out, but there wasn't much really happening around the venues for the games. The ferry runs from the park back to Circular Quay, so I took that instead of the train. It was much more picturesque!

Blue Mountains, Wildlife Park, dinner with Chretien

I woke up early to try to catch the sunrise over the mountains, but I was a little late and missed it. It was really cool out anyways, so I went for the buffet breakfast instead.
Then I got picked up by the bus tour again. As I walked onto the bus, it looked like there were not too many free seats. I continued on to the back of the bus and there was one seat left beside a guy, so I sat down. It ended up that this guy was from the Netherlands and was traveling alone as well. We had a nice chat on the bus and ended up going for dinner that night (more about that later).
We stopped at Scenic World, that has the steepest operating railway in the world (52 degrees, I think) and a cable car that goes across the valley.



I took the railway down to the valley floor - it was kind of like a rollercoaster, except straight down. Thankfully, it was really short!
Next stop was the Wildlife Park. There were all of the animals from Australia you would expect to see (kangaroos, koalas, a Tasmanian devil, dingos, emus, bats, snakes, penguins and tons of birds).



Just before Chretien (yes, his first name is just like Jean Chretien) got dropped off by the bus, he asked if I had any plans for dinner and, of course, I didn't. We quickly made plans to meet at Wharf 5 at Circular Quay.
With these bus tours, they drop off everyone at their hotels, so it takes awhile to get to your own hotel. I had a quick shower and headed off to the wharf. Chretien and I had a nice dinner at an outdoor cafe looking over Circular Quay. Afterwards we went to a bar on the other side of the wharf and ran into this guy, Alex, from St. Louis. He was quite the talker! Chretien and I were both tired, so he walked me back to my hotel. It was so nice meeting him - too bad he lives so far away!

You had me at Pavlova

The Blue Mountains are different than our mountains, because the towns are at the top looking down into the valleys, rather than looking up at the peaks. There are many kinds of gum (eucalyptus) trees growing in the gorges. My room at the Lillanfel's resort was not ready, so I walked into the town of Katoomba. It has a strip of cafes and funky little shops. I had an awesome lunch of butternut soup and Turkish bread. My camera battery needed recharging, so I headed back to the hotel. As I waited for the battery to charge up, I went for a swim in the lovely pool.
For dinner, I had a romantic dinner for 1 at the hotel. Pavlova (a Aussie/Kiwi meringue and fruit dessert) was on the menu, so I had to have it. It was so delicious!!! See attached picture!!
The Lillanfel's resort was beautiful and provided a total break from the traffic and activity of Sydney.

Hunter Valley

 

I joined another tour this afternoon heading back from the Hunter Valley to Sydney. This group did not welcome me with open arms. They all seemed snobby and stand-offish. Whatever. The bus driver, Warren, was super nice.
I stayed at the Menzies hotel, which had a great location. It is so easy to walk around here.

Had an early morning the next day to do a bus tour up to the Blue Mountains. This group was much nicer (maybe because they were mostly Canadians!!). There were a bunch of girls from Calgary (a soccer team playing in the Masters) and a couple of girls wearing Rider sweatshirts (they were here for a relative's wedding).

We stopped at a little town called Leura and I had a scone and coffee for morning tea. It was delish! Then we headed to Katoomba, where the famous Three Sisters are (not the ones by Canmore).

Hunter Valley morning

OK, so last night I was sitting outside in the BBQ area, happily writing away, when a HUGE spider crawled across the table and scared me silly! That quickly ended that. So I went back to my room and went to bed. Slept like a log in the beautiful big bed. It is very quiet and dark out here.
This morning, I went for a run around the winery on a path they use for horse back riding. I took some photos along the way, which I will try to upload at some point. As I was taking a picture of some horses, I realized there were some wallabies (at least I think they were wallabies and not kangaroos - can't really tell the difference) in the field as well. Very exciting spotting!!

Hunter Valley Wine Tour

This morning was an early one, 5 AM, just so I made sure I had enough time to check out of my hotel and make it to the bus pick up spot for my Hunter Valley bus tour. Of course, I made it there 45 minutes early, before anyone else got there, oh well.
Paul, our cute bus driver and tour guide, actually lived in Calgary last year for 6 months, so we had a connection right away. I was the only person on the bus tour staying overnight at the Hunter Valley resort, the rest were just on a day tour. We had some wine tastings at Lindeman's and a great lunch up here at the resort. Paul took good care of me and made sure my luggage got to the room. So sweet. He totally reminded me of someone back home. I think everyone has an Australian twin!
I had a very relaxing afternoon here at the winery. It is kind of nice being out of the city for a day, away from the noise and bustle. Since there is nothing else to do, I thought it would be a good chance to catch up on my blog.
Ok, a huge spider just ran across the table. I think I'm done for tonight. Aghhh!!!!

Bondi Beach

Last time I was in Oz, I never made it out to Bondi Beach, so I figured I had better this time. The weather in the morning was looking promising, so I headed out. I took the train, which I am finding quite easy. It sounds like people who live in Sydney aren't that impressed with it as it tends to run late and is getting old. I'm finding it not as scary as I had anticipated.
When I got off the train, I thought I would walk down to the beach. Well, considering I forgot my map back in the hotel, it turned into a really long walk. I did eventually find it, but Lisa's Mom was right - it would be best to take the bus. There is a main street with restaurants, cafes and shops that runs along the beach. Most of the people in the ocean were surfers, as the water is a bit rough for just swimming. It is so nice to feel the sand between the toes and hear the crash of the waves (especially for a prairie girl like me!).
Taking Lisa's Mom's advice, I took the bus back to the train station. There I found a fantastic shopping mall (5 floors!), so I wandered around there for a bit.
Once I got back to the hotel, it was time to clean up and pack up. Now my touring starts, so I had better get used to early mornings!

Opening Ceremonies

The instructions tell me the athletes are to start arriving for the opening ceremonies at about 3pm, so I head over to the Olympic Park early because I'm not sure how busy the trains will be. Things are kind of dead when I get there, so I wander around for awhile. A little after 3, I head into the stadium where they are organizing the athletes. They are having us march into the ANZ Stadium with our sport, not our country, so I will be with Athletics.
Some people from Whistler were sitting behind me, so I started chatting with them. Another lady was with them and she turned out to be Diane, who made the World Record with Helly Visser last year for the 4 x 400m women's over 70 team. There was also a Canadian 91 year old woman who had just won 2 medals for shot put and something else. Pretty darn good!
Finally it was time to start to march into the Stadium. I ran into David Guss from Calgary, so we chatted and walked in together. His wife is playing soccer, so she was way back with the soccer group. We were right by Janice McCaffrey and her whole gang, who were decked out with Canadian flags, so we tagged along with them. It was amazing to see so many Canadians, we definitely made our presence known.
I also met an Australian lady, Rosemarie, who had done the 10K earlier in the day and a fella from Melbourne named Gary. Gary was quite the character, by the end of the night he was waving a Canadian flag he stole from someone and dancing with some girls from Brazil.
The entertainment was mostly "up and coming" Australian singers and some old (dare I say, washed up) Australian singers. It was a really long day, but fun all the same.
I'm pretty sure this is as close as I will come to feeling like an Olympian!

A run to the Prime Minister's Sydney residence

On Sunday morning, I decided to run around Lavender Bay, under the Harbour Bridge and into Kiribilli, where the PM has his Sydney residence. It is just a pretty regular house, kind of like a house you would see in Mount Royal. It has a gated fence around it, but really not much hoopla. I guess this would be similar to Canada's PM and his residence in Tuscany. I'm pretty sure there isn't even a fence around Stephen Harper's house!
Now I know some of you are going to ask if the PM invited me in for tea. Well, he didn't, so I'm pretty sure the only explanation for this is that he mustn't have been home!
So now it was time to head back to have a shower and get ready for the opening ceremonies!

A very nice day with Lisa and her parents - Aussie BBQ!

Lisa and her parents, Katrina and Jack, invited me out to their house for Aussie BBQ, which was so nice of them. When traveling, it is especially nice to have a home cooked meal. Lisa took me over to see her new house, which she is in the process of moving into. She is so lucky as to have a double garage, nice big bedrooms and her own backyard! It is also close to her parents' house, which is so handy.
We went back to her parents' house and took some pictures in the backyard. They have a lovely garden. They were so kind to drive me back to my hotel. As we drove, I realized how big Sydney and the larger metropolitan area really are!

Rainy day at the zoo, lots of crying kids, somebody pour me a drink!

This morning's skies looked not too bad, so I headed off to the Taronga zoo on the ferry. The zoo is on a beautiful location on the hillside overlooking the harbour. I checked out the new baby elephant, so cute. Saw the wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, tons of birds, giraffes, just to name a few. The vegetation was almost as interesting as the animals. Large ferns, bamboo and ecalyptus make the area really nice just for walking around.
It started to pour around noon, so I headed into the cafeteria along with all of the families (families = lots of kids)! Waited out the rain for about an hour, then started walking around again. Decided to call it a day around 3:30, as it looked like the clouds were building again.

Day 4 - Seagull in a coffee shop

This morning I started off with a run around Lavender Bay. Lisa kindly reminded me that I am running a 1/2 marathon in just over a week - thanks for the kick in the butt, Lisa!!! I got a little lost, ended up running in a circle, finally found the path I was originally looking for and almost ran to the Prime Minister's house! Some Australian high school kids even asked my for directions - I must have looked a little bit like I knew where I was going.
After a quick shower, I hiked up the hill to catch the City Rail train to try to find my way to the Olympic Park to pick up my accreditation. With the help of a rail worker, I found my way. I got to the arena and there was a huge line up. It took about 2 hours to get my pass, backpack and participation certificate. I did meet some nice people in the line up, so it wasn't so bad. After the longer than expected process, I was starving. I headed over to a coffee shop by the ANZ stadium to grab a sandwich. A seagull accidentally came in and couldn't figure out how to get out. Another girl, the cashier and myself worked at rescuing it as it kept trying to fly through the window! Finally, he went out the front door!

Day 3 - Tried to go to the Zoo, ended up at Darling Harbour

After a breakfast in my room (cereal, just like home!), I decided to take the ferry and go to the zoo. I jumped on the first ferry and realized it was going to Darling Harbour, not Circular Quay, where the ferry to the zoo leaves from. Oh well, small change in plans. I looked around Darling Harbour, had lunch and walked over to Circular Quay. Now it was already about 2 pm and a little late to head to the zoo. Instead I headed over to the Opera House. There was a tour leaving in 10 minutes, so I signed up. A guide took us around the interior, with interesting facts about building it. In 1959, it was expected to take 3 years and 7 million dollars. It was finished in 1973 and cost 102 million! You can only imagine why the architect, Jorn Utzon, resigned and sadly left Australia. Who could have imagined it would become one of the most famous buildings of the modern world?

Day 2 - Arrival

The plane landed about 1 1/2 hours late, but it didn't matter to me. It was 8:30 am and check-in at my hotel isn't until 2 pm. I took a taxi to the hotel, so I could leave my bags there. In order to keep myself awake, I decided to explore the area around my hotel. It is on the North Shore of Sydney, which is more a business district than tourist area. It looks like there are some cool houses built on the hills overlooking the harbour. Beautiful views of downtown Sydney, the bridge and Opera House.
Finally 2 o'clock arrived and I could check in. I desperately wanted a shower! My apartment room was great - a kitchen, living room area, bed looking out the window - what more can a girl ask for? Oh ya, the internet. It seems that, due to the dust storm last week, the internet was not working in some of the rooms in my hotel - mine being one of them.