Sydney with Ree
The first few days in Sydney were work days for me. Rhiannon got there before I did on Monday. Her friend from Year 6 at Oslo International School, Ben, picked her up at the airport and showed her the city a bit before I got there. Then she went to the aquarium, the zoo, on a bridge climb and out to the Three sisters while I conferenced. On Friday we hiked the bush on a walkabout tour.
Here’s the week from Ree's pictures and from our walkabout on Friday:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104815910362716114764/SydneyAug13Aug182012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIvItdPt64fLYQ&feat=directlink
Saturday:
Ree and Ben went to walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens, then to china town.I stayed at the hotel to get caught up with things. Tomorrow she flies home and I will take the train two hours south to Wollongong. Yes, that is the name of the city. It’s a work thing, but I’ll go mid-day tomorrow (Sunday) and it’s a beach community so at least I’ll get a walk on the beach or something. Not sure what I’ll be doing the rest of this week.
Sunday:
Sunday morning Rhiannon and I had the fabulous breakfast buffet one last time – bored with it. Proof positive that you can get sick of anything. Then we puttered around and packed up. Ben picked us up to take Ree to the airport and I hitched a ride the few blocks to the train station (a few blocks feels a lot longer when I have all my stuff).
I took the train to this city called Wollongong. I think it means ‘place of storms’ in the aboriginal dialect of the area. They do get a lot of storms in summer. (Remember that although I am here in August, it is winter.) Sat with some locals – they were pretty bored with the place. Proof positive – again – that you can grow tired of anything. I thought the city was just lovely. They complained “There’s nothing to do.” This was mainly from the 27 year old married couple who said they were looking for jobs up in Queensland to move where it is warmer and less boring. Ha!
After taking my laundry for a frustrated walk in Sydney (and never finding a coin laundry), I was thrilled when the response to my FIRST question at the hotel in Wollongong was YES, there is a guest laundry. So that was first on my agenda. By then it was about 3p, late for lunch early for dinner. Still I went out exploring with the idea in mind of eventually finding a meal. It took me about an hour to find something suitable. By then I was pretty hungry so although I had some reservations about this brewery that I found I figured what the heck. I got very lucky. Spent almost two hours there and barely made it back before full dark (again: winter here). It was getting quite cold by then!
Sunday: My walk down the beachfront of Wollongong to have dinner.
https://picasaweb.google.com/104815910362716114764/WollongongAugust192012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNGp-6ui5_bXtgE&feat=directlink
Here’s the week from Ree's pictures and from our walkabout on Friday:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104815910362716114764/SydneyAug13Aug182012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIvItdPt64fLYQ&feat=directlink
Saturday:
Ree and Ben went to walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens, then to china town.I stayed at the hotel to get caught up with things. Tomorrow she flies home and I will take the train two hours south to Wollongong. Yes, that is the name of the city. It’s a work thing, but I’ll go mid-day tomorrow (Sunday) and it’s a beach community so at least I’ll get a walk on the beach or something. Not sure what I’ll be doing the rest of this week.
Sunday:
Sunday morning Rhiannon and I had the fabulous breakfast buffet one last time – bored with it. Proof positive that you can get sick of anything. Then we puttered around and packed up. Ben picked us up to take Ree to the airport and I hitched a ride the few blocks to the train station (a few blocks feels a lot longer when I have all my stuff).
I took the train to this city called Wollongong. I think it means ‘place of storms’ in the aboriginal dialect of the area. They do get a lot of storms in summer. (Remember that although I am here in August, it is winter.) Sat with some locals – they were pretty bored with the place. Proof positive – again – that you can grow tired of anything. I thought the city was just lovely. They complained “There’s nothing to do.” This was mainly from the 27 year old married couple who said they were looking for jobs up in Queensland to move where it is warmer and less boring. Ha!
After taking my laundry for a frustrated walk in Sydney (and never finding a coin laundry), I was thrilled when the response to my FIRST question at the hotel in Wollongong was YES, there is a guest laundry. So that was first on my agenda. By then it was about 3p, late for lunch early for dinner. Still I went out exploring with the idea in mind of eventually finding a meal. It took me about an hour to find something suitable. By then I was pretty hungry so although I had some reservations about this brewery that I found I figured what the heck. I got very lucky. Spent almost two hours there and barely made it back before full dark (again: winter here). It was getting quite cold by then!
Sunday: My walk down the beachfront of Wollongong to have dinner.
https://picasaweb.google.com/104815910362716114764/WollongongAugust192012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNGp-6ui5_bXtgE&feat=directlink
