October 29 – November 4
Another word or two on Uluru before moving on to Sydney. I was reminded as we flew out of just how beautiful and expansive the Outback is.
Uluru is a favorite of many people that we met in Australia with several people calling it the “Spiritual Center of Australia”. In addition to the beautiful landscape, Uluru is home to a lot of Aboriginal artists. This is a piece that our buddy Leigh has in his office that I really loved.
Upon arriving to Sydney, we dropped off bags and went out to meet up with Leigh. Reminder: Leigh is our friend that we met on the ship in Antartica and also had the good fortune of being able to meet up with in Capri. Somehow he’s not sick of us yet, so we are looking at about a week of adventures with him.
First stop – oysters and a bit of wine before he let us go check out his office and his courtroom.
Tell me that’s not awesome.
More awesome:
The next few days were a wonderful blur of delicious food and drink in a great city.
Check out that delicious pizza, Melissa and GDM!
This is definitely the best burger we had on the trip and one of the best we’ve ever had.
Also – I got my haircut at Desmond & Molly Jones. Definitely chosen exclusively for the name.
We visited the Royal Botanical Gardens and surrounding areas, which, of course, I loved.
It didn’t have a (chlorma) Climatron, but it had more of those ballerina flowers that I love!
We also ran into Leigh while we were grabbing lunch. That is definitely a “little thing” that I didn’t know how much I missed over the past year – just running into a person randomly and deciding on the fly to grab a cup of coffee with them. I love it!
We popped into the beautiful St. Mary’s Cathedral.
And we got our first glance at the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge!
We got another great view later that night when we had drinks with Leigh at the Sydney Opera House bar.
Yes. Leigh and Michael are wearing matching shirts that they bought in Capri, because that’s what besties do. They call in advance to make sure they match.
After drinks and more oysters, we had a delicious dinner overlooking the harbor at Cafe Sydney.
The next day we nabbed some runs and ran some errands before heading off to do the Sydney Bridge climb.
We got the last round of postcards in the mail!
And we saw these kids:
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/img_4950.trim_.movThe little brother was mostly moral support. The older brother was nailing it.
Also a quick shout out to two things that have been with us the entire trip:
That is my tiny straightener. It has been amazing for an entire year and has consistently gotten the job done, even after my horrible hair cut in Madagascar. It has been the MVP of all items brought along on this trip, in my opinion. Also, props to that converter. It was Michael’s from his first trip to Asia some 14 years ago. It died while we were in Sydney. I know it was asking a lot and it took a lot of abuse this past year, but we only needed it for ONE MORE WEEK! Apparently that was too much to ask.
So, the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb is a little touristy. But it was also awesome.
Our guide, Micah, was full of information that I would love to share here, but I know Leigh hasn’t done it yet and I know he’s going to read this, so I don’t want to ruin the experience for him. Anyone else who wants the most interesting piece of info can ask separately.
It’s super high and super windy, so you get to wear these cool jumpsuits and everything, including your person, is tied down at all times.
That night, Leigh and I went to see Taylor Swift. Even though I’m burnt out on blogging, she deserves a separate post. So she shall get it.
The next morning, we popped over to Sydney’s popular Bondi Beach, just four miles east of downtown Sydney.
It was one of the first warm Saturdays in spring, so everyone was out, enjoying the day.
The weekend was spent relaxing at Leigh and Craig’s wonderful home outside Sydney: Ventnor.
This historic home sits in between two bays with great views everywhere you look.
Look at this gorgeous bougainvillea! And yes, I had to google the spelling on that one!
The home is situated in a national park and is only accessible by boat. What a great way to commute!
Leigh and Craig just moved in two months ago and have big plans for the home. I already love it just as it is, but Michael is excited for a pizza oven addition! We are pumped to go back and visit again and see all the changes!
With access to a kitchen, Michael got another shot at pasta making. Not our best effort, but with some delicious wine and great friends everything tasted great.
Breakfast on the grill!
Leigh’s still getting use to all his new toys.
We could have stayed for weeks, but it was off to Melbourne for the last international stop of the trip. Even though their hospitality was not even close to being over, a huge thank you to Leigh and Craig for hosting us in their great city. We didn’t spend nearly enough time in Sydney and we’ll definitely be back!