Australia trip 2005
Sydney
Sydney is fantastic! Both Lan and I have family there and of course, this is where I grew up.
The first photo below used to be a low-quality panorama I made by stitching together multiple photos but now I can just give you the Google StreetView for the same location at Mrs. Macquarie's Point near the Opera House.
Or is there something of interest in the trousers? It could mean that there is a pedestrian crossing ahead.
Actually, it isn't that tall being just 5m taller than the Eiffel Tower which is 90 years older and thus only a little more than half the height of the CN Tower which was built at about the same time.
Yes, snapping (pictures) and driving is probably dangerous and maybe against the law but it would have been even riskier to stand at this location and take the photo.
On the way south at about 6am, I was confused by lane closures and unfamiliar signs and at arrival at the toll booths, found myself in a lane exclusively for vehicles carrying electronic passes. I had to back up and get to another booth four lanes over that accepted cash ($3) which caused some amusement for the toll collector and would have been nearly impossible at any other time.
The sky’s (almost) the limit.
Great concept, brilliant engineering but perhaps a little ugly.
Looking across the Lane Cove River to Hunters Hill with a glimpse of Sydney Harbour at the top left.
I added the yellow ring. It is not a child’s hoop mounted on the fence.
Yes, the pool really was that color. :-( I was surprised that mother would even consider a house with a pool but by the end of our visit, I had worked out the unmarked plumbing, forced the random cleaning device to actually cover the whole pool, cleaned out the jacuzzi and dumped in some chlorine so it was looking nice. :-) I even swam in it (though the first time was mainly to retrieve something that fell in).
Unfortunately, the photo doesn't convey that the driveway is best suited to mountain goats. My Nissan Pulsar was unable to get up the hill on cold mornings (10°C/50°F) until warmed up.
Our house is here and is about 1km horizonally from Turramurra railway station. It feels like 0.5km vertically when walking there.
While it is nice to have trees in and around the property, it does mean that most of the garden is in the shade most of the time. When we bought the house in 1991, the weeds were waist high (chest high on Lan) and concealed some fallen trees, a broken swing set and a crushed shed. We took 6 tons of rubbish to the tip!
We are in a bit of a valley so the trees are relatively protected and able to grow tall.
Either that is a big tree or a small wife—or both.
While we were sharing a cup of tea with Nicole, Kim was busy herding sheep. He is on the ATV above the second fence post from the left.
Sorry. Lousy photo with the top chopped off. The sun was on the preview screen and people kept walking past so I had to wait for a moment where I could actually get it in the picture. I was surprised that I couldn't find anything significant on the internet about it.
(Can someone confirm the location?) I assume the name is aboriginal.
Incidentally, that car on the right is a Holden Commodore which American readers might be interested to know shares some genes with the discontinued Cadillac Catera, both being derived from the European Omega.
Looking west into the afternoon sun.
The entrance to the Bridge Climb is noted by the flags on the left.
The tour with Bridge Climb is expensive and they will try to sell you some expensive photos when you finish but if you are planning a trip to Sydney, save your pennies and do it
Actually, this is an excellent example of why I should be behind the camera rather than in front of it. I've managed to position my left hand to cast a shadow on the lower half of my face and since I can’t smile with my mouth open, I pretended to express surprise and shock but the result is the appearance of marker pen ink on the photo. Sorry.
We deliberately chose the last tour of the "daytime" with the hope that we would see the sun set, something they normally charge extra for. The sun sank below the horizon just before we got off the bridge. Marvellous.
The original road was cut out of the hillside but was frequently damaged by rockfalls and landslides.
No photo manipulation of these bridge pictures. The water really was that color.
If only there was a yacht visible in the distance between those first two railings to make it a really great picture.
Yes, it is Lan with her #1 concubine.
The beach babes catching some rays are Lan and Catherine. The flag marks the edge of the area watched by the Life Guards.
Adelaide
Adelaide is lovely but underrated. Lan has more family there than in Sydney. I'll get a shot of downtown next time.
As you can see, Rundle Mall is a pedestrian plaza, not a huge building.
It beats me how they make a profit taking passengers only on Sundays at A$2.50 each.
We did see a dolphin or two from the boat but for A$2.50 you really can't expect much. We saw a lot more of this sort of thing—a scrap metal processing yard and a small consignment of logs to be loaded. Note the girl on the right.
There's not much to see, is there?
Not sure what it is or was.
Seen here juggling 8 balls, very briefly. He claimed to be one of three people in the world that could do this.
He made a point of making sure the pointy end of the seat was facing away from him—for safety.
... while juggling 3 baseball bats while balancing a glass of water on his head.
That Hyundai jumped into the picture just as I pressed the button. Bother. I was a passenger for this shot.
Almost every house with a garage in Australia has a garage door like this one.
so you can hang a canoe, bits of lumber or whatever from the ceiling. It occurred to me after our visit that Americans (at least Colorado residents) might favor the 3- or 4-panel door that slides up against the ceiling because the panels can be thick and therefore provide insulation against the winter cold.
However, it was a beautiful day when we arrived and a beautiful day when we left. Incidentally, boarding the plane through the rear door as well as the front made loading and unloading very quick. At Sydney the jetbridge was used for those in the front half of the cabin while those of us at the back went on to the tarmac to board through the rear. Turnaround on leaving Adelaide was an impressive 28 minutes.