Last Days in Australia - November 8 & 9

 November 8 - Left Leura in the Blue Mountains; arrived in Sydney by the airport

    Today we had a leisurely start to the day. We talked with Nick, Christian and Sebastian. Christian has a busy weekend with 3 baseball games and Nick picked him up early from school so that they'd all be rested. We packed up at Leura House and walked down the road to the Leura Cafe, where we ate yesterday. It was so good that we ordered the very same meals.

   

We put our feet into the Tasman Sea on Bondi Beach

We drove the 1 1/2 hours into Sydney and checked in to the Silkari Urban Hotel near the airport where the temperature was in the mid-to-high 80s.

      We decided to venture to Bondi Beach. (pronounced bond - eye). It is an iconic sandy beach famous for consistently waves for surfing. As it was hot and a Saturday, it was crowded, but Mark managed to find a parking spot. (!) We walked down to the beach, took off our shoes and dipped our feet into the Tasman Sea. It has really been the first opportunity to do that because when we've been by the beaches, the weather has not cooperated.

Iconic Bondi Beach

     After the dip, we had some fish and chips across from the beach. And, on the way to the car, we had a summer rain. Loads of people headed for their cars and the traffic got a bit congested.

November 9 

   

We returned our rental car to downtown Sydney without much hassle. 

    Then we walked into ChinaTown which we have come to love. Mark bought a new rain jacket and Barbara bought some opal earrings. 

 

    We then went back to Yang Sang Park, Korean Barbecue where we ate a few weeks ago. It is just so good, and we had a young server who reminded us of Hank - same smile, profile and...born the same month and year. 

   

In the Botanical Garden, remnants of a bygone building

Can't get enough photos of this - this one is from a different angle than the ones from 3 weeks ago

  Next -we took the free tram to Circular Quay which was crowded with people, it being a lovely sunny day. We went to the Botanical Garden overlooking the harbor, strolled and watched people and ferries coming and going.

     Then - back to Circular Quay for some gelato and then the train to the airport terminal and an Uber back to our hotel.

We don't buy many souvenirs, but Mark will have this to remember Australia.

    It was what we call "a Barbara and Mark day" - not much planned, roaming, eating, and spectating.

And, Barbara will have these opal earrings to remember Australia

The Blue Mountains, November 6 & 7

 November 6

     It was a gorgeous, sunny day with few clouds and into the mid 70s. 

Garden at Leura House

Garden at Leura House

     As usual, we got up early. We went down to the huge reception room in the hotel and made coffee and toast. No one was about. We talked with both Jecca and Nick on the phone.

View from "our" balcony

The Three Sisters

    Afterwards, we got an early start to see the Three Sisters, a huge rock formation in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains remind us of the Grand Canyon, a giant rift in the early, but this one is much greener. The three sandstone peaks are important in the Aboriginal culture. They are named Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo. 

    We were there early enough to beat the crowds; as we were leaving, more busses were arriving.

     We had hoped to walk to Leura Falls, but it is closed due to landslides. So, we went into Leura and had coffee and a muffin at a cafe. We decided to take mid-day off as it was getting warm and we are tired - a reading afternoon.

 

   We had a truly wonderful dinner in Leura at Elysium. We shared an appetizer - popcorn cauliflower and shared a duck breast dish and a roasted lamb dish. Both were different and intriguing. Mark wanted to know the ingredients as they really were unique.

At Elysium Restaurant in Leura

    Our plan was to go back to the Three Sisters to see the sunset, but knew it would be crowded. The waiter told us to go to Cahill's Overlook instead, which we did. We got there when there were few people there, but, by the time we left, it was quite crowded with several bus loads. (But still way less than Three Sisters would have been.

    A lovely day.

October 7

     We got up early again today and this time we went to Katoomba Falls.

Katoomba Falls

Katoomba Falls

It was a little bit of a walk down into a rain forest with giant ferns with giant fiddleheads on them. We saw quite a few birds and heard quite a few others which we were able to identify. We stayed a long time looking for a golden whistler which kept singing, but never did spot it. 

      After that, we went back to Leura to the Leura Cafe for breakfast. Barbara had an acai bowl and Mark had fried eggs with Turkey bread toasted. Both were good and we may go back tomorrow before we leave here.

     Then, we went back to our room and chatted with Michael and Nancy for quite a while. Nancy had Achilles Tendon surgery yesterday. 

     We had reservations at Echoes Restaurant at 2 p.m. for late lunch/early dinner. It is where Alec and JuliAnn stayed on their honeymoon. It was quite posh with a wonderful view. Mark had wagyu beef with parsnips and broccolini. Barbara had sea trout (which looked like salmon) with charred kale, onion jam in a cilantro sauce. It was a prix-fixe menu where you had to order two items. Mark's appetizer was roasted beet and Barbara's was prawns. 

Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Unsure - King Parrot, Rosella, a Lorikeet?

     We went back and had a tour by Elsa, the young Dutch woman who is the sole caretaker of this hotel. She told us the history of the house. It was built in the 1880s by a coal magnate. Later, it became a convent with a schoolhouse next door. In 1957, a huge bush fire consumed much of Leura including a huge hotel right by this one. But, this one was spared, credited to the Virgin Mary. It is now a protected site with the statue of Mary in the garden, where it was during the fire.  While the sign says it is a bar and restaurant, it only has 11 rooms and a rentable cottage on site. 

Echos 

Echos

        We then went back to Katoomba Falls to see if we could spot more birds, which we did, but never did glimpse the elusive golden whistler! But, we did see two black-faced cuckooshrike which felt like an accomplishment.

          Then we walked the Main Street of Leura and called it a day.

      

  

Driving Days, November 4 & 5

 November 4 - Hey Hey- off to Hay!

    We left Adelaide relatively early, but had a slight delay trying to get the navigation to recognize where we were going - Hay. 

      We drove through flat, dry land for most of the day, although earlier in the drive there were fields of grapes (wineries) and fruit trees. There were also cattle farms, but they eventually disappeared as the land got drier and flatter. It was all very interesting.

     It was a cloudy, rather chilly day. (50s) It got windy and there was a section where tumbleweed scudded across the road.

     Most of the day was on secondary roads and the population thinned out with most villages being little more than crossroads.

    We had made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the morning which was good as there were few places to eat en route. We also had oranges etc.

 

Bidgee Motor Lodge

    We arrived at the Bidgee Motor Lodge in Hay. As we are saying, it is in the north, south, east, west AND middle of nowhere! We are in a rather spartan motel room and there seemed no where in town to eat, so we went to the supermarket and picked up some stuff to eat in the room.

November 5

    This was another long day of driving. The terrain went from being dry and flat to farm land and then, in the last hour or so, of climbing into the Blue Mountains.

    We were mostly on B roads which are quite narrow. It is amazing, and scary, to watch what they call Truck Trains whoosh by the car. They are often 3 trailer trucks long and it's interesting to think that these pass as "highways" for much of this country.

     We ate our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some oranges and cookies en route with just a few bathroom/petrol stops.

   

Leura House

  We arrived in Leura, Australia in the Blue Mountains. It is a small, touristy and very hilly town. We are at the oldest house in town and we are on the third floor of a hotel with many verandas. We chose not to lug our suitcases up the stairs and grabbed enough for the night. We walked a short distance into the main street of town and ate a small meal at Jiggly Korean Barbecue. We are too tired to be hungry.

Ours was the room at the top with its own balcony

Adelaide, November 1 & 2, 3

 November 1, 2025

 

   We started our day by traveling to the airport in Adelaide in hopes that the car rental place would have a replacement for us. It turned out to be quite easy and two very helpful young women quickly got us into a newer version of the Cupra. (We are still, however, having trouble with the back windshield wiper).

       On the way back to our apartment on Flinders St, we stopped at a grocery store, Woolworths, and stocked up.

      Both of us agreed that we needed a day of rest after all the traveling we've done. So, we ate our meals in the apartment and read our books and watched a bit of television.

November 2

 

Botanic Garden, Adelaide

      Today it has rained off and on. And, somehow discovered that Barbara had lost her favorite light green rain coat somewhere. Bummer. After breakfast at the apartment, we drove to the Botanic Garden. We did not stay long because of the rain, but did manage to see the grey-headed flying foxes. (bats) A ranger in the park said that there were about 60,000 at a recent count. They are considered megabats and they are endemic to Australia in the region we are in.

Grey headed flying foxes (megabats)

They weigh about a kilogram and have a wingspan of over a meter. In the daytime, they gather in "camps" of "colonies" of 1,000s of individuals.

    The huge trees in the park were also very impressive.  Gums, Eucalyptus, Plane trees...

    As we were getting wet, we went shopping on Rundle Street and Barbara bought a new rain jacket, angry at herself for losing her raincoat. We caught a bite to eat at Betty's Burgers and then went back to the Botanic Garden properly clothed and walked most of the park - in a steady rain, but not a downpour.

November 3

       Today started out with heavy downpours. We contemplated going to an art museum, but we have already been to quite a few, so we decided to wait out the rain and see if it would clear. 

      Adelaide has a lot of big, sandy beaches within just a few miles of the center city. We started at Henley, then went north to Semaphore Beach, where we ate at a Vietnamese noodle place. Then, we continued south (maybe east?) to Glenelg Beach, stopping to look at the Tasman Sea. Unfortunately, it was too chilly and windy to dip our feet in, but it was nice to get out.

Semaphore Beach, with Barbara sporting her new jacket

At six o'clock, we met former student, Aryn Perryman and her 7-year old daughter, Adeline at Von Thai down the street where we are staying. It was very nice of her to drive in after a full day of work. We had a lovely dinner and a nice chat. It was great to see her and hear about her life in Australia, where she has lived for 25 years. We took her some chocolate covered cranberries from Aunt Leah's fudge. 

         

    

The Great Coastal Road and...onto. Adelaide, October 30 & 31st

 October 30

    We left Melbourne nice and early...we really enjoyed the city. We wanted to get a nice early start on the Great Ocean Road. However, within several miles of leaving, the tire light came on, the same one that was on when we rented the car and which the rental people dismissed and removed the warning.

     When we got to a pump, the tire was down to 16 pounds! (out of 32.) So, we filled it and had to stop 2-3 more times to keep refilling it. And, we bought a tire gauge as the tire gauge in the car would not recalibrate and was always on, even if we'd just refilled it. It definitely impacted our day and we skipped a sight in Lorne and Loch Ard Gorge which Otis and Jecca had highly recommended. But, the tire became an issue.

     Nevertheless, we enjoyed the day and tried not to let it bother us too much as the tire didn't go down quickly. We stopped every 2 hours, though. 

     We had lunch at the Fisherman's Coop in pretty Apollo Bay and had a Fisherman's Platter to share. Mmmmm.

Some of the 12 Apostles 

      The entire coastline is gorgeous - up through mountains, down to bays and sandy and rocky beaches. 

      A highlight was the 12 Apostles, even though it was crowded - it was well worth it. Mark saw a white-lipped snake (part of the cobra family) just off the path. - Venomous, of course.

     By 5:30, we stopped in lovely Port Fairy at a very nice lodging called Seacombe Inn. 

In Port Fairy looking at Seacombe Lodge

The main street in Port Fairy

We were too full to eat a meal, so got in oranges, crackers and cheese and at in our room. We also took a walk and were enchanted by the town. There was a yard where people were busy setting up for Halloween. We chatted with the woman who was in charge; she doesn't even live there! The people loan her their garden every year for the event - because their location is so good for trick-or-treaters.

 October 31

     We spent time on the phone with AutoEurope and got a man who said the car would definitely be replaced in center city, Adelaide and gave us an address. We were relieved.

      It was a beautiful drive through farmland - vineyards, sheep and cattle. We saw a koala in the wild as well as an echnidna. Mark saw an emu. We both saw kangaroos jumping in a field, but they were too far away to photograph. (Too many dead on the side of the road.)

While on a C rated road, we saw a koala crossing the street!

      We stopped along the way to check the tire twice. Mark drove about 6 1/2 hours to Adelaide. 

       We first stopped at The Retreat apartment building to fetch the key for our new rental. It was a bit of an adventure getting it from the lock box. And, we could not figure out where the car park was, but decided to go to the AutoEurope office to exchange the car. We had to drive up the the 5th level of a carpark and go back down to an office. And- the man had NO car and had been told NOTHING about us coming in, despite what we were told this morning. He said we'd have to go to the airport tomorrow as his office would be closed and he wouldn't have a car anyhow. Arrgh!

White lipped snake by the path.

     

So, we went back up to the carpark and got the darned car. Then, we had to figure out how to get into the carpark at the rental- another challenge that necessitated us calling Bridget, the owner, who told us that the carpark we needed was the one behind the building. That mission was accomplished. 

     Then - more of a challenge. The fob for the elevator would not work. We felt like we'd done something wrong, but 3 different tenants tried it to no avail. One man took us to the 10th floor and we needed the 12th floor, but we couldn't wait for someone to go that high, so we walked up the last 2 floors with our bags. Luckily, the key to the apartment worked and we called Bridget - again to report the non-working fob. We could not leave the apartment to get the rest of our luggage as we'd never be able to get back. So, Bridget came over and, sure enough, the fob was faulty. (Whew! It wasn't us!) So, then we unloaded everything from the car and ate what Bridget had left in the fridge and collapsed. Tomorrow- to the airport to replace the car.

     Travel does present challenges some days, but that's part of it and, rising to them has to be good for our brains. ?  We hope so!

This really belongs to November 1, but it seemed good to have this post have the old and the replacement car! Yay!