Monday & Tues, April 8 & 9, 2025

Monday was mostly a travel day (again).  Qantas offers a yummy snack, wine, and WiFi during the 3 hour flight.  They also have very friendly flight attendants.  And this seems silly to me …. we are gaining THIRTY MINUTES heading east to Sydney!

We arrived just in time to eat dinner at The Storehouse, in our hotel, The Vibe.  We’ve had some very good meals so far, but this one was not anyone’s favorite. 

A few of us decided to take a stroll down to Chinatown.  Being Monday night, however, we didn’t find much.  So we gathered in the hotel bar for a chat and wine.  I was pretty tired tonight. 

I forgot to mention that our tour guide, Fiona, blew out one of her ear drums, so she had to leave after the Skyrail in Cairns.  We were on our own at Uluru, which was fine because we are all seasoned travelers.   We met our replacement guide, Dana, over dinner on Monday.

Tuesday was our BIG DAY in Sydney. 

We had a group tour in the morning and started in The Rocks.  It’s the old and original part of Sydney.  It was very interesting to learn about the convicts that settled this place in 1788.  It was a rough life for sure. 

Then we made our way to a great spot for our first glimpse of the iconic Opera House and bridge.

There is a famous place here called The Bondi Icebergs Pool, which I really wanted to see.  Unfortunately, due to massive wave activity, it suffered damage and is closed for repair. 

Our final stop was an opal shop, where Ivonne and I had intended  to buy a piece of jewelry.  But HOLY COW, even with the Aussie dollar being devalued, they were CRAZY expensive.  We both passed.

Now we were on our own for the afternoon.   So we jumped on the Big Bus to see what we could find. 

Then back on the bus for The Big Event ….

We chose to walk back to our hotel, which was a little over a mile. We made it just in time to do a quick change of clothes and head off on our Harbor Dinner Cruise.

I would love to see this area during the day because we were completely surrounded by tall buildings and a million lights.  And then …. WOW!

The food on the cruise was delicious and the wine plentiful.   Needless to say, a good time was had by all!

The rain did come as we docked, but no one seemed to care.  We sang on the bus back to the hotel.

With it being our last night in Sydney and Australia, a few of us went to the pub across the street with our tour guide. 

Tuesday was a short sleep night as we had to be in the lobby at 6:30 AM for a quick bite and our journey to the airport.  Next stop:   Auckland, New Zealand.

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