From Tazzie to Sydney mainland.......

Feb. 20, 2009 - We had our picnic lunch and took off for the town of Strahan (pronounced Strawn). This is a quaint harbor village on the most western shore of the Tasmanian Island. It is here that one can explore most of the World Heritage areas which comprise the Western part of Tasmania.

To become a world heritage site, an area must have only one of 10 listed requirements. Western Tasmania has 8 of the 10 requirements, and is the only place in the world that possesses so many. It is here we can explore the Huon Forest with trees over 4000 years old!!!! We also rode a train line which was developed in the 1800’s for transferring copper from the Queensland mines to the Strahan harbor for deliverance throughout the world. It was truly beautiful to go through the rain forest on the train and learn about the history of building the train line with convict labor.

The following day we did the Gordon River cruise up the river. This proved a bit slow for the two of us and we became antsy during this tour. When it was complete, we celebrated at the town pub and chatted with the locals to get the true Strahan character. Let me tell you, there are lots of ‘em here. This town does not have enough women and plenty of wealthy men so take note…….if you are looking for a wealthy date, Strahan might be worth considering. We drove back to Hobart to catch a morning plane to Sidney. That evening in Hobart, nature gave us a storm to remember with all of the special effects (lightening/ thunder/ rain), it was spectacular!!!.

Feb. 24, 2009 – Back to Sidney, Australia. We checked into our hotel and realized several things about it. It did not have the pool it promised, the neighborhood was the center of the gay/lesbian community It just happened to be the week of Gay/Lesbian mardi gras. Lots of x rated porno stores and book shops lined the neighborhood. We were NOT happy.

We got out of dodge real quick and checked into the Holiday Inn at the rocks. The hotel room overlooked Sydney Harbor, the largest harbor in the world. From our window, we were also able to gaze at the famous Sydney Bridge along with the opera house. We were centered in the oldest neighborhood of Sydney, The Rocks. It was here that prisoners were originally brought to Port Jackson (Sydney’s first name).

Several of the buildings remained from that period and the history was a visual delight. As we walked around the neighborhood, we decided to climb the pile-on to the top of a span on the Sydney Bridge. It was a breathtaking 360 degree view of the harbor. It is also possible to view the city from an even higher vantage point by doing the “Bridge Climb”. People can walk the entire span of the bridge utilizing the steel support beams for a mere $200.00. We felt we got a great bargain for our $4.50 investment.

The US dollar can buy more than the Australian dollar. ($1 USA = $00.66 AU), so we were very lucky to be in Australia at a time when the US dollar value was high. This is not always the case. We found some things very reasonable, but food and drinks were quite expensive. A diet coke was $3.50 Australian but more like $2.30US. We are happy to pay just $1 at home.

Circular Quay is the hub of the transportation options. It is here that you can catch ferries, buses and trains all over the sprawling city. On day two, we walked past the quay into the world renowned botanical gardens and on to the viewing of the Queen Mary, the world’s largest luxury liner, stationed in Sydney just for the day. We went to ooh and ahh at the sheer size of this luxurious cruise vessel. Now let's check out the surrounding areas of Sydney......