The Outback leaves a nice impression.....

(OK, OK, it is time to wave the white flag to all those that have commented on our blog) There are 2 people doing the writing, not just one. I document the facts and Michelle adds the descriptive commentary. When that is complete, she hands it back to me for the final edit. Thank you all for such nice comments. Feel free to comment at anytime. There is a section just for that on the site.

Also, we forgot to mention that during our visit to Tasmania, we learned all about Tasmanian Devils and Kangaroos. Upon leaving Port Arthur, we encountered a wilderness reserve that caters to the preservation of the Devils and the Kangaroos as well as other assorted birds. The Devils are rodents that are currently being extinguished by mouth cancer. The medical community is unable to find a cure at this time, which means the Tasmanian Devils are becoming extinct. These animals are responsible for eating up Australian road kill so their survival is important to maintaining the beauty of Australia. At the reserve, we walked through a huge petting park filled with kangaroos and wallabies’. This visit was a highlight to our trip. (Thanks Clint for reminding me of that experience!) Now back to the story of Sydney….

Feb. 26, 2009 - We sailed off across the harbor to city of Manly. Our friends Glenn, Donna and Noah said it was a must see. They were right! Manly sits at the mouth of Sydney Harbor. We bussed our way to the starting point of a 10 kilometer ( 6 miles)seaside walk that starts at the Spit Bridge (a really cool draw bridge) and ends up at Manly Beach. The path took us through beautiful beaches, local neighborhoods, Aboriginal burying grounds, and the bush coastline with calm surf and amazing harbor views. During the walk I saw a huge spider web and decided to get an up close picture. Michelle says, “Watch it!!!”, and then I see the largest spider ever right next to the web. I am not sure what kind of spider it was, but we captured it on film.

We saw tons of wildlife on this hike and 4 hours later successfully reached Manly Beach. We chowed down at a lovely fish restaurant and hung with the locals at a nearby pub till the ferry arrived to bring us back to Sydney. We told ourselves that if we would consider living in Sydney. Manly would be an ideal location for us to set up home base. It is kick back and beautiful, a tad busy, but not overwhelming. That night back, in Sydney, we went to a local pub with good live music inclusive of American Favorites such as Doobie Brothers, Van Morrison, and the Eagles. We hung there with 2 young Australians and a fellow just back from Iraq that spoke negatively about Americans, but enjoyed dancing with Michelle.

While in Sydney we explored their China Town, Fisherman’s wharf (The Fish Market with some of the freshest sushi ever!), we strolled around Darling Harbor, a romantic night spot and home of Real World Sydney (one of Raya and Michelle’s favorite shows) we swam the world renown surfer beach, Bondi (that’s pronounced Bond Dye), and snorkeled our way at Shelley Beach (there really is a beach with the same name as my wife!).

Michelle took on an inside tour of the beautiful opera house, an architectural delight. We tried to attend a show there but it was sold out. Better planning next time. As always…..it was sad to leave but adventure called and off we flew to the Philippines……