So my first visitor has come and gone, but
what an amazing time we had. Dad landed in Sydney on April 5 and I met him the
following day (after my last entry). In typical Dad fashion, I was met at the
train station, walked to the hotel where I had enough time to drop my bags, put
on shorts and use the toilet before we were on our way. Dad has been in the
country for 24ish hours now and already knows his way around Sydney well
enough. We found a pub and shared our first Aussie beer.
We spent the next three days touring around
Sydney. We went in several art galleries (side note: art gallery admission is
free in Australia. We even saw a Van Gogh. People seem more engaged in arts and
culture here, which is definitely facilitated by free entry to several venues).
One exhibit we had to pay for, and totally worth every cent, was a Harry Potter
exhibit at the Power House Museum. It was all props and costumes from the
movies. I was like a kid in a candy shop, or should I say, a kid at Honeydukes!
We thought we would climb the Harbour Bridge, but since Oprah and her crew came
last year, prices have doubled and it was WELL out of our budget this time. So
instead we went up the lookout, which was almost as high. On our last day in
Sydney we went on a boat tour of the harbour, which let us get off at different
locations. We stopped at Watson’s Bay for lunch and walked to the National Park
to see the Ocean. Dad’s first look at this side of the Pacific Ocean. Unlike
me, he’s seen it from Vancouver and California already.
 |
| Yeah, I took the night bus! |
 |
| Dad on the Sydney Harbour Bridge look off |
 |
| Harbour Bridge and Opera House |
 |
| Pacific Ocean from Sydney Harbour National Park |
 |
| Look who I found! |
We flew out bright and early to Adelaide on
Monday morning where we arrived to rain, and a four-hour wait to check in.
Where it was Easter Monday, most things were closed so we sat outside a sketchy
diner to Skype Mom and get caught up on some emails. (Side note: Internet is
not a complimentary service at hotels, it’s really expensive). At first glance the city was grey and empty,
but after being around for a few days and seeing it alive with people and the
sun shining, it was a lovely little city.
We did a lot of walking around here to, and popped in and out of the art
galleries and museums.
One of the main draws to Adelaide was the
wine, but Dad also has a friend in there that we met up with. He and his family
were so hospitable to us. They took us to Penfold’s Winery on Tuesday before we
all went out to dinner. We must have
tasted 12-15 wines there and they were SO GOOD. The next day we spent the whole
day touring Langhorne Creek. This is one of the many famous wine areas in South
Australia. We started our day at the
Bleasdale winery. We got the full tour of the winery and even got to climb
around the place to see to full process. We went to three
other tastings that day before going back to Dad’s friend’s house for one of
the best meals I have had here.
 |
| My first taste of Port at Penfold's (yes I'm wearing a jacket) |
 |
| Bleasdale shipment home for Dad. We wish |
 |
| Dad and Friends with Robert Potts of the Bleasdale Winery |
 |
| Black Swans! I thought this was an urban ballet myth!!! |
We flew back to Sydney the next evening,
just for the night. We got up the next morning and began our drive up the
coast. Reminder: Sydney is a very big city, that doesn’t make sense; GPS’s
don’t always give the clearest directions, Aussie’s drive on the opposite side
of the road to Canada. It only took Dad 45 minutes to get from the car rental
to the hotel to pick me up (a 5 minute drive max), and a half hour to get
ourselves from the hotel to the bridge but then we were on our way. We spent
the next two days driving up the coast back to Southport. We stopped a little
short of half way, in Port Macquarie, for the night. Such a cute little town on
the water; a mix of tourists and locals. Before we left Saturday morning, we stopped
into the Koala Breeding Centre. We got to feed Kangaroos and pet Koalas. SO
CUTE!!!
 |
| Driving on the opposite side |
 |
| Highway carved out of a mountain |
 |
| Alex and Dino in Port MacQuarie |
 |
| Feeding Kangaroos |
When we got back to the Coast, I left Dad
to fend for himself a lot. I had a group presentation on the Monday and a huge
project due the Tuesday. I was able to get out for lunch on Monday with him and
Tuesday afternoon we went shopping and toured around a little more, I even got to take a spin around the block in the car!! AND I'M NOT TERRIBLE!! Tuesday
evening we had dinner with my roommates and Emma. Dad and I made spaghetti and
Bishu, Nisha and Santi made Momo – this is the dumpling dish I was greeted with
when I first moved in. They wanted Dad to try it to. So delicious!
Even though Dad didn’t leave Australia
until Thursday, he was leaving early Wednesday morning to drive back to Sydney,
so we had our good-bye after dinner. As could be assumed, we both got teary.
After I closed the door behind him, I was rushed with hugs from the girls.
It was sad feeling like I was left alone
again, but we have some great memories! On the plus side, my next visitor is
coming very soon! 19 days until Colton lands in Brisbane and only 2 group
presentations, 1 group hand-in, 3 individual assignments and 2 quizzes to get
through before then….wish me luck!
Until next time!
Alex
