On Wednesday it was back to Circular Quay (it took us three days to figure out it was the same as the British Islands - Cay, also pronounced key) for the ferry to Taronga Zoo to meet up with our friends Mark and Andrea. You may recall from our last Euro adventure, we did a week long sailing trip in Croatia with a bunch of fun Aussies, two of the funnest being Mark and Andrea, whom we have stayed in touch with over time.
The weather was still a bit warm but the champagne was cold and the cheese was blue and the view incredible. Dinner was a buffet, and rather good with salads and lasagna, chicken and Magnum ice cream bars for dessert but the real fun was reconnecting with Mark and Andrea and catching up. It was instantly easy and although we weren't rocking on any waves, we were ready to have other adventures together.
Add to that an airy bedroom, lovely linen , a closet to actually unpack in, a big beautiful bathroom with a shower and, almost most important, laundry at our disposal. Actually, after the night at the zoo and the slightly sweaty morning viewing the animals, the shower came first, then unpacking and later the laundry.
FLATHEAD FISH - Ugly fish, but delicious.
They had graciously offered not only to host us but to show us Sydney and the first stop was meeting them at Taronga Zoo but not just to see the animals ...oh no...Mark was full of plans for us and the first was sleeping at the zoo for the famous Roar and Snore. When we first got the email about this, we were skeptical until we read further down to find it was an Adult Only night. We were still a bit unsure if we were going to have to share a tent or not, as all the website said was tents accommodate 2-4 persons, but you won't have to sleep with strangers? Hopping on line to the zoo website, we saw the tents were platform semi-luxe with beds and views looking out over Sydney Harbor. (https://taronga.org.au/image/roar-snore-1 )
But the real question was....would we recognize each other or had Steve, now 60, gotten so old looking? But recognition was instantaneous as were the warm hugs and genuine smiles as we checked into our tents. Steve and I got #17, which unbeknownst to anyone, happens to be our lucky number, or more correctly the day of our first date on February 17, 1973.
The weather was still a bit warm but the champagne was cold and the cheese was blue and the view incredible. Dinner was a buffet, and rather good with salads and lasagna, chicken and Magnum ice cream bars for dessert but the real fun was reconnecting with Mark and Andrea and catching up. It was instantly easy and although we weren't rocking on any waves, we were ready to have other adventures together.
The special part about sleeping at the zoo is not the ROAR of the lions at five AM, which I slept through, or the SNORE of the person in the next tent, but the night tour in the quiet of only 34 guests and four staff and the behind the scenes the next day, both in the giraffe enclosure, hand feeding them lettuce or in the chimp world seeing all 19 chimps comprising multiple families screeching and swinging.
We stayed on for a few hours after the exclusivity of our private time ended and then headed to the 'burbs with the Bowens, after double-checking while walking to the car that they were still game to take us home.
Mark had graciously picked up our luggage from the Hyatt the day before and deposited it in our guest room that Andrea had readied for us. Now think about it, we meet these two funny and charming people on a boat two and a half years ago. We don't really know much about each other. And here we are, halfway around the world coming to visit. And as it approaches, you realize, all you know is the name of the suburb they live in. But of course, in our usual style, we got lucky!
Our B & B for the remainder in Sydney is an absolutely charming Craftsman California type bungalow home in front with a modern addition out back, facing a beautiful garden with a pool at our disposal.
It took us about a minute to decide we weren't going to have to create some excuse after two days as to why we have suddenly decided to head out to the Blue Mountains and we were hoping Andrea or Mark weren't regretting their invite. We figured all was good when we opened a couple of bottles of wine, Andrea did a quick trip to the supermarket and the fish man and soon we were sipping wine, dunking sashimi in soy sauce, and getting ready to eat our first Australian home dinner of delicious panko breaded flathead fish. Simple, fresh, and absolutely a 'Rachel Ray Delish'.
Friday we awoke refreshed and after coffee Andrea headed off to work - a ten minute walk into the Chatswood CBD to a children's boutique, her newest and first venture into retail - but Mark graciously played hooky. It was a hot sunny day again, so it was off to Palm Beach for a swim and lunch. Sydney has an incredible number of beaches. Driving, you go up and down, along the coast, you sway from one small town to the next each with its own spectacular ocean vistas and beach, some with a harbor beach also.
We arrive at Palm Beach and though it is hot, since it is not yet the weekend the beach is quiet, just a few mums and toddlers. The waves are perfect, few and small, and we head in for a swim. The water is perfect, cool and refreshing just short of goose bumps. A swim, a lie on the towel, another dip and a small lunch and we head home to shower for our next BIG event.
Now those of you who followed our last blog may remember we had a summer of record setting heat, not my favorite. Keep that in mind.
Sydney, Friday, record setting heat, highest temperature in 30 years....after we pick up Andrea at work, we drive over the Harbour Bridge and the car reads 44C. Do you have any idea how hot that is? Or where we were headed?
The answers are, about 112 degrees F, and we were climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. "The Bridge" is the tallest steel arch bridge in the world. I am sure we were each secretly thinking the others would speak up and back out but no one said so, and on we soldiered.
The climb is very touristy but don't think for a moment that's a synonym for tacky or unworthy. In fact, every Sydneysider I have spoken with, who has actually done it, has loved it. It's well organized with military precision. Here's the drill.
Get a locker, strip, put on the mandtory lightweight jumpsuit ala NASA, where if you are vertically challenged like Andrea and I, the crotch is below your knees. Next, line up around a semi-circle railing with hooks and hang a harness on, think horses, bits and bridles- hook it up ( this is really getting hot and sweaty - the dressing/changing/training area is only cooled by big fans ), add on secured clips for your eyeglasses, a hat - also on a leash, a radio and headset and lastly, in case you are not boiling hot, clip on a bag stuffed with a fleece jacket, because they swear, though you would bet $1,000,000 against it, by the time you are halfway through your climb, it will be cold. I won't make you wait to know who won the bet.....ME.
We listen to the safety talk, do the practice ladders and finally head out. Andrea is a bit hesitant about heights and its lucky none of us are fat because the catwalks are quite narrow. But it turns out it's not at all scary to climb so high, maybe because all you can do is stare out at the views, right side, left side, in awe and of course make sure you don't trip- even if you do, you are harnessed in and only dangle about three feet! We knew we could do the climb, even in this ungodly heat, because a rather frail looking 80 something was right behind us and there was no way he was getting to the top for his photo and we weren't.
After three water-misting face spritzing stations, two warm-to-hot fountain drinks, and many swipes of the face with the damp kerchief attached to our wrists with an elastic band, we had success. 1400 steps, three pounds of sweat and hopefully at least two pounds of fat left on the bridge. There are not enough grand words to describe the views or the climb and we have no photos to share because no cameras allowed. So your choice is to go on line or better yet, come to Sydney and do the climb.
Tired and sweaty, we headed to the closest pub for beer and grub and then home to bed, exhausted, tired and satiated thanks to our incredible hosts, M and A, our favorites Aussies hands down.
Steve, Marci, Mark, & Andrea
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