Entry 42: Vacation Part 1 (Sydney)

My parents flew into Sydney on Christmas day, and so began our 2010 holiday Down Under. Or, as I call it, The 10-Gallon Vacation, since ten gallons is approximately the combined total volume of sun screen we applied and ice cream we ate.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll try to spare the keyboard a bit and post lots of photos.

The day after Christmas (Boxing Day as they call it here, because it's traditionally the day the prime minister boxes a kangaroo, this year Julia Gillard won by split decision), we went on a guided tour of the Blue Mountains just outside of Sydney. Despite some morning rain, the tour was excellent. We lucked out and were put in a smaller van by ourselves, so it was just me, S, my parents, and our personal tour guide Paul. Paul was tremendous -- knowledgeable, friendly, accommodating, and great company. He really made the tour.

First, he took us to a national park where we fortunately spotted some wild kangaroos (Paul told us it was a 50-50 chance of seeing kangaroos).

[Wild kangaroos. If you look carefully at the one who's center-frame, you might notice an extra pair of tiny legs sticking out -- a joey in the pouch.]

Next, we went to a lookout point, with some great views...

[Some scenic shots from the Blue Mountains.]

cool birds...

[A pretty red bird of some sort.]

and weird looking trees.

[An odd looking tree.]

Then we went to see the famous Three Sisters rock formation. Nobody knows for certain exactly how the name came about, but I tend think it has something to do with an ancient, incestuous, lesbian menage-a-trois. (Then again, when it comes to historical perspectives I tend to err on the side of taboo homoeroticism.)

[The three sisters.]

Part of the tour involved descending into a valley by cable car, and then returning to higher ground via this crazy roller-coaster-esque train. The incline was ridiculous (the steepest of any train in the world, we were told). You felt like you were going up at a 90-degree angle.

[As we ascended they played the Indiana Jones music -- nice touch.]

After that, we went to a wildlife park (i.e., zoo). Animals living in captivity is an interesting subject. While it is often sad to see seemingly depressed creatures, lying motionlessly in relatively tiny cages, at least they are being preserved. As Paul pointed out, the harsh reality is that animals in the wild are victim to hunters and shrinking habitats. At the very least, zoos probably keep some species from becoming severely endangered or going extinct. (For example, Paul told us most tigers in the world live in captivity in the US.) Of course, it would be nice to not endanger animals in their natural habitats in the first place, but that's not the world we live in. Anyway, some pics.

[Momma kangaroo with her joey.]

[Funky bird.]

[Cute koala bear, which isn't actually a bear at all, but a marsupial.]

[Proud peacock.]

On the day after the guided tour through the Blue Mountains, our last full day in Sydney, we took a cruise around the famous Sydney Harbor. This turned out to be the least fun excursion of the vacation, in my opinion. For one, it was a rather gray, misty day. For two, you could barely understand the tour guide through the crappy PA system on the boat. For much of the cruise it sounded like this.

Kzkzkzkzkz.... Kzkzkzkzkz.... If you look... kzkzkzkz... houses... kzkzkzkz... 16 million.... kzkzkzkzkz... Murdoch family... kzkzkzkzkzkz... sold in 2005... kzkzkzkzkzkzk... hahahahaha... kzkzkzkz... private beach... kzkzkzkzkzkz... Nicole Kidman...

I did manage to get a few good shots though.

[A big boat and a colossal boat in Sydney Harbor. Seriously, look at the size of that thing.]

[The Harbor Bridge with a piece of the Opera House.]

[A few of the super expensive harbor-side houses we kind of heard about.]

[A point where the harbor opens out into the ocean.]

The day of our flight out of Sydney, we slipped in a quick tour of the iconic Sydney Opera House. In 1957, the original cost estimate of the opera house was $7 million. Even by 1957 standards this seems laughably low, and it was. The final estimated cost upon completion in 1973 was $102 million. As you can imagine, this led to a lot of political guffawing. After continually butting heads with the Public Works Department, the original opera house designer Jorn Utzon resigned in 1966, and was not invited to the grand opening of his masterpiece. He and the government did reconcile their differences, however, prior to his death in 2008.

[The Sydney Opera House.]

I'm going to end this post now. However, the fascinating story of our vacation will continue in my next entry -- Vacation Part 2 (Cairns and Newcastle).