Well

I got my flight times mixed up and discovered that I had an entire day to kill in Sydney!!

It got a lot easier when I found a preloaded travel card with 45 bucks on it. Now I could spend what cash I had on food and coffee. I also got to ride a ferry one more time, so that was nice.

I went to Watson’s Bay, which is a nice little neighborhood close to Bondi. There’s a coastal walk, lighthouses, yummy bakery, and old cemetery up there. I sat in the cemetary and ate an apple turnover and felt lucky to be there.

After the long bus ride back to the city, I stopped into a souvenir shop and my favorite city stop, the Customs House.

The hotel let me have a coffee and charge my phone even though I’d checked out already. That was nice of them, and finally it was time to go to the airport.

After a day of worry about Hurricane Lane, the flights went off without a hitch. Much ado about nothing, apparently. I even slept a little!

Now I’m in Portland on a bus, waiting to come home.

What now?

I need a job, and to make some money. My tooth broke in the outback and I need dental work. I want to sit on my couch and drink my coffee.

Thanks, Australia, for a great month. I met some super cool people from all over. Your coffee is on point, and the outback was everything I could have hoped for.

That’s all for now.

See you…sometime

Well, I didn’t go to the Blue Mountains today.

I got up too late to go and decided to do nothing, officially.

This only means that once I stepped out the door I had no actual destination. Just walked wherever my feet took me.

This plan usually results in a lovely morning that includes coffees and bookstores. Today was no different.

Cities can sometimes all feel the same, but this can also be ok. You can rely on a city to amuse you… if you like what cities have to offer.

And I do.

I went to the library for my sit-down because it’s warm, there’s electricity to charge my phone, and the wifi is free.

I love old money and coins, so I tried to go to the old Mint, but it’s a coffeehouse now. Boo!

Better luck was to be had at the official bank museum. They had a pretty good exhibit on the country’s paper money. I ran into some old farts in the building and they told me all about the changeover from pounds to dollars when they were kids. Interesting to hear about the changes from the horse’s mouth, as it were.

After that I just read a book at the Customs House. Again, it’s free wifi and electricity lol. Also it’s a library too.

I found a great Indian restaurant for dinner. So good.

Tomorrow I’ll kill most of a day then fly home.

See you all very soon!

Awoke as usual right on time for the free breakfast lol. I know its crap but it saves me buying a 15 dollar meal.

Walked the long way to Darling Harbor. Along the way I stumbled upon the Sydney observatory. So neat. It functioned mostly to keep time in the busy harbor. Instead of a one o’clock gun, a ball drops. They also have old telescopes and a museum. Neat.

Finally arrived at the Chinese Friendship Garden. It’s not very old, but so nice to see and remember the gardens Allisa and I saw in China. Nobody else showed for the noon tour, so Sue taught me a lot about traditional gardens. So many lizards here!

I was starving so Chinatown it was for lunch. I found a for-realz food court with bomb Thai food.

Another afternoon, another beach.

Bondi beach this time, to sit and read. It was good.

Tonight I spent foolishly and bought an opera ticket. Rigoletto. Hope my hiking boots won’t be a problem lol.

Good night!

Edit: the opera was good, but I almost fell asleep. What does that mean lol!

Another nice day here. I’m smarter today and wore more clothes.

The tour guide at the botanic garden was nice, I guess. He sure didn’t know too much about plants. Nice setting though. Finally saw a kookaburra bird.

At the art gallery I treated myself to a nice lunch. Since the day hadn’t cost me anything so far, I even had dessert.

The art here is heavily weighted by Australians. Lots of good stuff. Even a couple of picassos. I found it easy to spend 3 hours here.

Froggy wanted to go to the beach, so we took the ferry to Manly. Its across the harbor and just delightful. There’s access to miles of hiking trails and a national park. I went as far as Shelly beach for the sunset and a snack. Protip: don’t open a crinkly wrapper in front of the local birds. They are relentless. Adorable, but relentless. Worse than gulls.

Tomorrow I’ll make a plan to see the Blue Mountains