Australia: All 10 Albums!

THIS POST IS FOR DONICA AND ME! I have been working on these albums off and on since May, between all our other trips and activities, and I'm finally fulfilling my promise to FINISH them now and not let them fade into some distant past!

So, here they are for our own posterity and remembrance, all in one place:

1. Australia: SYDNEY

It's a city full of parks, fountains (this is the Archibald Fountain), churches/cathedrals, landmarks and history.

2. Australia: SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

This is probably one of the world's most recognizable landmarks!
I took pictures of it from every which way!

3. Australia: SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE

I'm guessing this landmark comes in second to the Opera House in the city.

4. Australia: SYDNEY HARBOUR

Apart from the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, there's enough else to keep you busy for many days and harbour cruises! We took two harbour cruises and could have taken more!

5. Australia: SYDNEY TARONGA ZOO

OK, so this isn't a big album but I didn't know where else to put it!

6. Australia: THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Nephew David took us to the Blue Mountains 50 km west of Sydney for a day of ooohing and aaahing.

7. Australia: THE GOLD COAST

After a week in Sydney, we drove a rental car along the Gold Coast north to Brisbane, spending a night in Coffs Harbour along the way: 982 km/610 miles.

8. Australia: BRISBANE

Talk about another incredible city! And we even met up with 2 of my blogger friends!

9. Australia: MAGNETIC ISLAND

After a long weekend in Brisbane, we flew to Townsville, in Queensland, and took the ferry over to Magnetic Island for a week of unbelievable R&R.

10. Australia: MAGNETIC ISLAND ECOLOGY

While on Magnetic Island, we were rewarded with myriad treats for the eyes. They say the island is one of Australia's best-kept secrets. It's true!

So now I can breath a sigh of relief (the photos are finally organized and published). AND I can move on to Brussels and a concert on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. Miles to go before I sleep.

The Blue Mountains

We're both back in Atlanta now before Donica is off to New Jersey on Sunday and we fly with Nicholas to Don and Ruth's for Farm Day in Michigan next weekend...and then back to Amsterdam on the 11th! WHEW!

BUT, since I spent almost every day this last trip in Amsterdam working on our Australia photos, to finally finish them for albums, I have that incredible trip from April/May on my mind once again.

One of our side trips while in Sydney was to the Blue Mountains, 48km west of the city...

...with nephew David as our companion and tour guide. The Blue Mountains happen to be one of his favorite places where he likes to take everyone. So we were lucky to have him with us, back-n-forth on the train.



The first thing we did before seeing the mountains was visit the Toy & Railway museum in Leura, a small town along the Blue Mountains railway line...just to say we did it.



Besides, I just LOVE model trains!






Then into the mountains we went on a rainy, misty day!




...walking along the trails...




riding the cable car....




...watching the delightful lorikeets at the visitors' center...




...and staring at the aborigine sculptures out front.




After a wonderful day of oohing and aahing, we were ready to catch our train back to Sydney, fully understanding why David and his partner love it so much.

And that was just one day of our 3-week trip! I'll never forget it.

Iconic Sydney

Decisions, decisions! I wasn't planning to post a thing until after our trip to Australia, but we're almost finished with the second of 3 parts of our trip (Brisbane) and I'm afraid it'll all get away from me if I don't post something NOW!

So, let's start with Sydney, where we spent a week with Dave and Dave, my nephew and his partner!

Almost everything we did and saw was down at the Sydney Harbour where we took the ferry and a harbor cruise to see the sights. It's never the same from a boat out on the water, you know!

I'm guessing the two most famous Sydney landmarks are the Opera house....

...and the Harbour Bridge.

Sometimes you can see both at the same time.


Another icon almost as big as the Opera House is the Sydney Tower, which can be seen from all over the city and is Australia's second tallest structure. And yes, I went to the top, but I'll save that for the post when I also went to Australia's tallest structure, just south of Brisbane. (Hold your horses.)


For me, the Central Station clock tower was also one of the most memorable sights of the city, especially since we went by it almost every day.

The guys took us on a couple very nice drives hither, thither and yon over the weekend, where I was able to get some more impressions. One of these days I'll have to make an album!

For those of you into shopping, YES, Sydney has that as well. The QVB (Queen Victoria Building) reminded us of London's Covent Garden. Just superb.

And just in case we don't see them elsewhere on the trip, we did go to Sydney's Taronga Zoo to get in our prerequisite koala bear and kargaroo.

As I write, we're finishing up a lovely stay in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. Tomorrow we fly to Townsville for the remainder of our stay, on Magnetic Island. You'll hear all about that later. But for now, I just had to give a smidgen of Sydney!

Trivia: I am posting this at 8:20 Friday morning, Atlanta time. But here in Brisbane it's 10:20p, 14 hours ahead. And time to go to bed! So, Good Night. :)