61 Days of Togetherness: Sydney

Sydney is a big city. In other words, it is bigger than Portland which I am used to. The metropolitan area has 4.6 million residents which is more than all of New Zealand.

We have stayed the last four nights in the beach suburb of Bondi which is renowned for its famous surf beach. Even though our apartment is at least a km from the water, at times it seems like everyone is carrying a surf board. You see surfers on trains and buses with wearing their wet suits sometimes still with a little sand on them. I told the boys that I was going to get a surfboard and ride the buses in my wet suit - not bothering to surf of course. I have a bit of history in this behavior as my friends will attest.

Bondi seems to be the place where the beautiful people congregate. My family fits right in here, but I am not sure that I quite meet the minimum standard. Thankfully, the beauty police have not asked me to leave the beach. The water and the coastline are stunning as well. The water is a clear turquoise and the cliffs are a pleasing sandstone.

We made two excursions to the Sydney Harbor - one at sunset and another the following day to catch a ferry to nearby Manly. The first time we drove – or rather Margaret drove and I am sure it was the second most stressful event for her of our Sydney stay. It was near the Friday rush hour and it felt like driving into Manhattan (not that we have ever done that) with a sea of taxis and buses. We started to enter a parking garage until we saw that the parking charges were going to be $57. Thankfully, we found a street spot shortly thereafter and thereafter all was good. The opera house, Sydney Harbor bridge and the array of boats on the water all impressed us. Friday night in the area is a pretty happening place with vast seas of downtown workers socializing after the week as well as tourists touristing. I will just say that it is far cry from my usual vacation in a simple cabin in remote Alaska.

I think we have raised at least one city boy. Lucas loves it here. He studies the maps, advocates to see it all, and is just intrigued by it all. Maybe he will become an urban planner someday. Compared to me, he is a public transportation savant who has mastered the public transportation system of buses, trains, and ferries. After our stressful drive into downtown, the next day we took six bus legs, two trains, and two ferries with Lucas playing a prominent role in charting our course from point A to point J. Margaret's most stressful Sydney period was when we allowed Lucas to venture out on Sunday evening on his own with his bus pass, no specific itinerary, and our only operational cell phone. Her thoughts jumped back and forth between "I hope he makes it back ok" and "How am I going to explain this to Renee if he disappears?". He showed up twenty minutes after the agreed time, which is enough to further heighten parental stress, but not enough to warrant a call to the authorities.

The coastline near Bondi...