Sydney, Australia

K: Sydney, population approximately 4.5 million people, is Australia's largest city. It is the glamorous side of Australia, for sure, with beautiful people, fabulous scenery, awesome beaches, world-class restaurants and a multi-cultural population. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House are the two iconic landmarks that are hard to take your eyes off!

Sydney was established on January 26, 1788, celebrated with their Australia Day festivities, and was Australia's first European settlement. Its origins as a penal colony are hard to fathom. Dozens of ships from England were sent to Sydney, packed with convicts, sentenced to "transportation," due to extreme overcrowding of England's prisons and the poor conditions of existing "convict hulks" or prison ships anchored at English port cities. Most of the sentences were 7 and 14 years and generally for petty theft, a result of poverty. Once the prisoners had served their sentences, many stayed, and were awarded land grants and populated settlements around the colony. At the time, penal colony conditions were brutally harsh for women and many prisoners who were subject to torment by the British establishment in Sydney and outlying penal settlements in Tasmania and on Norfolk Island.

Despite this rough history, Sydney and its residents are fantastic. Some of our highlights were the famous Manly and Bondi Beaches, which are stunningly beautiful. I do look forward to the day when I can be on a beach without a death warning: killer sharks, deadly riptides, saltwater crocodiles, poisonous man of war jelly fish or the venomous box jelly fish.

Despite all of that, I conquered my more basic fear of big waves and actually swam at Bondi and Bronte beaches. These beaches also have natural ocean rock "pools" which allow you to swim in ocean water, completely protected by large rocks from the pounding surf! We need these in the States.

We also got to spend time with my good friend Jono, who founded the the non-profit organization Step Safe, with which we are both involved. We thank him for his gracious hospitality. It was also terrific to meet Ka-on, another member of Step Safe.
Swimming Pool at Bondi Beach at Icebergs Bar




Bondi Icebergs, a famous spot



Bondi Beach















Jono, Viggo, Karen, Ka-on, and Tom, Step Safe members





Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House



Jono and Ka-on



Big shark

Beach closed? Really?!
Bronte Beach
Manly Beach lifeguard
Manly Beach surfer
Sydney Opera House
Couldn't believe this poster ad when we saw it--yes, that's Tiger!
More New Orleans-esque architecture
Finally, a brewpub!	Jono, Karen and Viggo
Famous sculpture of matchsticks
Sea Turtle at Aquarium
Moon Fish at Fish Market
Luna Park amusement park

V: The beaches of Bronte, Bondi, and Manly were great. Pounding surf comes rolling in, and occasionally I could catch a ride into shore via bodysurfing. It was nice to be in some water that wasn't infested with invisible and painful jellyfish. We had two great afternoons at the beaches of Sydney. Bondi (pronounced "Bond-eye", my American friends who may not know) is a Sydney icon, indeed, but we liked the beautiful setting of Bronte beach best.

The aquarium was a nice visit, too, as we got to see a couple of dugongs, their version of the manatee. The largest rays I've ever seen and pretty impressive sharks were highlights.

The neighborhood we liked best of all was The Rocks, one of the original areas of Sydney, now restored as a quaint area of narrow walkways, with side alley shops and pubs and restaurants. We had been exploring The Rocks a bit, and noticed the Super Bowl on a pub's TV, so in we went. We caught the last six minutes of the Saints' great victory. Call it eerie, synchronistic, uncanny, or just plain "the world is a small place," but working in the pub was Michael, who did the cooking class in Bali with us a few weeks back. So, we chatted a bit, and Michael kindly 'shouted' us a round. Wow.

As a side note, Karen's begun reading Boris Pasternak's classic Doctor Zhivago, and Viggo is plowing through Robert Hughes' book about the First Fleet of English convicts and their military jailkeepers, The Fatal Shore, The Epic of Australia's Founding.

Sips: Sydney has the tasty beers we've been looking for: Fat Yak Pale Ale, James Squire Pilsener and Pale Ale, and Little Creatures Ale. Finally.

Bites: Smoked emu and peppered kangaroo pizza. Dim sum in Chinatown. Awesome and really fresh sushi at the restaurant Sake and great Thai food at one of Sydney's top restaurants, Longrain.

Sights: The Rocks, Sydney Aquarium, Darling Harbour, Chinatown, Opera House, Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Fish Market, Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Manly Beach, Bondi Beach.

Next: Sydney Harbour Bridge climb report!