Air New Zealand flies across the Tasman Sea in under 3 hours. Then, just like that, we are in Australia!

Our trip was “short”, 10 days, so we took full advantage of the spring weather.  In Australia in summer it is said that only mad dogs and Englishman stay out in midday… and for good reason.

Jen’s first planned adventure was a whale watching tour. So to keep Kai awake, we booked the speed boat experience with Blake from Ocean Extreme.  The twin 425HP Yamaha engines propelled the 11 meter inflatable craft at high speed, thrilling us all!   It’s migration season and the whale numbers are way up this year.  Once seriously endangered with numbers in the hundreds,  humpbacks whales have made a proud comeback.  It is now estimated that 33,000 whales are swimming south along Australia’s east coast right now,  including many mom’s with their calves.  The southern hemisphere whales have white underbellies and tails.  Kai said seeing the whales up close was “amazing”, “crazy” and couldn’t believe something that big is out there.  The whales were surprisingly quiet and when we saw the tails up we knew they were swimming down for a deep dive of at least 5 minutes.  No close up breaching but Des saw them in the distance.  Definitely a highlight of our vacation.  (Captain Blake took these photos for us and his friend got the drone shots of our boat.)

Our Holiday Inn on the Rocks hotel was a short stroll to Sydney Harbour.  It’s busy with ferries coming and going to other beaches and parts of the city.  The huge Princess cruise ship was docked for a couple of days and people watching was fun entertaining too.

You can’t go to Sydney without seeing Bondi Beach. (pronounced Bon-die).  It’s famous for lots of reasons and it reminded us of La Jolla Cove… only much more massive with gorgeous light yellow sand, clear blue water, and a world famous surf break.  Bondi Beach is perhaps famously the home of the first ever Surf Life Saving Club. The teams rescue several people a day when they get caught in a rip on the south end or swim outside the flags.  Kai and Des body surfed and then Des rented a small, soft surf board and rode several great waves.  Bondi Beach is extremely popular and we were shocked by the crowds. But, even Des said it was such an iconic scene he was thankful to have been able to experience it.

There’s Des surfing above!

Des and Jen ferried across the harbour to Manly Beach for the afternoon on our last day in Sydney.  The snorkeling was nice along the rocks and the vibe was good.  School breakers dominated the beach so it was full on.

 

Is this La Jolla ?  Jen feeling at home on the seaside.

Kai spent the day in town and went to the Museum for Contemporary Art.  Our Holiday Inn on the Rocks hotel is located in the CBD (central business district) just a short stroll to the harbour, restaurants and shops.  It was hot by our standards, around 27 C.  The harbour is a bustling area and the Sydney Opera House sits at one end.

The Culture Kings retail experience was unrivaled.  Jen and Des felt old…  Super Bro Marcus assisted Kai amidst the onslaught of “bloody rap music”.  Travis Scott was bumping with a ferocity that precluded unclouded judgement.  Hey, “all the young kids” love it and sales are good!The Rocks is an area of town originally quarried to build much of downtown Sydney.  We weren’t sure we were in the hippest part of town but it suited us well.  I hadn’t thought of any Australian city as old but Sydney has a very intact and preserved legacy of original buildings from pre 1900s. Cobblestone alley ways, many interconnected footpaths, secret staircases, and more give it much character.

Above is an open air fashion show for the clothing brand Kookai.   The gals were supermodel tall and pretty (hot-ish but a bit alien-like per Des).

We got tickets to see the musical “Hair” at the Sydney Opera House on our last night in town.  The acoustics are amazing and the concert hall is beautiful.

The next day we flew to Brisbane.