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Good to Know About Perth, Australia

Though we were only in Perth for two weeks, we saw a lot of wonderful places. It would be easy to spend six months traveling from the far south corner of Australia around Albany, moving along the coast until you reached Darwin. That’s about 5000 km, and part of the reason that we didn’t seeContinue reading “Good to Know About Perth, Australia”

Swan Valley Wine Tasting

As is often the case, we meant to go much farther afield. We intended to go to Margaret River, but it is a 3 1/2 hour drive each way. Even staying overnight there would be a lot of driving, so we decided to taste wine closer to home, just outside Perth in the Swan RiverContinue reading “Swan Valley Wine Tasting”

Western Australia: Fremantle, Perth, Yanchep and points between

We jumped into action to take advantage of Lyra’s last week with us. After arriving at our temporary home in Yanchep around midnight, we slept in before going to Yanchep Beach just below our house. The water is deep turquoise blue, and the Indian Ocean stretches to the horizon.Beyond Yanchep to the north are theContinue reading “Western Australia: Fremantle, Perth, Yanchep and points between”

The Indian Pacific Raillway Takes Us Across

We spent a peculiar four days and three nights crossing Australia from Sydney to Perth. The trip included days of being glued to the train window watching the scenery as it went from tall trees to flat, dry, and empty, liberally dotted with kangaroos and emus. On the other hand, we took this trip toContinue reading “The Indian Pacific Raillway Takes Us Across”

Good to Know About Sydney

We said farewell to Sydney at the end of the month after a very good visit. The city is justly famous for its opera house. The surroundings are gorgeous, there are cafes to stop at for a drink or a meal, and the view over the Harbor Bridge is unmatched. Once you’ve seen that iconicContinue reading “Good to Know About Sydney”

Sydney Architecture

If prosperity is measured by the number of construction cranes hanging over downtown structures, then Sydney is very prosperous, indeed. Huge cranes are perched on top of twenty story office and apartment towers, old houses are being torn down in the city center and contemporary beach houses are replacing older single-story homes near the water.Continue reading “Sydney Architecture”

Meeting friends in Sydney

We had a sociable week getting together with friends and family in Sydney, a week in which we met up with new friends from birdwatching, visitors from home, and finished up with the arrival of our daughter, Lyra. For us this was more festivities than normal and we had an unusually good time. We metContinue reading “Meeting friends in Sydney”

Sydney through the eyes of painters

The forecast was rain, putting museum visits at the top of the day’s activities. We have visited both the northern and southern extremities of Botany Bay and Sydney Harbor, so when I read that a painting of the view from the North Head was newly installed in the National Library of New South Wales, itContinue reading “Sydney through the eyes of painters”

Sydney’s Ocean Pools

I read about the swimming pools built into the edge of the ocean in the Sydney area but I wasn’t sure how to find them. We went to beachcomb between Manly Beach–one of the favorite Sydney beaches–and Shelly Beach, a tiny patch of sand beyond Manly. There is a lovely walk between the two beachesContinue reading “Sydney’s Ocean Pools”

Botany Bay

The north shore of Botany Bay is just a few kilometers from our home SE of downtown Sydney. We explored this historic area by driving around the perimeter. We stopped along the way to look for birds, walk along the shore, take a swim, and have a picnic. This rock is said to be whereContinue reading “Botany Bay”