Day 4: When we were Stranded on a Deserted Island

4.4 km walked, but 15 minutes body-surfing felt like a marathon

Our objective for the 2nd day with our Hop On Hop Off Ferry Pass was to picnic and swim at Shark Island, so named (we heard from the friendly ferry tour guide the previous day) because the island is shaped like a shark, not because there are sharks near the island.   We picked up picnic food in Bondi (although I forgot to buy beer, as the island is also licensed), took a bus through rich Sydney suburbs to Watsons Bay, to then:

1. hopped on the ferry towards Circular Quay / downtown; 
2. got off at Fort Denison; 
3. to then catch the returning ferry back to Watsons Bay to be let off at Shark Island.

We had about 15 minutes to explore Fort Denison (a little longer as the return ferry was behind schedule), a former 18th century prison and military fortress.  Here are pictures with a spooky filter:

Shark Island per Wikipedia: Parts of the island were set aside as a recreation reserve as early as 1879 and it was also used as an animal quarantine station and naval depot until 1975. At that time it became exclusively a recreation reserve and part of the Sydney Harbour National Park. 

When we arrived at Shark Island around 1:30pm, there was a couple on the small beach by the wharf.  So to give them some privacy, we picnicked at the top of the island on the grass and shared our lunch with the ants (they don't like grapefruit so much though).  We then meandered around the very tiny island on rocks and a very roughly hewn pathway.

By the time we wandered back to the beach the other people were gone; we were all alone on a deserted island!  The tiny beach was lovely and mostly calm (except when a big boat created waves), although Gaby didn't appreciate walking on shells or swimming in seaweed (what a surf princess!).  I jumped in and cooled off, Gaby only went waist deep.

The view of the Opera House and the bridge from the Island:

The next and last ferry off the island was at 3:30pm; if we missed the Hop On Hop Off ferry, Gaby assured me she could call a water taxi to come pick us up, but I didn't want to chance it.  

With Gaby's disappointment at the less than perfect beach conditions, she wanted to go swimming at the always busy but more than perfect Bondi Beach.  So from Watsons Bay we jumped back on the bus to BB to hit the big waves.  By the time we reach Bondi, the weather had turned windy and it was getting close to sunset, but I guilted Gaby into running for it and jumping in.  She was having so much fun in the waves that I got jealous and had to go join her.  Best body surfing since Sri Lanka!  We each caught a couple of good waves, I bumped my shoulder somewhere and took in a giant mouthful of salt water; it was an awesome 15 minutes.  Gaby was freezing and just wanted a shower once we got out, so back to the apartment to recover it was.  

Day 3 Manly Beach and other Wharves: Where Grandma would have taken Gaby Shopping and Surfing

8.9 km walked

We woke up at 5am to catch the Bondi sunrise over the Pacific, but this is all we got:

Yes, the entire rest of the sky was blue, and it naught but clouds over the ocean.  Still gorgeous, but no sunrise for me (and as if I'm ever going to wake up at 5am again!).  We did peruse the graffiti on the walk back to the apartment:

Even after picking up coffee on the way home, Gaby wanted a nap before future adventures.  So I graduated from coffee to "apple juice":

The plan for the rest of the day was, unlike the previous day, to NOT walk another 13.9 km.  So we headed to Circular Quay in Sydney, and bought our 2 day tickets for $39AUS pp (with coupon, woohoo), for this: https://www.captaincook.com.au/sydney-harbour-cruises/hop-on-hop-off/

...and did this tour around the Sydney harbour over the space of 8 hours:

Some general impressions:

• Watson's Bay Wharf supposedly has the best Fish & Chips in Doyle's; the fish was meh.  The fried calamari, prawns, and scallops were awesome though.  Then there are boats and a baby beach, like a wading pool in beach format.

• Manly Beach, from the map above, it was supposed to be filled with beautiful people like this.  Well, it was.  

• Night ferry to Bangaroo / Barangaroo / Bangerang, whatevs. 

Sunset is around 6pm, so our 7pm ferry from Manly, past the Opera House and Bridge, to Banga-whatever / Darling Harbour looked something like this (after applying Google filters):

And in a recurring feature of this blog...

Stuff Grandma would have done with Gaby in Manly

• Take Gaby shopping at her favourite shops in Manly, including Billabong, and Rip Curl.  
• Sign Gaby up for 2 hour surfing lesson and watch from the beach.
• Fancy restaurants and hotels abound, you should stay in Manly instead of my low-budget Bondi Beach locale.

Day 2 Sydney: Where Grandma would have spent more time at the Royal Botanical Gardens

13.9 km walked

Having worn my cowboy boots on the plane, and all my sandals and running shoes in my delayed luggage, I had borrowed Gaby's flip-flops for our brief Bondi Beach walkabout on Friday.  Woke up Saturday to a between the toes oozing blister.  So priority one was shopping for cheap shoes (that aren't flip flops), bathing suit, socks, and underwear to get through the next 24 to 48 hours.  K-mart at Bondi Junction fit the bill.

With better shoes under my proverbial belt, we were ready to hit Sydney proper.  Some stuff we saw:

• Cool statue just off the train at Martin Place 

• Birds in Royal Botanical Gardens, and buildings & statues at Hyde Park (close-up photos are just to prove they are anatomically correct :-)

• St Paddy's Market freaked Gaby out a little

We went looking for fancy Chinese food in Chinatown, but the restaurant recommended to us was having a private function.  So we found wood-fired pizza instead.

For dessert, Gaby's friend had recommended

...where the flavours are Tofu (white), Matcha (green tea), and (blue) Sea Salt.  Neither of us were brave enough to try the Tofu flavoured ice cream.  

Stuff Grandma would have done in Sydney

• Backstage tours with lunch or high tea at the Sydney Opera House
• More time a the Royal Botanical Gardens, we only looked at birds and sat on the grass, but there's workshops and (I assume) flowers somewhere in there
• Bought more stuff at St Paddy's

Day 1 Bondi Beach: Australia is First World Asia

With no suitcase to lug around, a beautiful sunny 23C in Sydney, and Gaby still 2 hours away by car, why spend $80 on a taxi to the apartment hotel when a public bus will do?

So I picked up an Opal card, and travelled the 1.5 hours by bus to Bondi Junction (shopping district) then Bondi Beach (surfing district lol).  My view from the bus looked like this:

Gaby arrived at my apartment hotel only a couple minutes after me.  She quickly found that we were sharing the apartment with only the 3rd most dangerous spider in Australia, the White Tailed Spider.  It mostly hid in a grate above the shower.  Tiny bugs and (if we didn't clean up crumbs quickly) ants soon also became the norm.

Once checked in with Gaby, she showed me the local beach:

Then went for margaritas and tacos:

Aussieland Day 0: Where I got an awesome flight to Sydney, but my suitcase did not

Distance travelled from Ottawa Canada to Sydney Australia - 15,854 km

Flights were booked as: Ottawa (AC) - Toronto (AC) - San Francisco (Qantas) - Sydney, 24 hours of travel.

What started as a 30 minute delay on the first flight, became 70 minutes, so Air Canada changed my itinerary to: Ottawa (AC) - Toronto (AC) - Vancouver (AC) - Sydney, 26 hours of travel.

However, my baggage apparently did not get the memo...

Gaby 1 Week Down

Gaby's Instagram speaks for itself...

Days 9, 10, 11 & 12: PEI

Comfort Inn, Edmundston, New Brunswick

I know, I know... I'm a little bit late on the blog. But in my defense, we haven't had any Internet in the cottage where we were staying in PEI. So I guess I'll sum up what we've been doing for the last couple of days.



Mum and I in a carriage at Green Gables



We had two days at Cavendish by the Sea, a little gathering of cottages on the edge of the ocean. The two other days were spent traveling, and thus were not very interesting. On Monday, we (well, Gaby) wanted to go swimming, but it was sort of rainy and cloudy and altogether not very good for swimming in the freezing-cold Atlantic Ocean. So instead, much to Gaby's dismay and to my joy, we went to Green Gables, the house of, you guessed it, Anne of Green Gables. It was really cool. There was a barn and a path through the "Haunted Wood" and a sign toward "Lover's Lane." The house itself was rather small, yet very cozy and nice. Most importantly, it looked excatly like I had imagined it in the books. It was so perfect.

We found this patch of grass next to the ruins of L.M. Montgomery's, the author's, house. There, Gaby and Mum attempted to teach me how to cartwheel, to no avail. It was quite impossible, actually. I got pretty close, though, but at the end I got really tired, so we started doing handstands and headstands, which was no easier.



Mum trying to do a handstand, and Gaby, well, freaking out



For dinner, we went to this place with the intention of ordering a lobster dinner, but we all were too tired so we ordered something lighter. I was really upset with the restaurant, because they were out of both garlic shrimp and pan-fried haddock. Can you believe it?! Anyways, I had to settle for a haddock steak, although we had to explain to Gaby, who innocently remarked "But, Didi doesn't like steak," that no, there wasn't any actual meat in it. After dinner, we went to this ice cream place called "Cow's." Now, you might think this is too insignificant to mention, but trust me, it is very significant. Because it was, according to some international magazine, the BEST. ICE CREAM. IN THE WORLD. And it was. It was AMAZING. Please, if you're ever on Prince Edward Island, go to Cow's. It's for your own good.

Well, on our second day, we went to the beach. But we didn't really go swimming. Now, during this vacation, I've discovered a little phobia of mine. I am TERRIFIED of jellyfish. They're so scary that the phobia doesn't even have a real scientific name. It's just called Jellyfish Phobia. And you know what? The water was filled with jellyfish. So, I lay down and read all day while Gaby buried my feet under a mountain of sand that she had taken out of a hole she had been digging toward China. It got pretty deep; she was knee-deep when she was standing in it.

Finally, that night, we had our lobster dinner. At the cottage. Mom went out and bought three lobsters that were already cooked, and we ate them. And they were good.

So now, we're on our way back from the East Coast. Tomorrow we should be entering the province of Quebec, and right now, we're in Edmundston, NB, a nice little town where, as we've witnessed, EVERYONE SPEAKS FRENCH. EVERYONE.