Sydney 2.0 - back in town

In the morning of December 13, 2018, we drove to Fraser National Park to visit the Large Water Cave and the Blow Hole. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the Blow Hole, but the cave was even more impressive. The strong waves have carved a huge hole into a steep cliff, creating a small sandy beach in an undercut. It was a strange feeling to see that the road we had driven on a few minutes ago was now undermined. We then walked along the coast to Snapper Point. Despite the mournful tributes to the people who had fallen to death from these cliffs, it was a beautiful place and not as dangerous as it seemed with a little caution.

We continued to the Central Coast, specifically Long Jetty and The Entrance. We had lunch in Long Jetty and then took a short walk along the Saltwater Creek Boardwalk, which was rather unremarkable. Krissi then walked along one of the long jetties while Kenny peacefully napped on a bench, until he was abruptly awakened by a worker using a leaf blower right next to him.

We continued to The Entrance, a suburb known for its picturesque sandbanks.

At 3:30 PM, we had an important appointment. Every day at this time, the local Surf Live Saving Club feeds numerous pelicans by the river. During the feeding, there was a commentary providing information about the pelicans. For example, they have a wingspan of up to 2.5m, can reach a maximum altitude of 3000m, and can stay in the air for up to 24 hours. The pelicans ran crazily through the crowd and fought for the fish flying around. It was not uncommon for them to brush against people with their huge wings.

We then visited Crackneck Lookout. Despite its name, it was not dangerous. We had our first stollen there with a great view of the Central Coast coastline. Unfortunately, it started to cloud over at that time.

We then went to Terrigal Skillion Lookout. We admired the beautiful surroundings and the view of the ocean. Krissi searched for a geocache in the nearby park, but sadly without success.

One of the highlights of the day was supposed to be the HMAS Shipwreck, but unfortunately, we didn't get to see it. When we arrived at the destination in the middle of an approaching storm on a remote road, we realized that something was not right. Considering the weather, we decided not to visit the shipwreck, especially since there was no path according to the map. As it was already quite late and heavy rain and thunderstorms had started, we decided to go to McDonald's in Waitara to spend a few dry hours there. We planned our trip to Sydney and looked for a campsite for the night. After all, we had ended up in the middle of nowhere and ended up camping illegally in front of a school. The only strange thing was the probable janitor who was still working quite late and kept walking by, but we didn't let it bother us.

Friday morning was somehow difficult. We were used to numerous beautiful public parks with relatively clean toilets in Australia. However, in the village of Waitara and its surroundings, it was quite difficult to find such facilities. After freshening up in an unpleasant restroom, we went to a small playground nearby where we could sit and have breakfast.

We then drove a long way to Manly Dam. We couldn't make it there the day before, but it was only moderately worth it. At first, we were shocked by the exorbitant parking fees at this unknown reservoir. Due to the ongoing bad weather, we only took a brief look at the water and then continued towards Sydney.

Just before reaching the city, we visited the Cutler Road Lookout. It must be amazing in good weather. You can see the harbor entrance and the first affluent residential areas of Sydney. However, everything was gray and overcast for us. We made a short detour to see some Aboriginal art. It consisted of simple carvings of kangaroos, fish, or boomerangs on stones.

For lunch, we arrived in Sydney and went to the park near the Waverton Bowling Club. Here, we watched some slightly tipsy Australians play boules, and we also encountered a dog sitter with seven dogs.

Then it was time for Krissi's highlight of the day. We visited Luna Park, a year-round amusement park located at the end of the Harbour Bridge. We each bought a $22 ticket and rode the 40m high 'Hairraiser' free fall tower and the boat ride 'The Ranger'. Of course, we also had to have some pink cotton candy - a must for any amusement park visit.

On the way back to our car, we made a short visit to Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden, but due to the rain, it was a brief visit. It is a lovely green space in the middle of the city with charming seating areas, flower beds, and well-designed paths.

As it started to storm again, we returned to the car. We spent several hours in the back of our car, hiding from the rain. We didn't want to walk across the Harbour Bridge or drive to the south of Sydney in this weather, especially since there was heavy traffic congestion.

When the rain finally stopped, we went to Milson Park, which is even closer to the Harbour Bridge. We found the perfect free parking spot after a long search, and it was also a great spot for the night. Before dinner, we went to the bottle shop because we wanted to go out and celebrate in Sydney. We treated ourselves to a few glasses of wine and then headed towards the city center.

After a long but enjoyable walk across the Harbour Bridge to the neighborhood of 'The Rocks,' we were approached by a few Irish expatriates. Since we didn't really have a plan, we all went to the nearby rooftop bar at the Glenmore Hotel and enjoyed the great view of Sydney. Our next stop was an Irish pub with live music. Afterward, we took an Uber, which was sponsored for us, to the Chinese Laundry nightclub. According to the travel guide, they promised electro and house music, but unfortunately, they only played the hardest trap music. Fortunately, they covered the $25 admission fee per person. Otherwise, it would have been quite annoying. It turned out that the Irish expatriates were all on ecstasy. One of them was quite strange and arrogant, another was super sweet but overly intoxicated, we barely had any contact with a few others, and then there were the two nice guys Chris and Jamie. :) Chris's little brother was celebrating his 18th birthday that night but was already quite intoxicated at the club...

So, we quickly made our way back home. We tried to get into another club, but we weren't allowed entry because they had stopped admitting people at 1:30 AM.

On December 15, we "slept in" until 9:00 AM. After a quick breakfast, we went straight back to bed. A city trip was not possible for both of us.

At around 1 PM, we finally woke up and drove to the other side of the harbor, heading south. Since we would have to pay a toll to use the Harbour Bridge, we took a route around the harbor. Therefore, we decided to drive directly to the beach. It was hot and sunny again. Our first stop was Bronte Beach.

We had burgers and fries for lunch to cure our hangover. While we were sitting in the small café, more and more police and ambulances arrived. Unfortunately, we couldn't find out what was happening. Then, of course, it started to rain again, so no swimming. We drove by the famous Bondi Beach but only took a brief look. It didn't seem special and was quite crowded, and we had been spoiled by other beaches. :)

The rain drove us to Tamaraa Park at the beach of the same name. We were hoping to find a power source there, but couldn't find one. However, at least it was dry, and we had a roof over our heads.

When the rain subsided, we set off on the Coastal Walk towards Bondi Beach. We encountered stormy waves along the steep coastline.

When it started raining again, we wanted to find a nearby free warm shower. In torrential rain, we went on the search. We met some local teenagers who told us that the showers were locked when it rained. That was unfortunate, so we returned to the car in the pouring rain. We technically had a shower in the car, but it wasn't what we had in mind, and it was challenging to dry all the wet clothes in the car while it was raining outside.

On the way to Centennial Park to brush our teeth, Krissi skidded in a roundabout due to the wet road and we ended up hitting the curb. It was scary, but fortunately, nothing serious happened, except that we slightly disrupted the flow of traffic in the roundabout for a while. It sounds less spectacular than it felt at the time.

We stayed overnight on Martin Street. When we got out of the car, we noticed a foul smell in the air. We suspected that someone had stepped in dog poop. Krissi saw that her shoes were a bit dirty, but we weren't sure. It was only when Kenny took a deep breath and almost vomited that we were certain. And that's despite the fact that cleaning up dog poop is actually a law in NSW. We moved the car to escape the horrible smell. Kenny parked it while Krissi walked beside him, trying to clean her shoes and avoid stepping on poop again in the dark. A few houses down the road, there seemed to be a huge party because the music could be heard throughout the street. We later fell asleep peacefully.

On Sunday, we went back to Centennial Park for breakfast. Since half of Sydney seemed to be active, Krissi felt compelled to do some exercise. So she went for a short 4.3 km jog through the park. It was already quite hot at 9:00 AM. The storm was finally over. Then, successfully, we took a warm shower - to Krissi's disappointment, there was only a shower in the smelly men's bathroom. But you don't miss out on a rare warm shower.

Then we finally went to the city center of Sydney. We found a free parking spot near the Botanical Garden. We walked through it and headed straight to the food court at Circular Quay. Here, we had Asian and Indian food for lunch. Then, we sat in a café with a view of the harbor and enjoyed an iced latte and a chai latte.

After a short walk to the Opera House, we strolled through the city center. We kept an eye out for the seal that is known to frequent the harbor, but we had no luck. Instead, Krissi started a conversation with an Australian who claimed to be related to three German women who are 3000 years old and were found in caves in Germany..

During the day, we wondered if we were not appreciating everything enough, "the world-famous Sydney Opera House," but after all, we have been to Sydney twice already and have seen everything. The city has aged somewhat. So we headed to H&M to buy new tops for Krissi since the ones she had keep developing new holes and becoming looser in the washing machines here.

As the final part of our city tour, we wanted to revisit OBar. We had been there on our first trip to Sydney, enjoying the view of Sydney from the 47th floor. This time, we weren't allowed in due to our tank tops and shorts. Although we remember looking even more disheveled the last time, that's not necessarily the best argument :D It got interesting when Kenny made a gesture to Krissi, asking why we weren't being let in, which in retrospect wasn't very gentlemanly, but that was only because we had the tops that Krissi had just shopped for. Well, :D

We had our daily dinner consisting of toast and the like in the park at a café table behind the Art Gallery.

The last item on the agenda was Kings Cross, which is supposed to be the red-light district of the city. But if you've been to Amsterdam or Hamburg, Kings Cross is not really something special. It's more like a regular bar district, with the occasional sign indicating a VIP room.

We stayed further south in Sydney overnight to avoid getting stuck in rush hour traffic the next day and because we had an appointment there. We met Krissi's former BA classmates Chris, who converts cars into campers at the Spaceships car rental company. It was very interesting, and it's always great to meet acquaintances on the other side of the world. :)