Sydney!

G'day Mates!

Sydney, here we come, the three musketeers!!




After all the hectic I wrote about in my last story you have seen Sheila had arrived safely. We came home from the airport in the dark so she saw our accommodation only the next morning and because we didn't want to wake our neighbours up by putting up a tent, Fred had organised a bed for Sheila in our little house on wheels! Isn't that amazing with 3 adults in a small van like ours!

Anyhow, before go into Sydney next morning we first had to put the tent up which Sheila brought herself. It's Danny's tent and when Sheila's gone home, Danny can take over.

Well what can/must I tell about Sydney? It's a big city, it's beautiful and I assume everyone know the icons. We have been several times in Sydney and seen and done the lot but every time you go with a visitor, you do the same again, which isn't a punishment by the way! 

As I said in my previous story the train station was close to the caravan park so we did everything by train, bus or ferry because we also had a pass where you could put money on and travel on every transport for a maximum of $ 15,- a day, for Sheila and me, for pensioner Hubby it was only $ 2.50

 Discrimination!! Haha! Of course we are very happy with the benefits the Australian Government gives their elderly!! 

We went on the ferry to Manly and here you have to watch out! There are two types of ferries, the normal green/yellow one and a quick one, the quick one also claims you can use your pass and that's true, what they don't tell you is that it is much more expensive and the limit of $ 15.00 doesn't count!

First the Sydney Opera House from the water.......

The harbour of Sydney stays fascinating.....

Now the opera house from close by, also this icon is fascinating......

A strange visitor who seems to be living there for a while as there was a sign which said not to disturb and not to feed him/her.......

Selfie.....

Of course we didn't do all this on one day, all above was on Thursday and on Friday Sheila and I had a lazy day at the caravan park as Fred had to drive 1200 k's to swaps the cars. He left at 6 in the morning and was back at 7.30 at night, poor thing!! 

And then the big moment came, on Saturday, Sheila had been looking forward to this moment and  was so excited.....

All ready to go!!

What she didn't know was that you can see the climbers from close when you walk on the bridge to a certain spot. We know it as we have done the climb as well, YEARS ago!

We have been waiting there for at least 1 1/2 hours, ah well, there was a lot to see so we weren't bored..... 

After checking out several groups.......

suddenly she was there and she was VERY surprised to see us!

Happy Face after this enormous adventure!

When Sheila came off the bridge we took another ferry to Darling Harbour which is a great area with Restaurants, cafes, pubs etc etc....

In Darling Harbour Sheila found her employer, the most right large building....  

We ended this great day with a great hamburger in one of the nice little restaurants before we headed back with the train.....

Next day, Sunday, we had a laugh!!

Because we missed one day (Friday, the car swap day) I had to try to book an extra night as we wanted to go to the Scenic World in the Blue Mountains.

Unfortunately the caravan park was almost booked out because of the Easter Holidays, there were just two spots left and we had the choice; go or move to one of the two spots, so we choose the latter.

Fortunately one of the two was just below our current site so we didn't had to move that far;

We really had to be careful as the wind blew several time underneath the tent and it nearly flew away!

After this hilarious move we took off for the Blue Mountains........

That will be next guys!

Cheers!

Another disaster !!!

G'day Mates!


As you might remember our caravan was stalled at a friend of ours in Bullengarook and because we had to go to Sydney for a reason, which I will explain later, we thought we better leave the caravan there and go just by car along the family/friends to say good bye as we won't be back for about a year.

We stayed a few days with Lida, our friend in Patterson Lakes and she recommended us to go to the William Ricketts Sanctuary as we had been to the Dandenongs several time but never visited this; not only one of the Dandenong’s more iconic experiences, but also one of the most inspiring and tranquil places on the mountain.

A quiet gentleman who had spent much time living with aboriginal communities in central Australia, William Ricketts created the sanctuary as a place for quiet reflection and replenishing the spirit. He believed that all Australians should adopt Aboriginal philosophies, respecting the spirituality of the mother earth and all things in the natural world. Some of his works throughout the grounds also depict his feelings on the takeover and devastation of white man into the natural environment.

(source; https://visitdandenongranges.com.au/activity/william-ricketts-sanctuary)

There are over 90 sculptures carved into rocks and tree trunks, they are fantastic and the atmosphere in the park amazing!

After our tour along the family we picked up our caravan and drove to Bendigo to the people, who became good friends in the mean time, we did several house sits for. This came suddenly in between which we didn't mind as we are always happy there, they just wanted to go a few days bike riding.

On Thursday the day before Good Friday, we had a shock: under our car was oil again! We drove off to a RACV mechanic but he didn't had time, fully booked and of course it was the weekend before Easter so we had the terrible feeling we were facing a disaster as we had to be in Sydney on Monday. Another mechanic had a look at it and said the same, he gave us a big can with oil with the advice to keep an eye on the oil level and top it up every time on the way to Sydney.

Our friend in Bullengarook, who knows everything of cars, said it was a too big risk to drive like that that far, we could blow up the engine.

And then it was Good Friday, everything was closed and the car leaked as hell. I googled at "rent a car" to find a car with a tow bar, which we could hire but that was very hard to find. Then our lovely friends came home and suggested us to take their car to Sydney, they would brings our car to a mechanic after Easter to let it repair and when it would be finished, they would meet Fred halfway to swap the cars. And so we drove off to Sydney, in a very convenient car......

We had a great stop on the Yass Showground......

 in the mean time it was Easter so that's the reason of this brunch with eggs and...... booze

The people in Tasmania most probably didn't mount the tube properly as that was all it was! And so it happened that Fred drove the Friday after Easter 1200 k's on one day to Holbrook and back to swap the cars. We are very very thankful to our friends as they prevented us from another disaster!

The first reason we had to go to Sydney was because Fred's Dutch passport was due, we had made an appointment at the Dutch Consulate in Sydney already a long time ago. Sydney is the only place where you can go for a new Passport, isn't that ridiculous!! All the Dutchies who live all over the country have to go to Sydney which costs a lot of travelling money and time! Anyhow, we thought if we have to go to Sydney we rather go further and end up in the tropics for winter!

When the kids in The Netherlands heard about our plans, they thought, "well, we might travel along with them for a part". And so, Sheila would be the first to come to Sydney to travel with us to the Gold Coast .........

So on the 3rd of April, hubby's birthday and our appointment date at the consulate, Sheila leaves her home to go to the airport.....

And we travel by train to the city....

On our way to the train station we saw this fellow, we are on the caravan park at Lane Cove National Park, not far from the city centre and easy to travel by train which is a relief.

Can be expected in a National Park....

All dressed up for a nice day out, first; The Consulate, another disaster!

We thought we had all the paperwork needed, how disappointing when we were told so much more was needed. It's too complicated to explain but because Fred had became an Australian citizen in the mean time, there was a lot paperwork extra to hand over. It took us approx. 2 months and a lot of extra money to accomplish this task.

Anyhow, we had a nice drink for the shock.......and some phone calls for Fred for his birthday.....

And a nice dinner at a pub.......

In the mean time Sheila was flying and arrived at Sydney Airport on the 4th of April...

Next time;

SYDNEY!!

Cheers!