Poststick

Have been busy post trip and thus have been behind in posting this posts.

Reflecting on the trip, I think there are a few things that I few is a mark difference and something I like. Firstly it is how they have managed to conserve many old buildings and some of them are not as modern as we expect, mortar and cement but sandstone building and the like. So definitely it has not been easy maintaining it but yet it is still well maintained and is not just a monument but is still in used. So looking at some of my photos I post, definitely can see some of the old building some where.

Next, is definitely the aboriginals. They are definitely people who have roamed the land in Australia before modernization comes. So, some of the buildings, you would find plague stating this land belongs to which tribes. Though they have been “chased out”, their mark is not erased forever.

Travelling within the city is definitely a piece of cake for Sydney, everything is within walking distance, depending on how you define walking distance. But is relatively straightforward, and hard to be lost. Melbourne can consider to walk but then if there is free things why abuse yourself. City tram is free within their city area. So they would announce that the next stop is no longer within the free tram zone and that the boarding bus stop would show if the stop is a free area or not and if not the next stop is free or not. However, it can be confusing at times to figure which tram go wheres. Lastly, if you are at Melbourne, you can consider taking 35, which goes on the main route where the tram is an antique, good to take photo of it.

The bus stop within the free tram zone

Bus 35, antique

I used AA Kings local tour and Grayline local tour in Sydney and Melbourne respectively and their service had been fantastic and definitely would consider using them again if I were to go back again.

That marks the end of Melbourne and Sydney, till the next trip.

SYD-MEL 5/7/2018

Well today will be the day we say goodbye to Sydney to go to Melbourne. So of course, what do we do while waiting for our flight to go to Melbourne? We hit the ground even more!

First stop is definitely to General Post Office, which I love the most. Was hoping that the post office had more product but the product line is limited to some extent. But if you are a postcard fan, there is a lot of Maxi Card for sale and it includes mailing.

Then moving from the Post Office, we head down the street to where it is near to China Town. First to go is definitely Paddy’s Market Haymarket. Although it was stated that it opened at 10, there were shops open at about 9. Other than souvenirs being sold, there is also fruits and vegetable being sold and even clothes and you could walked for hours if you have the time to capture everything there. This is only the basement 1 of the shop, there is more to shop there. There is Souvenir King store, which give freebies to those who likes their Instagram!

Crossing the road, we hit the Chinatown of Sydney. The entrance and exit is marked by a  Chinese signboard.

This will mark the end of my fun in Sydney city.

Heading back to the hotel, it was waiting for our transfer to the airport. The Qantas airport or the domestic terminal of Sydney is where we waited for our flight to Melbourne. If you are too early, you can go up to the Qantas historical gallery where they show the history of Qantas like the uniform over the years.

Flight took off and landed in Melbourne and is a challenge to figure out where is our transport to our hotel. Thankfully for the Australia SIM card where I could just call them and figure them out.

Reaching the hotel and putting down our bag, we head off to explore the city.

Taking their city tram, we head to shopping area, Bourke Street Mall. Will talk more on the city tram in my subsequent post. Headed to H&M behind the bus stop and explored the area. Next, we took another tram towards Waterfront City Docklands, where we get to see the nice port scenery and get to walk around and explore the area abit. There is a big ferris wheel there as well, Mebourne Star.

For dinner we took the tram to go towards Chinatown area along Lt Bourke Street. which is behind Bourke Street Mall. First dinner was at the food court area which still suprisingly had food to sell us to eat. Then from Chinatown we walked towards the supermarket to see if we can find more things to buy. Walking and walking towards Melbourne Central Station to take tram back to our hotel. Of course, I was slightly lost because the sign is not clear enough.

Entrance/Exit to the Chinatown in Sydney

Paddy’s Market, look straight will be where the souvenir  and many other things are sold.

Fruits sold on the right and at the front you see other goods like clothes

Domestic airport most or if not all is Qantas plane.

H&M which was previously a post office in Melbourne.

Such a big and spacious shopping mall.

Night Scene at the Dockland. Nice view but my camera is not good enough!

Chinatown in Melbourne keeping many building from the China Revolution in 1911 like this KMT building and opposite is Sun Yat Sun statue.

The entrance to Melbourne Chinatown. Realise the similarity to Sydney

SYD 4/7/2018

Well today marks in a way our last day of tour with Sydney and we would be going to Melbourne the next day.

Again is another early morning where we board the bus for the day tour.

First destination of the day is Australian Reptile Park. Am glad that I chose to go to this location this time around, partly and mainly because there is up close encounter with the Koala Bear meaning you can take photo with it for free. Further, there is also free feed for the kangaroo. Feeding the kangaroo sure is tiring especially some will attempt to snatch the food from. The Koala Bear are lazy and shy and if you are not so in luck, the bear will just look away from the camera. There are also many other animals that  is there like the Tasmanian devil, though they were sleeping when we were there and even wombats but they were none to be found. Of course the focus of the farm is still Reptile, there is a reptile exhibit there along with a crocodile name Elvis lying in the pond. Sadly we could spot him sleeping only when we were there. Yup, this is an interesting place to go!

Next, move on to Port Stephen, Arriving at Port Stephen, we had our lunch and it is free and easy. There is a few restaurants there which are quite famous for their Fish and Chip. I ate at Bub’s Fish and Chip and I think it is quite yummy, not like Singapore where the Fish is coated with super lots of flour. However, the pain is that you have to wait very long just to have our food ready.

After Lunch, we board the cruise to spot Dolphin. It is quite an amazing feat to see so many dolphins swimming around but unlike Japan where the dolphin congregate in a place. These Dolphins are everywhere, so keep your eyes open to spot the dolphins which will appear randomly. There is also underwater camera where you can see the dolphin if it swim pass on the way. The cruise is equipped with slide so bring your swimming attire and slide down the cruise into an enclose area in the sea. There is water and biscuit provided, but guess it should be free for people to eat? I just took some and ate it. Being winter, it will be insane to go for a swim.

Bidding the dolphin goodbye, it is to the Stockton Bright Sand Dunes for 4WD and sandboarding. A short drive across from the port to the dune. Apparently there is a partnership with the cruise and the sandboarding company, ours was with Moonshadow Cruise. 4WD was awesome, though I expected 4WD as in a car kind of 4WD but it was a bus. But it still have the right feeling of 4WD, bumpy road are ensured, so seatbelt must be on.

Sandboarding wise, there is instructor there to teach you the basic of the sandboarding and afterwhich, it is every man for themselves. Minimal supervision and maximum fun. So for family with children do keep a watch but for adult like us we also must be careful. I slide down once and then the whole slide jam break and I flew forward and did a few somersault. Also, in order to slide down you need to climb up, but to climb up is a steep steep slope and is quite tiring to go up. But overall experience for the 4WD and sandboarding is a plus especially I have none done similar things before except I have alot of sand on my shirt. If you are not adventurous, take some nice photo with nice scenery.

All good things must come to an end and off we go back to Sydney City for dinner. Dinner was at another Chinese Restaurant along King Street. It is rather obscure, and the only way to spot it is the spotlight in front of the store.

Afterwhich we tried the train system from Circular Quay to our hotel and Museum station. Falling into the first fare band, it cost $4.40. Rather expensive but it was an adventure to try it. Quite old looking in terms of interior but is rather big so is more like a passenger train than a MRT like in Singapore. Thats more or less for Sydney.

Entrance of the Park, greeted by Frill Lizard.

The shy koala bear so photogenic in this picture.

Kangaroo or is it Wallaby that we get to feed.

Elvis sleeping

Some reptiles we saw. If I am not wrong this is the Frill Lizard

Fish and Chip at Bub’s Fish and Chip

Dolphin

More Dolphin

More more Dophin

Apparently they have named all the dolphin, but couldnt seem to spot and name them

Slide anyone?

Sandboarding down this steep slope

Everyone sit ready to slide down. The board is really thin so you cannot really spot it here.

our “4WD”

Scenery of the Dune.

Attempting Night View of Sydney Harbor

SYD 3/7/2018

Well it is the start of day 2 in Sydney and today we are off to… Blue Mountain haha.

Waking up early in the morning to meet the tour bus which we will bring us there. (I will talk more on this experience with the tour company in my poststick post for this trip).

Well it was sure a long ride up to the Blue Moutain. But before we hit blue mountain, we visited a small town, Leura, near to it where we can buy our lunch there or visit the supermarket there. It is a relatively quiet town  and still keep most of its vintage buildingbut a prominent place for tourist to visit before they hit the blue mountain. Afterwhich it is a ride through the scenic spot of of the Blue Mountain to view the scenery and also stopping along the way to view off the cliff. Sadly, it was relatively foggy in the morning and cant see much under the mountain. Well it is call Blue Mountain not because the tree there are blue but because of the eucalyptus tree which produce some powder and when look from the sky, the powder seems blue. Thats why it is blue mountain. So much for blue mountain, I will just give you the photo to speak of the wonderful view.

Afterwhich, it was off to visit the Jenolan Caves. Relatively scary ride because it is a one way traffic but met a kangaroo/wallaby for the first time. But before the caves climb, there was a short time for lunch where we eat what we bought Jenolan Caves. The recommended place to eat is the Blue Lake where we can see the beautiful lake and enjoy our lunch. It is a 5 minutes walk from the tourist office and the bus or car will pass by it when going to the tourist office. The water is blue supposedly because of the calcium in the water from the lime cave.

At the tourist office, there is also a tap where you can fill your bottle with “mineral water”, from  the cave itself. Water filled with mineral that is the mineral water. It is nice and refreshing. Lunch over and it is off to climb the cave. For this time, we visited Lucas cave and i shall let the photo do the talking. But the must see is the cathedral where there is a light show in it and is very nice. One thing I do not like though is because the group is relatively large and the guide is at the back, so if you walk too fast, you will end up in darkness while waiting for the guide. To note is that no touching of the cave and of course no flash photography. O yes and ensure you wear shoes with friction or you will be flying around. But the guide will talk in a nice way why you shouldn’t use flash photography. Overall the experience is good where we get to see the rock formation in its primary state like the stalactite and stalagmite and even column and the guide will explain to you some of the formation history and/or the supposed pictorial outcome of the formation. Also, we get to see to some extent erosion and order rock movement. Overall climb was an hour half. If you are up for more challenge, you can also go for adventure climbing.

Ending the Lucas Cave trail, it is off to visit the three sisters. Of course there is alot of aboriginal tale as to how does the three sisters form and the famous is there it is been cast as stone to protect the sisters from the evil one while the uncle fight. Sadly the uncle did not win and did not return and thus there the sisters remain.

Thats about all for today. Of course it was for dinner again and the problem exist again where can we find Asian food. Of course, we were prepared this time. We walked to Bathurst Street, if my memory serve well. It is a Chinese Restaurant which serves Chinese food. Of course the lady was friendly and criticised on other people food as well. However, We believed she was not honest in calculating the food price. So  I will not say the name of the restaurant. After the dinner, we walked across Hyde Park which is divided by one big street in the middle. Rather cooling and chill stroll.

Leura town, how quiet this town looks on a weekday morning!

Keeping the old building looking new!

Leura Town introduction

If you are self travelling, you can consider going by this company to go to Blue Mountain from Leura

Blue Mountain on a foggy morning!

Can you spot the wallaby/kangaro here in this photo?

Tourist Office at Jenolan Cave, The tap to fill the water is in the middle of the photo slightly obscure here. Slightly left of the man in blue jacket.

Blue Lake view slightly downstream

Stairs are the norm in the cave.

Stalactite, remembering my geography from JC 

Interesting formation and the two doesnt meet from this angle. but from other angle it is. Love this the most!

Light show in the cave apart from The Cathedral.

Other Cave walk apart from Lucas Cave.

3 Sisters

 

 

SIN-SYD 1/7/2018-2/7/2018

Finally blogging about my trip after so long!

Well, this time, it will be to Sydney, first time travelling to somewhere outside of Asia and also to somewhere cold, like a country in a winter.

Flight to Sydney was in the night, so by the time we reach Sydney was about 7am in the morning! Probably because watched too much Border Control, was abit scared to go through the custom. But well the custom was successfully cleared and there we were at the airport waiting for our transport. Because of some miscommunication with our Singapore tour agency, our pick up was delayed. After the transport pick us up, we were moving to the city! Thats when all this context shall stop.

Checking into the hotel, the first thing to do is drop our bag and explore the city. To prepare for our next day trip, we walked over to the pick-up point for our trip the next day and managed to locate the hotel. Then, we went down the street, shopping along the way. Because Sydney is still relatively unfamiliar to me, I was abit confused and was worried that we went the wrong turn or what. Indeed, we walked slightly further from our initial planned route but manage to walk from the shopping centre to the riverside walking past the Chinatown area and as well the Chinese friendship garden where you must pay to visit. Turning right, we walked past many play water playing area for the kids. Not only were we sightseeing but we were also trying to find a place for our lunch. So strolling along the sea side and keeping our eyes peeled for food. However, the first stop was a maritime museum. What attracted us was the old warship that was berthed there. So it was phototaking after phototaking session. The maritime museum is across the river the Mdm Tussads Wax Museum and is connected by a bridge which is very nice to walk above. We ended up having our lunch at Subway at King’s Wharf. King’s Wharf was largely business office, people were seeing packing lunch or eating lunch at the restaurant there. Price is abit steep there.

Time came for our half day tour in Sydney. First stop was to Sydney Opera House, ok technically not the Opera House but abit of distance to take our photo of it. which I feel it was justified because it was a vantage point any nearer, will have alot of people or cant see the full view. Following which was a spin around the Sydney, half the time sleeping because too tired after a night flight. However, we stopped at a few places to have some photo shoot like  Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, however there were a few shaped as chair there and must be wise to choose the right chair to take photo so that it is not the fake one. Next was to The Gap. However, it was sad that the day we went, there was a person who committed suicide there and the whole place was sealed and not allowed to enter. However, the guide brought us to another point to see the scenery which we can see from The Gap. However, the other point also show signs of people committing suicide and in remembrance of certain people. Lastly was to Bondi Beach. Sadly, it was raining heavily didnt have much chance to take nice photo or to play in the sea! But at least still can claim that I went to Bondi Beach? There was an outdoor ice skating ring there and people were still seen surfing there. After the tour, the guide brought us back to our hotel. Then came our question, where shall we go for dinner. Definitely my mum wanted Asian food and came the hunt for it. Thankfully, we walked towards, Townhall Station and there was a food court in a shopping mall along Park Street which still had Japanese food opening and we settled dinner there. Crossing the road, we shopped at Woolsworth Supermarket and bought many things, especially dinner in case we cannot find Asian food and of course chips. Lastly was a lazy stroll back to the hotel for the night rest.

The Chinese Friendship Garden

Caught a stock near the Chinese Friendship Garden

The old warship berthed near the Maritime Museum

The lighthouse which you can go up and take a view if you are adventurous

The Bridge connecting Maritime Museum and Mdm Tussads Museum

Catching my first glimpse of Sydney Opera House, how can you say come to Sydney without visiting this.

The view of Sydney Opera house and the bridge along at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. I didnt take photo of the chair though cause too many people there that time. 

The other view to replace the view at The Gap. see the white flower, probably held in remembrance of someone who committed suicide through this cliff.

Bondi beach before the rain kicks in. Observe how strong the waves were