| Australia |
| Sydney & Perth |
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| This is a shot of us above Bondi beach, south of Sydney. It is actually just a beach in a small cove, but it is still world famous. On a cool day in May, there weren't too may people out. Our freind Sol lives in a nice house on the bluff in the background. He took a day to drive us all over the city, and was a magnificent tour guide. He also took us to his favorite Chinese resturant in the area. |
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| The Sydney waterfront area is very nice, and we enjoyed a week just soaking it all up. There are many parks and walks right on the bay, and we explored them in order to burn off the extra kilos we put on in Melbourne. |
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| All postcards show the same view of the opera house. This is it from the waterfront side, taken while we were on a tour boat. The inside of the opera house and the symphony theater (there are actually 3 halls in the complex) are still impressive, if a bit dated. Work to refurbish the complex is underway. Soon there will be no more textiles from the 70s in the building, with colors such as burnt oranges, avocado greens, mustard yellows, etc. Fortunately, many of the surfaces are covered in fine wood which makes the entire interior seem much different from the odd exterior. The designer, after feuding with the city for years, has never set foot in the building. |
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| Public art in Sydney includes about 70 painted cows placed all over the downtown area. Oooh, ahhhh. The folks from Melbourne apologized for the residents of Sydney before we left, and now we know why. |
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| In this picture I am attempting to take apart the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Why? Because it was there. |
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| Despite my best efforts, the bridge still stands today... |
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| A very pretty city at night. Taken from the steps of the opera house. |
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| Perth Western Australia |
| Here we are again, getting exercise by hiking into the forests surrounding Perth. We had a great time there with a local family who showed us around. |
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| We both had had enough of our boots after all the hiking, and mine were really starting to fall apart. In a shop in Fremantle (where Dennis Connor defeated the Australians to bring the America's Cup back to the States), I discovered one of the pillars of Outback Australian faith, Rossi boots. These things slip on and are sooooo comfortable, yet rugged as a ute. Fair dinkum! There are also Bluntstone boots, but the argument about which is superior sounds like the Ford v. Chevy argument in the States. |