We left New Zealand in the early hours of Monday, December 16, 2002, with Mum and Dad farewelling us from Wellington Airport. Only the day before we had finally been able to complete matters in Palmerston North -storing most of our belongings at a plaace confidently entitled "Fort Knox" and selling the Toyota Starlet to a Chinese family who paid us in $20 notes! We then travelled with Mum and Dad to Wellington and had a farewell dinner at a seafood restaurant and stayed the night at the same hotel the Beatles stayed at when in New Zealand...yeh,yeh, yeh!
Just after 7am, our flight arrived in Sydney after circling the city in a spectacular descent in what was to be one of the hottest days of our travels in Australia. We started in Woy Woy, about an hour north of Sydney -a place renowned for its abundance of pelicans and as the home of the late British comedian Spike Milligan. Here we stayed at Uncle Don`s place and had a wonderful time -walking into the small town and having a few pints at the local pub (actually, not pints -"schooners"!) and walking down to the river to see the pelicans being fed. Then in the morning we experienced first hand what it is like to be fed in "Hell`s Kitchen," having an Uncle Don Breakfast which eliminated the need for morning tea, lunch or afternoon tea.
Sydney with Uncle Don and Uncle Geoffrey
By lunchtime however, we back in the heart of Sydney, residing at a backpackers in Pitt Street. This residence was a myriad of hallways that required the use of a map to be able to get to the toilets and back! Our first stop was Circular Quay and we walked around the Opera House and through the public gardens until our private tour guide (Uncle Don) arranged for us to meet up with Uncle Geoffrey at the art gallery, from where we travelled to Centerpoint Tower (about 1km high) where we dined at the revolving restaurant. The next day was a shopping day and we walked our feet off (Chinatown, Queen Victoria Mall...) until collapsing at a Darling Harbour bar to be entertained and frightened by Uncle Don`s stories of past experiences.
Our stay in Sydney was made complete by a visit to Taronga Zoo where Itsuka and I were photographed with Koalas and were also attacked by the "Australian Zombie" (an exhausted Uncle Don!), a quick trip to the NSW Art Gallery and a double visit to the IMAX cinema -watching two 3D movies -"Space Station" and "Circus Di Soleui".
Melbourne -city of style
A most notable aspect were the large number of street entertainers (and one clever fraudster)that seemed to lerk around every corner and who provided several hours of enjoyment. Also, the unbelievable Victoria Street Markets astounded us with their variety of goods on display -many items having our name on them, if only the money to pay for them. We also made a tram trip to the St Kilda markets, the beach resort also renowned for Ackland Street -home of numerous and irrestible cake shops. Being unable to ignore the temptation Itsuka devoured a fruit tart and I a huge vanilla slice, after which we made a swift tour of the National Jewish Musuem before it closed.
The next day (also being a certain pagan holiday) we took a 5am train to Burpengary where we met up with cousin Katrina Varrica (Uncle Don`s daughter) and husband Paul and ten-year-old son Sam. They took us into the Glass House Mountains (named by Captain Cook due their square appearance from the sea) for a champagne breakfast, also including a game of cricket, a rainforest walk (complete with wallabies, exotic plants and several leeches) and of course, lots of champagne! Exhausted we finally retired to the Varrica`s residence to watch the cute digital cartoon "Ice Age" on DVD and also to meet up with Auntie Margaret, who I hadn`t seen in 24 years or so.
The next morning the Varrica`s kindly took us to Brisbane International Airport for our departure to Japan. Just like our wonderful arrival into Sydney, our aircraft departed after circling Brisbane city, a beautiful farewell after an enjoyable ten days in Australia.
