Sydney

Spent time with Sandy's family and we attended to travel details. We applied for visas for Brazil ($112 total), which is the only country on our journey that requires visas for both of us. Terry was able to obtain a visa for Australia in a few seconds at our travel agent in Cebu using the new ETAS system inaugurated by Australia.

We did several walks in the Sydney area. The Cronulla area has a 5 KM esplanade along the shore and passes the monument to Flinders and Bass at Port Hacking. Chinatown was one of our first stops for a spicy meal and we found fresh prawns for a nice lunch at Darling Harbor.

The ferry ride between Darling Harbor and Circular Quay passes a replica of the Bounty and under the famous Sydney Bridge ... now being used for 'daring' walks along it's top as shown in detail here. (Use your browser's 'back' button to return)

We hiked the shoreline trail from Manly to the Spit Bridge on one on the hottest day Sydney has had in 62 years (44 deg C) !!

We visited Canberra for a few days and, on return to Sydney, were met with the news that our visas for Brazil weren't ready .. and that was after 13 days instead of the promised 7 days. At the last hour we got our visas!

Canberra

Visits with friends consumed our time .. which passed very quickly! The beautiful weather continued throughout the visit .. and Terry got in a two hour hike which only took one hour and fifteen minutes as he tried to outrun the flies!

Would you believe that the buses running between cities require the use of seat and shoulder belts? Yep .. and the mountings left little leg room on one trip .. but bus travel is still a great way to journey in Oz.

We found only ONE PUB in the city! This age-old Australian institution has been replaced in Canberra by the many sports and ethnic clubs which charge $5 for yearly membership and provide bars, bistros (restaurants), and gambling machines (called pokies).

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