Wednesday, September 13, 2017: Waitui to Sydney

Another beautiful morning in the Bush!

Sadly, last day with our friends, Ross and Avril in Waitui.  :-(  We've had a fabulous time with them and really appreciated and enjoyed our time with the Browns - they are a gracious, giving and, most thoughtful pair... not to mention just all round great people and fun to be around!  We're going to miss them but, will work to stay in touch as we part.

Cleaned up, dressed and on our way to Newcastle and Broadmeadow Station by 0815. Not long after we left the property and turned on to Waitui Road, we encountered our first Waitui traffic jam - a huge herd of dairy cows making their way to another pasture, via the road, following their leader who was on a ATV.  Rosie was quite excited by the whole encounter... it was pretty neat.  Quite a few dairy farms in the Hannam Vale region, 11 of them.

Continued on our way, past the Hannam Vale school and General Store, owned by Dave and Ashley, and out onto the A1 south to Newcastle.  Had a bit of fun playing with the on board navigation system.  All the 'bits and bobs' in this version of the SUV are controlled by a round knob on the center console.  Took some getting used to but, eventually found and entered the address to the train station we were headed to.  Whenever you can, particularly if you've been someplace before, never blindly trust any 'Oracle' (aka, the GPS navigation).  It will get you where you're going but, not necessarily via the most efficient route.  We followed the SUVs GPS recommendations, mostly, and ignored them when it made sense with Avril's help using her phone's recommendations - believe it was Google Maps.

Arrived at Broadmeadow Station right at 1026.  Ross dropped us off and went to look for parking. We intentionally passed on the 1028 express train because we wanted to say our goodbyes to all the Browns, not just Avril who'd accompanied us to the platform and, to pick up some chow for the 3hr ride to Sydney.  We caught the very next train, the 1038 local, back to Sydney's Central Station.  Bid our very fond farewells to Ross and Avril and, will mixed emotions, started the next phase of our holiday 'down under.'

Side Note:  As I might have noted earlier, we had contemplated a few ways of getting back to Sydney from the Bush.  Least attractive was for Ross and Avril to drive us back. Most favorable we believed would be, flying out of Port Macquarie down to Sydney.  That flight would have cost us between $6-700Au but, when Nellies Belly lost all internet connectivity and prevented us from booking online, that gave us an opportunity to go with 'Plan C,' taking a very cheap 'Opal card' ride out of Newcastle back down to Sydney... of course, that would have been impossible without the help of Ross and Avril's Limo Service to make it the ~200km down to Newcastle.  Ross and Avril ROCK!!!  
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Riding on trains, so far, doesn't feel much different than riding on them in NJ/NY. The trains are much better kept and we're enjoying being up on the second deck for the views.  There wasn't anywhere for us to stow luggage so, we just piled them onto the seat right across from us.  No one seems to be minding much.  The train signage we've seen so far has been fine and if you can't quite figure out how or where to go, there are folks standing around in fluorescent vests ready to help and direct you.  This Opal card program they have, similar to our MetroCard back in NY, is really good. Fares seem pretty reasonable.  Big difference is that you can use your Opal card anywhere on any public transport:  trains, ferrys, buses - even outside the city.  MetroCard is limited to NYC.

Many stops and 3hrs later, we disembarked at Central Station in Sydney, time: 1326.  Central is Sydney's Penn Station.  Not a bad ride at all.  My only complaint:  the cushions on this train weren't very good, my bum got very sore by the end of the ride.  Central Station, at least on this line, was like pulling into a train station in England or Europe... outdoor, open platforms and every one hurrying to their next platform or exiting.  The place was bustling.

At first blush, the signage at Central Station wasn't very intuitive at all.  There are color coded/numbered lines and was hard to tell exactly where to go to catch what train.  We eventually got by by asking a few people how to get to Circular Quay (CQ).  Turns out that platform 21 is where you jump onto the T2/Green line train that would get us to CQ from Central Station.  Off we went. Approximately 10min later we were at CQ and looking for a way down.

An escalator ride later, we 'tap off' and walk out onto the Quay.  The walk from CQ to our hotel, the Holiday Inn at 55 George Street, while fully laden, took about 10min - uphill walk most of the way into the Rocks. Very hot, unusually so, on this day:  32C.  Mary, the Holiday Inn receptionist at the lobby desk, was great help and a wealth of information.  She patiently answered many questions we had, primarily logistic, over the course of the 10min we were with her.  Our lodging for the next 4 days would be on the 6th floor, room 32 - and we had a partial view to the harbor... there's a large building with a spire right across the street from the hotel obstructing our view.  Not a problem at all.

We quickly settled into our room, didn't want to get too settled - I was getting a bit sleepy, and by 1500 we out on George Street.  Found a local pharmacy nearby and purchased some Australian sunblock and a floppy hat for Rosie.  Couldn't resist buying a sausage roll and some water from the Bakery before continuing down to CQ to find the money exchange.  Converted $300US to $315AU and boarded the Manly 'push me, pull me' ferry at pier 3 for a 1600 ride to Manly Beach.  Wanted to show Rosie where I lived and worked for the week I was in Sydney back in 2010.

It's been about 7yrs since I last rode the Manly ferry.  Decided to sit outside as far forward on the upper deck as possible so we could take photos on this warm day.  Takes about 30mins to go between Sydney and Manly and the views in and around the harbor make for a quick transit.  There's always so much water borne activity and traffic on the harbor it keeps you interested.  One of the coolest sites on the ride is when you pass the entrance into Sydney Harbor... you're looking right out into the Pacific Ocean.  Before we knew it the ferry was pulling into the quay and we all disembarked.

On this particular late Wednesday afternoon, the crowds around Manly Beach were light.  It's much busier and crowded on the weekends.  After you come off the ferry and head out the terminal, you come to a street light where everyone queues up until the lights change.  You basically walk straight ahead with a little jink to the right and head directly towards Manly Beach.  Along the way, besides being in and amongst a lot of beach goers, the path is lined on both sides with vendors of all sorts peddling their wares to visitors and tourists alike.  Lots of places to pick up a quick bite too.

Once we reached the road fronting all of Manly Beach, crossed over and there we were!  The beach is concave shaped and stretches for quite a ways.  A concrete boardwalk, called the Marine Parade, spans it's length with places to sit, showers to remove sand and a handful of other eccentric sites.  I spent most of my days on the south side of the beach.  Turning and looking to the right, we could see the Sebel Hotel at the end of the strip that was my lodging years ago - looked the same.  The beach wasn't very crowded.  There was some sort of large surfboard paddle racing going on with a few dozen participants and young/old alike enjoying the day.  Made our way along the boardwalk headed southerly.  Once you pass out of the Manly Beach area, you enter another section of beach along the Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve.  We walked up to a naturally formed swimming pool right off the boardwalk not far from the much smaller Shelly Beach at the far end of the Reserve.  Just a nice restful walk.  On this evening there were quite a few protected goana's called water dragons lying about.  First time I'd seen any.  Some didn't mind all the photographers snapping pictures, others ran back into the vegetation.

We turned around by the pool and walked back to Manly Beach to check out some of the places I used to have dinner.  Nothing really appealed to us so, we continued on back towards the ferry terminal.  Rosie did poke her head into another book/toy store in search of the evasive 'Wiggles' book/toy for Ben and came out with a couple of fun non-Wiggles books for our grandson.  It was beginning to look as if we wouldn't be doing dinner in Manly when, right at the light in front of the ferry terminal we spied an Italian restaurant to our right, Crinitis's.  What the heck, let's give them a try.  My lower back was screaming at me by now.  It'd been a long day of travel, mostly sitting on uncomfortable seats, so regardless of their menu, would be nice to cop a seat inside the restaurant. The choices looked interesting:  Ordered a lot of water, insalade caprese and Mama's meatballs for Rosie.  I chose penne vegetarian with Mama's meatballs... believe I got a few strange looks from our very nice waitress with my 'mixed' order.  Wine and a Peroni completed our order.  Our dinners were excellent.  Pleasantly surprised.

Rested and sated, we paid our bill and headed back over to the ferry terminal to await our ride.  We're really beginning to appreciate this 'Opal' card we've been using as a means of getting around.  You just 'tap on' to get through the turnstiles and once you get where you're going, you 'tap off.'  Very efficient and if your Opal card starts running low on balance, there are plenty of kiosks wherever you are to add more $$$ on to it.  Fifteen minutes after tapping on, the ferry arrived, we boarded and got back to CQ and the Holiday Inn by around 2000.  Long day, but a good day!

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