Australia 2003-2004
On December 26th, 2003 we left St. Louis after a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and embarked on our adventure down under! We spent 12 exciting days in and around Sydney, Australia discovering one of the largest and best cities in the southern hemisphere. The highlight of our trip was the wedding of our two of our good friends, Victoria Cannon-Brooks and James Dolton. They were married on January 3, 2004 at St. Mark’s Church in Darling Point - just a couple of blocks from the Sydney Harbor. After a beautiful exchange of vows and pictures outside the church, the guests were whisked away on a water ferry to the Sydney Opera House, where a fabulous reception commenced. The tourists all watched with envy as we disembarked the ferry, clad in black tie dress, and headed to the celebration.
The view of the Syndey Harbour Bridge, pictured above, is from the wedding reception at the Sydney Opera House.
Before the wedding, we enjoyed several days getting to know Sydney. We climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which is not an illegal activity – quite a profitable business indeed!
In the second picture, we climbed from the far left side, near the building, to the very top.
We cruised around the Sydney Harbor for a long and lazy afternoon with good friends and plenty of Australian wine and beer – and a guide to boot – who pointed out all the amazing million dollar homes overlooking the Harbor! What a wonderful treat! Thanks to the bride and groom for hosting this great afternoon.
During our cruise, James, the bride-groom, took a turn as captain of our vessel. The girls seemed pretty relaxed.
Drew spent an entire day at a Cricket match, and apparently had enough fun to tell Melissa all about the Beer Wenches, and how great they were! If you have to ask….
We spent a day at the famous (or is it infamous?) Bondi Beach, which met all expectations! It was a beautiful day, and the beach was great for people-watching.
After the wedding, we had time to visit the Blue Mountains. Here is a picture of the Three Sisters. They were turned to stone by their father for various moral transgressions. We took a nice 3-hour hike along the mountain face to some waterfalls.
The next day we toured Hunter Valley, famous for its wines. We went on a guided bus tour, and had a ball! In fact, we schlepped wine from each winery we visited back to the US and then forgot to take it off the plane in Chicago.
New Years Eve was also incredible. We were fortunate enough to be invited by a local, Dave Wenkart, to join him and his “mates” at the “Lunaquarium” for the evening. The venue was at the well know Luna Park, built for the people around the Sydney Harbor Bridge to acknowledge all they put up with during the construction. It is now a historical landmark.
We dined at some excellent places throughout Sydney. Here we are at a restaurant called Fuel. The name might have to do with the car dealership where the restaurant resides! The second picture is of The Royal, a wonderful Australian restaurant recommended by the bride, that is in an area called Five Points - we ate on the balcony! Lastly, the best meal of all was at Harry’s - the famous Café on Wheels serving up meat pies!!
