It's not a slow car, it's a fast house

I have two posts that I need to get off my mind. This one is about our days in Sydney. We had such a terrific time exploring different aspects of the city, that it is difficult to combine them all into one post. But in an effort to expedite the process and share massive amounts of info, here it goes…….

Sydney is a big, busy, beautiful city! That just about sums it up. There are the usual things that one must see when in Sydney: the opera house, the harbor and the bridge.So here are the requisite photos of those highlights (but keep reading, please) 
Then there were the unique aspects of the city such as Luna Park. 
And thanks to our fantastic tour guide and hostess, we were able to see the beautiful Sydney Harbor at night. 

And the photogenic opera house at night, also! 

But we also had time to do some fun exploration of the city and surrounding areas. We bought our Opal Cards and rode the trains (which were convenient and simple)

With the help of the train system, we went geocaching in the urban environment.

Can you see the geocache in this photo? I added a little red arrow to help you!
This one really challenged us. Did you spot it under the edge of the tubing?  This is what it looked like when we removed it to sign the log.

We also went to Manley Beach and snorkeled in the clear, chilly waters of the Pacific Ocean.  Some of it was a little rough!  It was a beautiful place, but there were a lot of people on the beach! 
And while we were there, we played around a little bit with a local event taking place.

And at the surfing event, we saw this amusing sign

Good message, but “mate” is not a word we use in this context in the USA. It did make us giggle a little.

And in one of our final evenings, we had the opportunity to attend the evening service and meal at a Sikh Temple. It was fascinating to learn a little bit about their beliefs, their practices and their customs.  We had to wear head coverings and bare feet.  We ate delicious food while seated on the floor.  And they serve anyone who shows up for the meal.  This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!  

Everything about Australia is BIG. The country is huge, and our 30 days was clearly not enough to see the entire country. We hit a lot of highlights, but there is so much more to explore. Even their semi-trucks are BIG!! Check out the number of axles under this rig! .  

And this brings us nearly to the end of our trip. Soon we will be at the Sydney airport and headed back to the USA.  (okay, really you probably already know that we are back…. but this blog has to get posted, so bear with my humor here)

Ready to flap his arms all the way back to the USA.

Eye will see you soon.