A little history and geography to start with… Sydney was the site of the earliest European settlers. The Dutch had been around this area as far back as the early 1600s, though it was Capt. James Cook who put Sydney and Australia on the map, quite literally. As a result, the First Fleet from Britain arrived at Botany Bay, just south of Sydney in 1788, their job, to create a penal colony. There are now more than 23 million people living in Australia. Unfortunately the growth in immigration has had a drastic effect on the aboriginal population, which has seriously diminished as a result of disease and conflict with the colonists.

So, to our brief stay… the biggest event for us, Deb climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a story which deserves its own blog, Deb will write about her adventures in the next day or so.

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The harbour is a constant bustle of activity, with a continuous stream of ferries leaving Circular Quay to all points around the harbour, in addition there are busy little water taxis, large cruise ships visiting, and a multitude of yachts and power boats. But dominating it are two iconic images of Australia, the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge.

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We have to say, Sydney had a very nice feel about it. We walked a great deal, covering not just the Harbour, but the Botanical Gardens and Central Business District. We also took the opportunity to join a trip out to the Blue Mountains, to understand the challenges those early settlers faced in trying to get through to the rest of the continent. A challenge they had to overcome, because they were starving on the eastern side of the mountains due to very poor soil quality, which prevented them from becoming self sufficient. Three explorers, Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth found a crossing in 1813, which became fully navigable in 1815, opening up the inland part of Australia to settlement.

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We did visit Taronga Zoo, which cascades down the hillside into the Harbour. It does have incredible views, but we were disappointed with the zoo itself, and felt the little Tasman Zoo we visited in Tassie was much better at educating people regarding the animals under their care. From the Zoo we travelled by ferry out to Manly, famous for its surfing beach. The waves were not so high, maybe 1 – 1.5 metres, but the beach was beautiful, and Manly left us with a favourable impression.

Here we are now, in New Zealand…. we are sure there will be many stories to be told.