A few fun days in Sydney

On Easter day we flew to Sydney and arrived at our hotel in the Kings Cross area, central Sydney.  We then made a mad dash via the Sydney transit to Circular Quay to catch a ferry to Manly.

The rainbow at the end of this mad dash was Easter Dinner prepared by our wonderful hosts the Kinsleys: Michaels, Tracie, and Siena!  Four bottles of wine latter we were much caught up on life events and the kids were playing as if they’d never been apart!

 

Next morning was Surfing Lessons on Bondi Beach.  Getting around Sydney wasn’t too hard, and Bondi Beach is beautiful.  Surfing lessons at a mature age after and eventful evening is a bit challenging to say the least.  Michael was old hat at it by the time we were done, while Danny and I got up on the boards at least once.  It was a good 3 hours of fighting to get out in the waves and falling off the boards about as quickly as we stood.  Tracie was kind enough to watch the kids who enjoyed playing in the sand and waves of the beach.

Later we explored one of Sydney’s famous Rock Pools found all over Sydney’s beaches.  Ethan found a Sea Star, Crabs, Anemones, Fish, and Urchins in the tidal pools around the pool. Then we moved onto Watson’s Bay with stunning views of the sun setting on Sydney and the city lights.

On day 3, we explore Darling Harbor’s Sydney Aquarium and Wild Life Sydney.  We were blessed with a great view of the elusive platypus, and tons of time viewing more of Australia’s unique wildlife.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the next two days we had a little more exploring time in Sydney, time at the theater with the Kinsley’s to watch Scooby-Doo Live on Stage, and then an afternoon at the Taronga Zoo.

This afternoon we realized we were all running on fumes and it was time to take an evening to just chill with a good dinner and early bed time.  All of this made much more enjoyable buy the wonderful view from our friends apartment in Manley.

Two days on the reef with a wonderful Boat Crew!

The last two days have been spent on Ocean Free and Ocean Freedom, operated by the same company. The crew on the boats was amazing, friendly, helpful, and from all over the world!

On our sail trip with Ocean Free, the tour was less than 25 folks and there were about 5 or 6 crew. They had a great crew to customer ratio. The crew hand-held the novice divers like my husband Danny. Others ran great snorkel tours, pointing out Fred the Loggerhead Turtle, Nemo and the Blacked Tip Reef Sharks.

We sailed to the inner reef and an island called Green Island. We snorkeled for a few hours on the beautiful reef then took a quick trip onto the island, which was definitely worth seeing. On the island Ethan found sand crabs, perfect shells, and a tided pool full of hermit crabs.

As Ethan was the only child on board, he was particularly pampered. He got to feed the sharks after swimming with them, and then he drove the boat almost the whole way back to port under the watchful eye of our captain.

I highly recommend this trip for anyone with kids or just snorkeling!

The second day was on Ocean Freedom. We had many of the same crew. The crew to customer ratio was a bit smaller but the crew was just as wonderful.

This trip went to or close to the outer reef. The waves and current made this a harder snorkel trip. But the larger reef made this s better place for those who dive. There was plenty of space to hang out and we enjoyed meeting folks from all over, backpacking the world.

The day ended on a small sand cay (in US terms sandbar). The cay only appears at low tide and made for a great place to snorkel.
A special thanks to the crew that made our trip and my son’s experience so special!

Ocean Free Under Sail..