Posts Tagged With: Sydney

Day 33: The Longest Day

Posted on January 19, 2012 by annhoran

Today I travelled backwards in time. I recovered the 11 hours that I lost between Dublin and Australia and then gained an additional 8 hours by crossing the international date line to arrive in Los Angeles. I estimate that today, 18th January, will be 43 hours long. Confused? Me too 🙂

Before leaving Sydney this morning, I had the great pleasure of meeting Monica’s friend, Teresa and her little girl, Jayla. It was so nice meeting Monica’s good friends and hearing all about their lives in Sydney. It sounds like they have great lifestyles.

***********

I arrived in Los Angeles at 9.30am local time, on 18th January. LA is something of a culture shock after Sydney. It is bigger, louder, brasher and the conversations that you can’t help overhearing on the street, sound more like psycho-analysis than normal chit chat. I wanted to come to LA mainly to spend time around the beach area, which had particularly fascinated me when I was here with Mick three years ago.

So in spite of only managing to get one hour’s sleep on the 13 hour plane journey, I spent the afternoon on the beach soaking up the atmosphere. This is the ultimate people watching destination. I just love it 🙂

Ann x

Categories: Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: Ann Horan, Australia, Los Angeles, Qantas, Santa Monica, Sydney, Travel, Venice Beach | Leave a comment

Blue Mountains, Wildlife and Cruising Back to Sydney

Posted on January 17, 2012 by annhoran

For my last day in Australia, I joined a tour group to journey into the Blue Mountains.

Our first stop was Featherdale Wildlife Park where I planned to practice my photography skills on the native Australian animals and birds. I soon discovered how clever these little creatures are at ducking just as the camera shutter goes “click”. Years of practice and very little in the form of amusement, I guess.

We stopped for lunch at Leura, the Garden Village, where I found a lovely local deli with the most amazing panoramic view. Leura is a very pretty village with an old world railway station and a selection of delightfully quaint shops and cafés.

From here we travelled to view the Three Sisters rock formations, initially from Echo Point and then at Scenic World. We had a hair raising ride on the world’s steepest railway down into an old mining valley and then returned by cable car. This was a real action packed day.

To round off the day, I took the optional cruise back to Darling Harbour, where I sat in a quayside restaurant and enjoyed a lovely Thai meal. The end of a perfect day 🙂

Ann x

Categories: Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: Ann Horan, Australia, Blue Mountains, Koala, Manly Beach, Sydney, Travel, Wildlife | 4 Comments

Arrived in Sydney

Posted on January 16, 2012 by annhoran

Here I am in Sydney, the last Australian destination of my trip. I am so excited to be here, it feels like I saved the best for last. Last night, I had dinner with Monica’s friend, Karen. Karen is originally from Preston, so we had plenty in common and hit it off straight away. Lovely to meet you, Karen 🙂

The life of a tourist is such a busy one. Today I was pre-booked on 3 tours; a morning city tour, a lunchtime cruise around Sydney Harbour and an afternoon bus tour of Manley and the northern beaches. At this stage, I have seen the Sydney Opera House from every conceivable angle and I can confirm that it is a fantastic sight. Sydney Harbour Bridge is enormous and every bit as impressive as I had been led to believe. Bondi Beach, while quite lovely, was a little disappointing. It looks so much grander on television. Manly and the northern beaches are simply gorgeous.

Sydney is an amazing place. It’s not just the city itself which is very diverse and beautiful but the whole concept of Sydney, the Harbour and the beaches. They work so well together. Imagine living in Manly, as Monica did and commuting by ferry to work. What a wonderful life.

Ann x

Categories: Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: Ann Horan, Australia, Bondi Beach, Manley Beach, Sydney, Sydney Opera House, Travel | 5 Comments