Day 28: 20231021 Saturday October 21, 2023- Disembarkation Sydney
The ship arrived in Sydney Harbor during the wee hours of the night because when Ben peeked out the balcony at 4:30am, the Sydney Opera House’s unmistakable silhouette was right outside our balcony.
On our final breakfast rounds we said our farewell to the baristas who have made us espresso drinks every morning, and also some of our dinner neighbors who were also having an early breakfast in the buffet. After packing up our toothbrush bag and making a final sweep of the stateroom, we headed off the ship. We had a bit of a wait for our luggage to make it to the pick up zone past immigrations before we could actually get off the ship. There was a bit of a line at immigrations, but the Australian customs officials were cheerful and didn’t give us a hard time for being American.
There was a long line of passengers wanting to catch taxi cabs, but they had staff chaperoning the taxis and passengers to try to keep things moving efficiently. There was an awful lot of road construction going on around the harbor, so it was nice that the taxi drivers knew their way round all that. Our car rental agency was only about 15 minutes from the cruise ship pier, but we couldn’t believe that it was just a tiny desk with two clerks in a microscopic storefront in the Sydney World Square. There were two guys working, but they did both Avis and Budget rentals, and took over 20 minutes to process each customer. It took almost 90 minutes before we were able to drive off. Ben did go into the Sydney World Square and found a JB Hifi store in the basement where he bought a Telstra SIM card so that we could have internet and phone service for the month we are in Australia. AT&T ’s international passport charges $10/day up to a maximum of 10 days per month to roam internationally. While this is certainly convenient, the cost adds up quickly. For $22 US, we got a SIM good for 35GB of data, and ample texts and calling to get us through the next 30 days.
It was disorienting to find the driver’s wheel on the right side of the vehicle, but fortunate the accelerator and brake pedals are the same, and we had a vehicle with an automatic transmission. We got a Renault Koleos, which is an intermediate sized SUV. It’s a good thing we didn’t get anything smaller because the trunk with the back seats up would only hold one of our large suitcases. With the rear seats folded down, we were able to get all our suitcases in (2 large, 2 carry on size, 2 backpacks). Our Volvo XC-90 has a significantly larger trunk area that can fit all our suitcases and still have the rear passenger seats up. Being paranoid about urban crime, Ben did bring a cable lock so that all the suitcases and back packs could be secured.
It was a good thing Ben got the SIM card for his iPhone because we discovered the navigation system in the car was unusable. Its GPS was about a half block off the mark most of the time, and it was constantly having to recalculate and issued nonsensical directions. We were able to use Apple Maps and Google Maps to navigate safely through the streets of Sydney.
Ben had never driven a right hand drive vehicle in a country that drives on the left side of the street, so we had our trepidations about doing a car rental in Australia. Fortunately, in most of Sydney, and in most of the suburbs, most of the traffic is separated by a median. It also helps that for the most part, Australians are courteous drivers who allow people to merge with civility. What did take some getting used to is forcing yourself to stay close to the centerline, which is to your right. Janet didn’t like how often the passenger side wheels would hit the rumble strip. The most concerning maneuvers involve smaller two lane roads which are poorly marked, and making right hand turns onto multilane roads. Surprisingly, the traffic circles have not been a problem at all, despite going clockwise, instead of counterclockwise.
Our first stop was about 90 minutes outside of Sydney Harbor in a suburb called Marsden Park, where there is a Costco and the Featherdale Wildlife Park. Gasoline is insanely expensive. They charge by the cents per liter. Like in the US, Costco’s gas prices were significantly less expensive than most gas stations. We paid $1.777/liter AUD which at the current exchange rate of 0.63 calculates to $10.68/gal US.
The Costco in Marsden Park was a mad house at noon when we arrived. There were throngs jamming all of the aisles of every check out register, and the store was as crowded or more crowded than any Costco we had ever visited. The store was also an amazing sea of color with all races of the rainbow about equally sprinkled around. Australia and the UK both have much more racial diversity than the US, in large part due to their history of global colonialism. The merchandise had many of the same staple items including the rotisserie chicken ($6.99AUD) and hotdog/soda combo ($1.99AUD), but the selection of Asian food items was markedly wider than our US Costco stores. We were jealous that you can buy frozen soup dumplings and at least a dozen other frozen dim sum items in just one aisle. They also sold Spam in a massive brick.
Janet really wanted to buy a case of TimTam biscuits, which are a trademark Australian chocolaty snack cookie, but because of the massive back up at the check outs, we had to pass, at least for now. We had lunch at the food court, but the tables were a mess, it was super crowded and none of the soda machines was fully functioning. There was no ice, and only the 7-up and Pepsi Max nozzles produced any soda. We had to have their French fries and Southern Style Chicken Burger, which together with a soda was $9.99AUD. The burger was very much like a top trim Chick-Fil-A with lettuce, tomato and sauce. We also had to try the Korean Style Chicken Wings, which turned out to be crispy breaded chicken wings served with a plastic pouch of Korean BBQ sauce that was a little heavy on clove flavor for $8.99AUD.
It was a bit of a relief to escape the madness of the Costco and drive just a little way to the Featherdale Wildlife Park. This is a small zoo that specializes in Australian animals, so there are no Elephants or Zebras, but it is easy enough to see quokkas, echidnas, koalas and kangaroos.
For a small fee, you can even feed the kangaroos and quokkas, or even cuddle with a koala (although knowing they carry chlamydia, I’m not so sure I’d want to do that). Being a small zoo has its charms because many of the much larger “World Class” zoos like the San Diego Zoo or even Sydney Zoo can be very intimidating, expensive and exhausting to get through. You really feel like you need several days to get through those zoos. This little park was just what we needed to get a taste of exotic Australian animals up close and in under 2-1/2 hrs.
From Marsden Park, it was another hour’s drive up into the Blue Mountains National Park. We arrived to our destination, the Mountain Falls Resort in Wentworth Falls about 4pm so we could check in and take our bags straight up to our room, which was an upstairs loft apartment.
Compared with our cruise ship stateroom, the place is like a palace. It was also nicely air conditioned. As the day progressed, temperatures had risen from the upper 60’s to just about 100˚F (38˚C), which was a bit much for us. We had the car’s AC working overtime to keep us comfortable and if that zoo had been much bigger, we would have not done well with the heat. We also had to struggle a bit with our large suitcases to get them up the stairs, but once that was done, it was nice to unwind and cool off.
The temperatures did drop into the 70’s as the sun got lower, and there was a nice breeze in the mountains. We walked from our apartment to the Wentworth Falls lookout, which was just a 15 minute walk down the street. Our first impression of the Blue Mountains was that it reminded us of a combination of the Grand Canyon and the Great Smoky Mountains.
The Wentworth falls is an interesting stone apron that a small stream spills over as it drops into a deep canyon. There is an extensive and well developed trail system. In Australia and New Zealand, they are called tracks, and hiking is tramping. We did some of the easy to moderate trails around Wentworth Falls. One that goes to the falls runs through a ledge under the canyon wall which reminded Ben of some of the day hikes we did in the slot canyons along the Grand Canyon in the US. You had to duck down a bit if you were over 6’ tall or your head could get knocked by an overhang. Janet spotted some interesting wildlife including a wild cockatiel and wild red parrot along the trail.
There is also something in bloom that scented the air with a Jasmine like aroma. As we drove through the suburbs of Sydney, we did notice Jacaranda trees, which are covered in magnificent lilac colored blooms. There’s a lot of vegetation in Australia which is entirely new to us and interesting to see up close.
We wound up the evening at the Canton Palace in Wentworth Falls, pretty much across the street from the train station where you can catch a train directly to Sydney if you care to. The place had a surprisingly diversified menu which was infused with Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Malaysian influences. It did take a while to get service but the food was well prepared, delicious and with decent portion size. People don’t seem to be in any hurry in Wentworth Falls, and so far, everyone we have met and interacted with in Australia have been wonderfully helpful and kind. Things in American have become rather ugly culturally in the last many years. It’s so refreshing when people as diverse as what we have seen in Australia can get along so well together.
We do joke that it is a lot more difficult finding food off the cruise ship, and away from the big city, stores and restaurants tend to close early. Tomorrow, we hope to do some more “tramping” in the Blue Mountains.
