A large hose had come loose, and there were no tools or spare parts with which to fix it. The driver called for help, and a supervisor eventually showed up.
They weren't able to fix it quickly, so another bus was called in. We moved all our luggage from the old bus to the new.
All the action was recorded by multiple cameras, of course.
Even with the delay, we made it to Dunedin Airport in plenty of time to check in and catch our flight to Auckland. Once there, we went two ways: most of the group boarded a flight to Los Angeles to return home, while a dozen flew to Sydney, Australia, as an extension of our tour.
We arrived at Sydney to find a driver waiting for us, with a full-sized bus for the twelve of us. Sydney's airport is just like most other international airports. Lifts instead of elevators, though.
Our driver took us on a brief bus tour of the city. We zipped past this place. I was struck by it's name -- hardly seems Australian.
Norfolk Island pines and palm trees. I don't think we're in Portland any more.
We stopped at Bondi Beach (pronounced "bond-eye"). It was in an area of the city that seemed to us to be a bit frayed around the edges. A fair amount of graffiti on the walls and signs.
The Aussies are even more direct than the Texans with their exhortations against littering. Compare this with Texas' "Don't Mess With Texas" and the UK's "Keep Britain Tidy".
The Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club's building was right on the beach, and had been there since 1907.
The beach itself was very nice. The day was completely cloudy, so no bright colors in the photos.
Some of our travelers went for a walk on the beach.
This seemed to be a surfing class for little kids.
There were bars and restaurants on the beach. The Bucket List Bar is, I suppose, a "must do". Birds were everywhere, scavenging for leftovers.
This was on a vehicle in the car park. We don't see too many of these license plates back in Portland.
We passed lots of houses in Sydney that had this sort of wrought-iron gingerbread decoration. The bus stopped for traffic lights near these to, and I was able to get pictures. The balconies across the front with the fancy iron railings are like many in New Orleans' French Quarter.
St Mary's cathedral, looking very red in the overcast. We'll pass it on tomorrow's walking tour.
We stopped Mrs Macquaries Point in The Domain, a large public open space on Sydney Harbour. From there we could see and photograph the city itself, and we got an iconic view of Sydneys' two most famous landmarks, the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Sydney harbour has lots of watercraft, from small sailboats to gargantuan cruise ships.
We were all trying for essentially the same photo.
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| Eike Richter photo |
Of course, we had to pose with the opera house and bridge.
The section on the center of the bridge that looks like some sort of grid is support for part of the world-famous New Year's Eve fireworks. Crews are preparing for that already, in mid-November.
More boats in the harbor, from ferries to whale watching to water taxis.
These two are sitting in Mrs Macquarie's Chair, a bench cut into the sandstone by convicts in 1810. Mrs Macquarie, wife of the governor of New South Wales, used to sit here and enjoy the view of Sydney harbour.
Harbour views from the chair's location.
Yes, we really were near the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.
We prevailed on our bus driver to take a set of group photos, one with each person's camera.
We drove under the bridge as we headed for our hotel.
This waterside amusement park is directly opposite the opera house.
We passed this historic pub, the Hero of Waterloo. The hero was the Duke of Wellington, of course. The pub dates from 1843 and has a very colorful history. There is a tunnel from the building's basement to the harbour, not too far away. The story is that drunken patrons would be dropped through a trap door into the basement and bundled through the tunnel and on board a ship to become involuntarily part of the ship's company. I've heard exactly the same story about some bars in Portland's Chinatown, though. I wonder if either story is true.
After that, our bus took us to our hotel. We checked in and wandered out for dinner in small groups on our own. Conveniently, Chinatown was right next door.
These lighted apparitions were suspended over the alleys leading from our hotel into Chinatown. As the daylight faded, they became even more dramatic. I have no idea what they are intended to represent.
Chinatown proper, absolutely filled with restaurants. Each restaurant has what amounts to a carnival barker outside, enticing people in. Several of us ate at the Nine Dragons.
This building and its lighting give a taste of old, colonial Sydney.
Tomorrow, a walking tour of downtown Sydney, a concert at the Opera House, and a tour of the Opera House.
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