Sydney in Three Days... Part 2

As mentioned in Part 1, this post is all about Featherdale Wildlife Park! We spent several hours there on our last day exploring Sydney.

What made this park unique from other zoos closer to the city centre was that it focused on native Australian wildlife. So you won't find elephants, rhinos, or giraffes here, but you do get to see a lot of kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas:

And the best part is, you get to interact with them!

Well, maybe not the wombats:

In addition to the marsupials you would expect in Australia, we saw crocodiles, dingos, bats, snakes, and a variety of native birds...

... including, the dreaded cassowary! (a.k.a. modern day raptor)

The deadliest bird in the world

We also saw some cute farm animals...

This is what goats look like when they're begging for food

... and as we were leaving, got the opportunity to hold a 6-month-old wallaby!

Great day!

And to end it, in true "Andy and Jasmine" fashion, we stopped for dinner that night at the Australian Heritage Hotel in Sydney to try their famous kangaroo pizza:

Not bad! Tasted like beef jerky...

And that concludes our time in Sydney and our year-long trip down under!

Stay tuned for one last blog post: our NZ recap...

Sydney in Three Days... Part 1

After four days running around Wellington, we caught an early flight out of New Zealand for our next venture: four days running around Sydney. We (wisely) used our first day to recuperate and rest, but that left three days to see everything we could for our short stint in Australia.

So how did we spend that time?

Mostly by running around like chickens with our heads cut off (did I mention we did not rent a vehicle this time?).

But in the process, we got to see a surprising amount (so much so that this is a 2-parter!) and, despite our exhaustion and poor feet, it was all worth it in the end. :)

So get ready... here is the cliff notes version:

Day 1

We started our day at the Royal Botanic Gardens where we enjoyed our packed lunch and took pictures with Mrs. Macquarie's Chair:

The story behind the chair is that the Governor had it carved out of rock for his wife's recreation. She used to sit at this spot to admire the view of the harbor, which is known as one of the best in Sydney. In fact, it was near this spot where we got our first glimpse (from the ground) of the famous Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge!

From the Gardens, we continued on along the waterfront, admiring the great views of the city skyline:

When we reached the Opera House and Harbor Bridge, you can bet we took a TON of pictures. Here are just a couple of our favorites:

After walking through Circular Quay and the Rocks area, it was on to Darling Harbor where we had a groupon deal for some great seafood! We stopped by the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) as well as the famous IMAX on the way...

 One of the coolest malls I've been to (left) and the largest IMAX in the world (right).

The harbor itself was beautiful, especially at this time of night:

We enjoyed some of the best seafood we've ever eaten at a restaurant called Blue Fish. A highlight for me was their seafood chowder (yum!):

Then, it was back to the hostel.

A park we passed on the way home

Day 2

This day was all about Bondi Beach. Considering we had to walk 1.5 hours to get there, it was the only thing on our itinerary for the day. But once we got there, we were able to relax and enjoy watching the 50+ surfers pulling all kinds of tricks in the water:

Day 3

We were ready to see some native wildlife! Featherdale Wildlife Park was quite a ways out of the city so we had to get there by public transport (about a half hour ride by rail and by bus). Since this was such a highlight of our trip (and since we took massive amounts of photos), we saved this entire section for Part 2 (stay tuned)!

We had so much fun there that we put everything else in our day behind schedule... which means it was pitch black by the time we took the ferry out to Manly Beach. As a result, we didn't get any good pictures of the beach, but we did enjoy an evening ferry ride and still had fun walking around Manly and eating ice cream.

So that was how we spent three days in Sydney. If you've seen us since we've gotten home and wondered why we seemed a bit off... this is why. Well, that and an 18-hour flight home...

We were lucky that, despite being there in the middle of winter, we had very good weather for the duration of our stay. Check back to see kangaroos, wallabies, and wombats in Part 2!!

New Zealand: The Last Roadtrip

(Well, after traveling through Sydney and flying across the Pacific, we're back home catching up with family & friends and looking for work. Now that we are mostly rested, we are ready to start updating the blog again.)

Before flying out to Sydney, we rented a van from the only depot in Wellington. JUCY vans are a bit ostentatious. In the past, we avoided companies that heavily branded their vehicles because they screamed 'tourist'. We had read online that this can attract thieves, but despite our reservations, we didn't have any issues. On the plus side, you can take a few minor liberties on the road and chalk it up to being a tourist. Need to go around a round-a-bout a second time? People will just think: 'Oh they're not crazy, they're just tourists.' Accidentally cut in front of someone? Now you're a crazy tourist rather than just crazy. ^_^

Anyway, Aorangi Forest Park is a national park a few hours out of Wellington. It is home to the Putangirua Pinnacles, the filming location for the Dimholt Road in LOTR: Return of the King. Aragorn and co. take this road to reach the entrance to the Paths of the Dead:

The pinnacles are an example of badlands erosion, with the softer gravel eroding over thousands of years, leaving behind these amazing pillars. They were really cool to see and a lot of fun to explore.

After a few days out in the bush, we made our way back to Wellington to make one last stop before dropping off our ride.

A.k.a. 'Wellywood' or 'The Windy City'

The Weta Cave is a novelty shop filled with replicas and motion picture props produced by Weta Workshop over the years (most notably for the Lord of the Rings trilogy). Here you will find life-sized statues of Gandalf and the Uruk-hai, Lurtz (an orc). You will also find display cases with bows & arrows, swords & armor, even a replica of Bilbo's contract with the dwarves from "The Hobbit". For a few bucks you can do a scheduled behind-the-scenes tour of the workshop itself.

Unfortunately, due to scheduling, we didn't have time. We did have twenty minutes to watch the free in-store movie that they show in a side-room. It talks a bit about the history of the company, which was interesting, if not a little over the top. I didn't realize how many projects they had been involved in. Seeing Avatar and King Kong on the list wasn't too much of a surprise but the nostalgia from seeing the Xena and Hercules shows from back in the 90's caught me off guard.

The best part of the shop I think is the main entryway. Three large trolls that 'greet' you as you approach the shop make for some fun photo opportunities.

 Imagine going outside to get the paper in the morning to find this ugly mug on the way back.

A dangerous business going out your door indeed!