4/20/10 (parklea)

Parklea - Sydney

Final day in the Sydney area. We got up early and worked on getting caught up on the daily details, laundry, and camper clean up. We were going to return the Cheapa camper and head to the airport. We left the camp site by 10am and were off to Sydney. The traffic was quite heavy and a little challenging in the camper. We took a different route than when we left Sydney and were headed in on Hwy 4 and it allowed us to drive over the suspension bridge called The Anzac Bridge. It was a new view of Sydney and Annie and I liked it. It was a good thing because later that day, I got a little turned around and we went over it two more times. 

We headed into the city to a familiar location, the Morgan Hotel. This was the hotel we first stayed at when arriving to Sydney and we were hopeful to grab a little internet with the login we used when we were guests. It is a little challenging to park the camper in the city because we can’t park in structures, the high top won’t fit. Luckily we found a spot near the hotel and Annie and I went the front of the hotel armed with laptops but unfortunately they had changed the password. We did get a signal from the Tropicana, a coffee bar across the street so we agreed to check it out. We were going to call Debie to meet for lunch and we had to grab my jacket that I had left in her trunk, but it was still early. The Tropicana had a great chai latte and some free internet and so that was a nice stop. Afterword we tried Debie unsuccessfully and decided to revisit our favorite Thai restaurant S. Thanda on Victoria Street. We had eaten there on the past Saturday and it was really good and pretty affordable. We ordered the same dishes. It was some the best food we have had on the our travels. Next we were off to the CBD (central business district) to try and meet Debie before heading to the airport. 

The CBD is incredibly busy and is the hub of the Sydney’s financial district. It is a series of one way roads with lots of people who hardly utilized the crosswalks and instead choose to pop out in every which way. The perfect place to take an oversized camper! We circled a few times and finally parked in front of an alleyway to avoid oncoming traffic. Annie fortunately got a hold of Debie, who met us of a quick goodbye. Down the road from Debie’s office is a nice camera store and I grabbed a long sought after piece of camera gear and we were off to the Apollo rental office. This is the point we got a little lost and Annie was very patient. After a short trip we fueled up and returned the camper. It was a pretty painless process but they did lack a bit of the professionalism of the New Zealand branch. We asked about a ride to the airport and the attendant reluctantly told us how we could walk to the airport.

This turned out to be quite an adventure and we found that airports are really not structured for walkers. We weaved in and out of several large intersections under the hot Sydney sun and arrived safely in fifteen minutes. I am sure it was quite comical to watch. Debie had warned us about Tiger airlines and how they frequently left the gate early and so we decided we would arrive early. The checkin was swift and we were at the gate with plenty of time to spare. The flight was smooth and we had fun watching the all male attendants hit on a row of girls next to us. 

When we arrived to Melbourne we were on to our next adventure. We were staying with Dennise, a friend of Annie’s from her English teaching days in Japan. He had given us directions to his house and we were to take the Sky Bus to the Southern Cross Station and then take the Pakenham line to the Clayton exit. From there we took the 703 bus to the Princess Hwy near the second Mc Donald’s. A little crazy, but that was part of the adventure. We met Dennise and grabbed a quick bite at Mc Donald’s and then went to meet Dennise’s family. We spent the night reminiscing about Annie’s Japan days and were off to bed around 11 for some much needed rest.

Comments

[mary Lappan]

Awesome picture!