Friends in Far Places

My week in Sydney has been fantastic. On Tuesday morning, I met Christopher in the international arrivals terminal, fresh off his flight from Chicago (via San Francisco). Chris had been given three weeks off of work, and I had been looking forward to having him join me for quite some time. It was so great to see family halfway around the world. Not only did he bring me a fresh supply of movies and books, he also brought the SUNSHINE! We’ve had beautiful weather here in Sydney this week, and I have to believe it’s in part due to his arrival.

After a quick pit stop back at the Casey’s house, we headed down to the Harbor for some good viewings of the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge in Circular Quay. In lieu of doing the Bridge Climb (I did it with my family back in 2004), we climbed up the Pylon next to the Harbor Bridge for a birds-eye look at the city before walking to lunch next to the Opera House. After our sandwiches, we opted to take the ferry through the harbor over to Manly, an iconic beach on the north side of the harbor entrance. The beach was extremely tempting, and Christopher decided to hop in for a quick dip. We stopped in a pub en route to the ferry landing and soaked up some sun and good city views on our ride back to the city center. Dinner on Tuesday evening was just perfect – not only did Tami “whip up” another amazing meal of lamb (on the “barbie”), grilled veggies, salad, and homemade baklava, but we enjoyed the company of the whole Casey family – Ashley and Shelley joined us for dinner and drinks with Tami and Paul as we ate outside on the patio.

Having coffee with Ashley in the Rocks area of Sydney (taken during my visit in early February)

View from the Pylon next to the Harbor Bridge (with opera house in the background)

City View on return ferry trip from Manly

Dinner at the Casey's - with Christopher and Shelley

On Wednesday, Christopher and I headed to the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney on another great recommendation from Faith P. I hadn’t had the opportunity to visit the Mountains on my last trip and was looking forward to some nice scenery and good hiking. After taking the train a couple of hours to Katoomba, a small town outside of Sydney, we walked through the town to Echo Point and a wide view of the mountains and valleys. Apparently, the mountains earned their name because the eucalyptus that grows on the hillsides gives off a blue-ish tint. We hiked down the 900 Giant Steps, along a trail between two of the mountains, and took a cable car up the other side to the café, where we had lunch outside. We then hiked back to the original Echo Point where we had started and enjoyed our last view of The Three Sisters before heading back to the train station. It was a fun and active way to spend the day outside of the city, and we were blessed with sunny skies and pleasant weather.

The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains

Upon arriving back in Sydney, we met my friend Terry from Greensboro. Terry took off on a world tour over three years ago and ended up meeting Drew, her boyfriend, right after landing in Australia. Once she finished her trip, she moved back here to Sydney and has been living in the city almost two and a half years with Drew. Terry and Drew purchased a spacious flat in the Coogee Beach area a few months ago and have a two block walk to the ocean! Terry and I guessed that it had been at least five years since we last saw each other (most likely at a Christmas Eve service at our church), and we enjoyed spending the evening catching up on the past few years. She walked us up to the point overlooking Coogee, where we enjoyed the sunset and the full moon – and where Christopher and I had a few minutes to talk with Ben, who happened to call once we reached the crest of the hill. We then ate fish and chips on the beach, looking out on the Pacific Ocean, the bright moon, and enjoying some Carlton Beers purchased up the street at the bottle shop.

View of Coogee Beach and the sunset with Terry

On Thursday, Christopher and I had some coffee before splitting ways for the day. I was really looking forward to my trip down to Wollongong, a town about 100 km south of Sydney. I was traveling to meet Sophie, an Aussie from Canberra whose husband is working with Ben in Baghdad. I had heard Ben talk about Cam over the past few months and about how much he has enjoyed working with Cam during his deployment. Ben had asked Cam for his wife’s contact information, and then Sophie and I exchanged several emails during the week prior when I was leaving Queensland and traveling through Melbourne and the Northern Territory. While I was looking forward to seeing a new area of New South Wales, I was more excited to meet Sophie and to have the opportunity to talk with someone else who was living through the same separation with her husband.

Sophie and I had a wonderful day – if only we had more time together! Sophie picked me up from the train station around noon, and then we drove a bit through town to the beach and the lighthouse. On a suggestion from Tami, we went to the Lagoon for lunch, a seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean. Although we had intended to drive up the coast after lunch, we never made it that far – we stayed at the restaurant all afternoon talking, at least around four or five hours. We chatted about her past few months away from Cam, their brief reunion on his two week R&R, and her outlook on the upcoming months before he returns, and I felt like we could have stayed for days exchanging stories and thoughts. Sophie has an amazing perspective on this time of her life with Cam, and I certainly left feeling inspired and motivated to make the best out of this experience that Ben and I are living through together. At the end of our long lunch, Cam and Ben called Sophie’s mobile phone, and we each had the chance to talk with the two of them. Sophie, I can’t say thank you enough for driving three hours to meet me, taking me to a delicious lunch, giving me such a thoughtful and perfect gift, and spending the afternoon with me. It was truly my favorite afternoon of the trip, and I hope that this is only the first of many, many visits together. Next time we’ll just be sure to bring our husbands along…

Lunch with Sophie at The Lagoon in Wollongong, New South Wales

I joined back up with Christopher upon arrival in the train station and heard about his day, which also included meeting a friend of his from work who was ironically vacationing in Sydney at the same time. We then headed over to Bondi Beach, the most famous beach in Sydney. We met up with David G. and his new flatmate Fernando at the Iceberg Café, a bar/restaurant in the south corner of Bondi Beach. The café overlooked the beach and the lap pool, and we watched the pool fill up with ocean water as the waves crashed over the edge. The bright full moon also helped with the view back into the city from the edge of the bay, and we spent quite a few hours there catching up. I had met David back in 2005 when I was working in India – David spent over two years traveling between Sydney and Hyderabad for his consulting job and was part of our weekly expat group that converged on the Taj Krishna hotel pool on Sundays. It was great to see him after three years and to meet his new flatmate, who arrived from Spain only last week and was intending to spend some time training and studying up on Australian rugby.
We also met up with Steve, whom I had met during the Garden Route tour. Steve is mates with Michael and Peter (who I had also met on the trip and stayed with during my time in Brisbane), and I was looking forward to seeing him again in Sydney. It was certainly a very fun evening out in Bondi Beach, and I’m so glad I had been able to see both David and Steve during my week here.

Full moon over Bondi Beach - view from Iceberg Cafe

Dinner with Steve, David, Fernando, and Christopher at Iceberg Cafe

Christopher and I finished our stay in Sydney on a very good note. Tami drove us first to Bondi Junction, an upmarket mall, to visit Ashley and her store. We then drove along the coast through Double Bay and Rose Bay to Watson’s Bay and The Gap. The Gap is actually a park on the top of the Southern Head of the Harbor Entrance. We walked up the sidewalk to see the sheer cliff drop right into the ocean and snap some photos of the northern cliff head. We stopped at the Watson Bay Hotel for a look back at the city and then headed on to Bondi Beach. It was a gorgeous day to spend an hour on the beach, sitting on the fine white sand looking out into the blue water and the surfers dotting the waves. Christopher took a swim while Tami and I chatted on the beach, soaking up the last sun of my stay in Australia.

View of the cliffs of the Southern Head from The Gap - near Watson's Bay, Sydney

Bondi Beach (Iceberg Cafe is the white building on the water in the middle of the picture)

Enjoying some sun on Bondi Beach with Tami

I was quite sad to be leaving Australia, as I’ve had an amazing three week tour here. Not only did I get to see Melbourne and Ayers Rock – places I had intended to visit before leaving home – but I had some extra wonderful days in Sydney and a bonus visit to Queensland. I enjoyed the ease of travel in the country, the ability to hop on a bus up the coast, and all of the fellow travelers I met en route. But more than anything, I loved seeing so many friendly faces – the Casey family; Michael, Peter, and Steve, my new friends from Capetown; Dan and Wendy on their vacation in Melbourne; Christopher, my traveling companion; Terry and David, old friends that I hadn’t seen in years; and my newest (but hopefully life-long) friend Sophie. It has been an outstanding few days here, and I leave with certainty that I will return again. A HUGE thank you to everyone that hosted me along the way, and the most appreciation to the Casey family for offering up their homes (Shelley & Adrian; Tami & Paul), providing me with a clean (and private!) place to sleep, laundry, delicious meals, and assistance in getting around the area. Thank you for everything you have done for me!!