Thursday, September 25th – Sydney – Day 4 – Walkabout in Sydney
Today is on our own, so we decided to skip breakfast and sleep in. Paul is so excited about having internet service again. He’s spent hours catching up his email. Me? I’m trying to post my travel blogs.
It’s been interesting keeping our electronic devices charged. The front desk loaned us one 
power converter (we use 110v while Australia uses 240v). You can’t power them up during the day because (like England) hotels require you to leave your room card in the slot by the door to keep the power on. (We tried leaving my card in during the Blue Mountain tour, but the maid removed it.) They’re very power conscious here, and try to conserve energy as much as possible. Kudos to them. All the outlets/switches have little on/off power buttons.
Today, we ate at an open-air French bistro. Latte is very popular here. You have to express very clearly when you order that you want “light” or “black” – because they blend the milk/coffee mixture in for you. The pastries are melt-in-your-mouth light.
We found the Hop On/Hop Off double-decker bus and took the two narrated tours – the Sydney Explorer which ran a very circuitous route through Sydney and its many harbors, and the other to Bondi (pronounced Bohn-Dye) and more shoreline. Incredible views of the Sydney skyline. And the water…. oooh! One of my favorite sights was a high rise with vines covering most of one windowed-wall. Spectacular.
A funny little story we heard several times is about the meaning of the word Kangaroo. It’s an aboriginal word. Apparently, when one of the early explorers arrived, he asked an aborigine tribal leader what that strange jumping animal with the big tail and powerful hind legs was called. The tribal leader, not understanding English, responded, “Kangaroo?” Which in his language meant, “I don’t understand.” I have to admit I laughed every time I heard it.
