Australia. February 10 – 24, 2015.

Tuesday 2/10.  The cold and snowy winter continued to be a threat to our travel plans.  The forecast was such that United allowed fee-free rebookings for our planned day of travel.  The actual weather turned out to be better than expected, so our flight was going to leave on time.  Chung Shu took us to the airport.

After we boarded the plane, we were told the crew’s arrival from Boston was delayed (the snow did hit Boston hard, again.)  So we waited for the pilots to show up and do their usual checks.  Then the pilot decided they needed more fuel, which translated to another wait.  All said and done, we had a delay of over an hour.  It also makes one wonder if these people have ever heard of multi-tasking or parellel-processing.  The good news is Anne and I had an empty seat between us, so the 5:30 hour flight was quite comfortable.

Given my prior experience with flying to Australia during the winter, I booked a flight out that would allow us ample time to make the connection.  Even with the delay we managed to stop by the United lounge.  After we boarded UA839, we were told one person had a visa problem and had to be deplaned, together with the luggage.  Together with the need to take on extra fuel (plane was packed, after all), this flight was again delayed by close to an hour – reaffirming my suspicion that airline personnel think linearly.  I got only a couple of hours of sleep even though we managed to get business class seats.  I also signed on the internet so I could get a couple of things done.

The 777 we flew in was an old United plane with 8-across seating in business class.  The backward-facing seats Anne and I had (7A and 7B) caused me considerable confusion (like why the sun was on our side of the plane.)  We were right next to the galley and I found the noise from it troublesome.  All in all only a few seats in the section would qualify as “good” in my judgment.  I would be quite unhappy if I had to dish out thousands of dollars to pay for this seat.

 This is what passes for international business class dinner nowadays on United.

 Crossed the Pacific.

Thursday 2/12. We managed to arrive close to schedule, and went through immigration and customs quickly: the former was helped along by being able to go through the express lane; the latter despite our declaration that we were bringing chocolates and energy bars.  Ruth and Stephen picked us up.

Anne had to teach an English class via Skype, so she stayed at Jennings Street while the three of us went to this new restaurant (East Phoenix) in Zetland to have lunch; we did bring something back for Anne to eat.

Sophia Lui came by to pick us up at around 2:30 pm to head to the airport for our 3:55 pm flight.  Tigerair Australia has these really low fares (AUD$110 roundtrip SYD-BNE) that place a lot of restrictions on what passengers with those fares can do.  Sophia helped with online check-in for us, so we had our boarding passes (including those for the return trip) with us when we showed up at the airport.  Security for domestic flights is a breeze, you don’t need to show IDs or boarding passes to get into the airside.

Other than for being a bit late, our flight was uneventful.  Ruth checked out the Hertz rental car, and drove to Ling and Wally’s place in Middle Park.  By the time we got there, Ling had dinner waiting for us.

Accommodation for 2 nights: Ling and Wally’s House, Middle Park.

Friday 2/13.  We drove out to Bribie Island, about 90 minutes away, and had a huge order of fried fish (5 different varieties: barramundi, trevally, John Dory, coral trout, and cod.)  Everything except the barramundi – a river fish – was good.  This was followed by a drive around Glass House Mountains, a collection of peaks left over from an active volcanic period about 25 million years ago.  Afterwards we stopped over at the Brisbane School of Theology and had a brief chat with Mr. Gibson, its president.  For dinner we cooked the Angus porterhouse steaks and rack of lamb purchased at Ling’s favorite market in that area.

 On Bribie Island.  We ordered a lot of fried fish from Savige's Seafood in the background.

This is one of the Fish and Chips orders.

 With my sisters Ruth and Ling.

I don't recall ever seeing a sign like this.  So for the motorists there is a sign asking them to speed up?

Panoramic view of the Glass House Mountains.

In front of Brisbane School of Theology.

Saturday 2/14.  Visited the museum district in Brisbane.  My view of the ones in Sydney is quite low, so I was quite impressed with how modern the Brisbane buildings look, and the collections housed in them.  Admission is free.  The six of us had lunch at the Museum Café, after which we returned to the airport for our flight back to Sydney.  Turns out Hertz requires a receipt to prove that the customer filled up the gas tank before returning it, “no exceptions.”  I am surprised this is the policy for Australia as it is one of the more easy-going countries I have visited.  This “distrust your customer unless he can prove otherwise” isn’t a winning policy, in my opinion.  I would try to avoid Hertz in the future, even though other rental companies may have the same policy.

 View of Brisbane Central Business District across the Brisbane River, from inside the Queensland Art Gallery.

An installation inside the gallery.

Accommodation: Jennings Street, Matraville.

Sunday 2/15.  Flight CX111 was a bit late coming in, so it was close to 9:45 am when Tim and Whitney got to Jennings Street.  Stephen, Anne and I still managed to make it to Praise Church for their 10 am worship.  On our way back we bought a few pies for lunch.  Tim had booked a house at Lake Macquarie, and it was a short 90 minute drive up from Matraville.  Dinner was home-cooked, with meat (porterhouse steak) and seafood (ling and trevally) the main dishes.

Sunset at Mannering Park.

Accommodation for 3 nights: 19 Kenilworth Street, Mannering Park, NSW.

Monday 2/16.  We were quite late getting organized to go out today.  We decided to head out to Swansea and Warner Bay, on the eastern part of Lake Macquarie.  Lunch was at Café Macquarie which served traditional food.  After we came back, Tim, Anne and I took turns to paddle around in the kayak that came with the house.  Dinner was home-cooked: smoked salmon, steamed bream, and curried chicken were the main dishes.

 Caves Beach lives up to its name.

 Rorschah's test.  What do you see?  I see a lion's head.

Cafe Macquarie, in the town of Belmont at Lake Macquarie.


Kayaking on the lake.

Tuesday 2/17.  Since our visit at the Swansea seafood coop yesterday was not satisfactory, we decided to try again this morning, getting there quite early, with me doing the driving.  Well, there was still not much there, and we ended up not buying anything.  We decided to visit Port Stephens, leaving at about 10 am.  First stop was Holbert’s Oysters at Salamander Bay, and we got 2 ½ dozens of raw oysters; everyone ate, even Anne had several.  After buying tickets for the 1:30 pm dolphin tour on MV, we stopped by Aquablu restaurant to have lunch.  The prices were a bit expensive, but the portions were huge.  The boat was surprisingly full, mostly with Chinese and Korean tourists.  Today was not a good day for dolphins, however, and we had to give up after 1 ½ hours.  Riding on the boat was pleasant enough for me, and they gave us vouchers for a future trip, good for one year.  We drove back to Mannering Park, drop off a few people, and went to Woolworth for a third time this trip, to pick up some vegetables for tonight’s dinner.

 Nelson Bay dolphin watch was unsuccessful.  It was still a nice boat ride.

Sunset this evening looked like the one a couple of days ago.

Wednesday 2/18.  Trip back to Sydney.  We took a circuitous route so we could stop by The Entrance, a town built around the channel between the ocean and Lake Tuggerah.  Being closer to Sydney, it has more of a tourist town feel to it, which is okay with us tourists.  The tide was coming in, and the water in the channel was crystal clear.  We saw many mullets swimming in the channel.  An elderly gentleman we chatted up told us (i) these fish show up around this time of the year, and are known as Easter fish; and (ii) the outgoing tide is quite a bit murkier.  We again stopped by Zetland East Phoenix for lunch before dropping Tim and Whitney off to check into their Little Bay Apartment.  Later that day I went with them to that apartment, and jogged the 2 miles back to Jennings Street.  Ruth went to pick up Alyson who was flying in at around 9 pm.

The Entrance, a tourist down at the entrance of the Pacific Ocean into Lake Tuggerah.  There were a lot of mullets swimming upstream in the clear water. They are called "Easter fish" because of the season.

Thursday 2/19.  I accompanied Ruth to drive Tim’s group to the Central Station so they could take the train to Alfred’s dental practice.  Ruth then went to Paddy’s Market to do some vegetable shopping while I had coffee upstairs.  After we got back to Jennings Street, I walked to the Eastern Suburb Cemetery to visit father’s grave.  Anne had an English class that lasted until 1:15 pm or so.  When she was done, we went to Le Perouse to have a simple lunch.  Anne and I got dropped off at the Opera House where we picked up a couple of tickets for a concert, and the seven opera tickets I had previously bought on line.  Riding the Sydney Harbor Ferries is always an enjoyable activity, this time we took the fast ferry out to Manly (18 minute ride), wandered around and did some souvenir shopping, and took the regular ferry (30 minutes) back.  A short walk took us to Bistrode CBD where we met up with others (including Alfred) for dinner.

 View of Sydney Harbor from ferry to Manly.

Cemetery where father is buried.

Dinner with family at Bistrode CBD.

By the way, today is Chinese New Year.

Friday 2/20.  Tim has a classmate from his medical school days whom I got to meet a couple of years ago.  They again got together today and I tagged along, for a few hours anyway.  The day started with Ruth dropping us (Tim, Whitney, Alyson and me) off to catch the 10:45 am ferry from Circular Quay to Woolwich.  Eisen met up with us and we walked for about 45 minutes to get to the lunch place (Cuicinetta in Hunters Hill) where we had a leisurely lunch.  This 2-hat restaurant certainly wasn’t cheap!  I had the pork loin, many others had some sort of pasta.  After lunch we walked another 45 minutes to Eisen’s house to chat for a while.  I took the 3:24 pm ferry back to Circular Quay to meet up with Anne – she spent most the time visiting the Art Gallery.  We strolled around the wharf, saw two cruises ships (Carnival Legend and one from Royal Caribbean) leave port.  A ten minute walk got us to the Hyatt hotel’s lawn where many colorful terra cotta lanterns were set up.  These are on loan from China which had them at the recent Olympics.

A slow bus ride (30-odd stops) took us to Eastgardens at around 6 pm.  Ruth and Stephen were waiting for us when we got there.  Dinner was one rack each of beef sparerib and pork sparerib for the four of us.  The ribs were okay, the beef ones a bit tough.

 Lane Cove River is a narrow inlet with boats tied along side.

 Bluff overlooking Lane Cove River.

 Menu at Cucinetta.

 Roasted pork.  I would say the plate was meticulously but not artistically decorated.

 View of Harbor and Bridge from Eisen's home in Hunter's Hill.

Outside Park Hyatt. These terra cotta lanterns were used in the Beijing Olympics.

Saturday 2/21.  Lunch with Tim, Whitney, Alyson, Stephen and Ruth at East Phoenix again – incidentally the area is called Victoria Park as Zetland used to be rather run-down.  Afterwards we were dropped off at the nearby Green Square station where we caught a train to Circular Quay.  Our first concert of the day was one by Sydney Symphony, conducted by David Robertson.  Anne and I then took the free bus (#555) to head down to World Square for a simple dinner at Ding Tai Fung.  We had some problems with finding the right bus stop, and the buses being full; on the way back to Circular Quay we had no problems.  I thought bus drivers are a bit grumpier, and dread to think if the reason is not all the tourists crowding in at every stop – and most of these tourists are from China.  In any case, we attended Opera Australia’s performance of Gounod’s Faust.  For this concert Tim (3) and Ruth (2) joined us.  It was quite late when we were done.

 Sydney Symphony at Opera House.

 Din Tai Fung at World Square.

Sunday 2/22.  Morning service at Praise Church, followed by lunch of quiche from House of Pi and leftovers.  I wanted to get in an afternoon nap but couldn’t.  At about 4 pm we decided to go to Eastgardens to do some shopping for our grandchildren.  We met up with Ruth’s children and families at Bavarian Bier Cafe in Chatswood.  The restaurant does serve some Bavarian dishes and beers, but there was lots of traditional Australia food also.  Their combo for two is huge.  Susanna had to stop by a clinic for an emergency visit, so we ended up staying at the restaurant for longer than expected.  (Susanna is fine.)

 Meeting new friends (Cheungs) at Praise Church.  They are good friends with Larry during their New Zealand days.

 Dinner with Wilson and Susanna at Bavarian Bier Cafe in Chatswood.

Mixed grill.

Monday 2/23.  We went to visit mother again at Fairlea, her condition has certainly deteriorated a bit compared to last year, but the staff reassured us that she has been eating well.  After the visit we wanted to go to Zen for lunch but had to settle for “The Eight” at Market City due to lack of parking.  Anne and I tarried at the mall a bit before deciding to see what ferries we might be able to catch.  When we asked to buy a couple of Multi passes at a pharmacy, the manager suggested that we buy Opal cards instead.  These are stored value cards that work somewhat like Octopus cards in Hong Kong, with the added advantage that the maximum charge is AUD15 per day.  We used the cards for roundtrip rides to Neutral Bay and Watson Bay, with a 30-minute break at Neutral Bay and an immediate turnaround at Watson Bay since that was the last ferry of the day.  This was followed by a bus ride on X74 to Coogee Bay.  We strolled around the beach area for about 45 minutes before meeting up with Ruth and Stephen for dinner at Eastern Sea Restaurant.  The owner goes to the same church my sister does, and chatted with us in between serving customers.  They have known each other for decades, and she has been at the place for 29 years (and it had been run by someone else for 28 or so years before that.)

Coogee feels the same after all these years.

Tuesday 2/24.  After my usual breakfast, I hiked again to the cemetery both as exercise and to visit father’s grave a second time.  Ruth and Stephen had grandparent duties today, so they took off after dropping us off at the airport.  Check in was easy enough, and we found ourselves in the Singapore First Class lounge since I managed to get a couple of saver first class seats.  The lounge was empty (I think only flight out at that time was ours) and nicely appointed, but I must say I was underwhelmed: they just had a limited selection of food items, all Southeast Asian at that.  Our flight was reasonably full (full F and B, some scattered empty Y seats), but we left on time.  I don’t fly international first class that often, but must say United F is great only when compared to their business class seats.  One does get more attention from the flight attendants, though.

 Food at Singapore Airlines lounge in Sydney.

 Riding in comfort in International First Class.

Domestic economy plus, not so much.

I am posting this during our UA870 flight since I bought internet access, I will come back and add some photos later on.  Meanwhile, we brought only light winter clothes and it will be quite cold when we land.  Of course we should also count our blessings as our recent trips took us out of NJ during the bitter cold spells.