July 17th, 2007

Today was our last day in Sydney (until we come back for a few days at the end of the trip). The first thing we did after breakfast was to check out of the hotel and leave them with our bags until it was time for us to leave. Then we headed down to Circular Quay to catch a ferry to Darling Harbor. On our first few visits, we were able to use student ID’s for discounts to places such as the Aquarium. However, since then we have been told that the only students permitted a discount are local students. Ah well. Since we were able to see our breath this morning, and later found out that today was one of the coldest days in Sydney in years, we opted for the inside of the ferry. It was still a great way to see the harbor. Our purpose of going to Darling Harbor was to see the Maritime Museum, which we had been admiring from across the bay several days ago. From outside you can see the three large ships that you can explore, so we knew we would be wanting to do that. But, once again considering the cold, we decided to do the inside portion of the museum first. It was fairly extensive and interesting. We saw lots about the life people lived on the various ships that brought people to Australia from schooners to liners. There were exhibits on navigation, on the famous captains that came to Australia, on immigration, and on various more modern maritime topics. One of the exhibits was about the sports that people use the ocean for – including sailing solo around the world, swimming, rowing, and surfing. Apparently the Australian long board was over 5 meters long and made of hollowed out wood – at least until some Australian surfers went to Hawaii and saw how much more maneuverable the shorter balsawood “long boards” were – within weeks, they were the board of choice in Australia. There was also a good bit on the Australian navy, and it looked like they were in the process of setting up a room on the American navy.
By the time we were done with the inside of the museum, we didn’t have time for both lunch and exploring the ships before we had to head back to get our luggage and go to the airport. So we opted for lunch, promising that we would return to see the ships in a week. For lunch we found a nearby food court, which was delicious! I had a smoked salmon sandwich with avocado and cream cheese, and Rob had a freshly prepared bowl of soup with noodles and dumplings and barbequed pork and vegetables. All this prompted the quick agreement that this was definitely the way to do fast food. The food court looked out over Darling Harbor and had a few of the Darling Harbor residents wandering through it. Apparently the sliding door was all the opportunity that a seagull and an ibis needed to get inside and stroll between tables.
We (just barely) caught the ferry back to Circular Quay, picked up our bags, and took the train to the airport. Within 20 minutes of arriving at the airport, we were at our gate. Very efficient. Three hours later, we arrived in Cairns. It was after dark when we got in, so I am looking forward to the morning to see the landscape around us. Our hotel is right on the water, with a balcony overlooking the Esplanade (walking path along the waterfront)! For dinner, we wandered into the “center of town” and had some really good Italian food.