This is a day or so after we arrived in a park down by the water where our son lives which is in a suburb quite close to the city (a fifteen or twenty minute bus ride).
This typifies Sydney Harbour..the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and of course a visiting cruise ship. This one is a Cunard ship called the Queen Anne...abour two years old, and no, we didn't just arrive on it.
Just a week or so afer we arrived we went about 3 to 4 hrs up the New South Wales coast to a place called Port Macquarie and whilst there we went on a boat trip on the Hastings River and were lucky enough to see these beautiful dolphins which came right up next to the boat. The first time I have been so close to wild dolphins.
About an hour up the coast from Port Macquarie we stopped at a place called Nambucca Heads and had a walk by the river before driving to the beach.
Here is one of the local inhabitants. There were quite a few swimming around, but this one came in close to the shore. I'm sure it was hoping we might have a fish or two...no such luck.
The next day we carried on moving inland and stopped the night at a place alled Bellingen, and this was the pretty view from our room with the Dorrigo Mountain in the distance.
During the day we visited the Dorrigo National Park and whilst there walked on their sky walk platform high amongst the tree tops.
....and this was the beautiful view. We didn't have that long there but it is renowned for its wonderful walks and waterfalls. On the twisty road up what they call the 'Waterfall Way' there were several small waterfalls coming down right next to the road. Unfortunately it was impossible to stop to take a photo.
After our week away we briefly returned to Sydney and then we flew to the Whitsunday Islands off the Queensland coast for a memorable few days arranged courtesy of our son as a special birthday treat which was supposed to happen when I was 70 but not possible in 2021..as you can see a proper tropical group of islands.
Whilst there we went on a boat trip to a neighbouring island to visit this beautiful beach called Whitehaven with the whitest and finest sand. All those that wished to go swimming were advised to wear a 'stinger suit' to protect from Box Jellyfish stings. They get stingrays which come in quite close to the shore too. I only paddled!
During our last week we went on a boat trip from Sydney harbour to a place called Paramatta and whilst there we visited a large local park where we were amazed to see an area where the trees were absolutely covered in fruit bats. I have read up about them and they are Grey-Headed Flying Foxes which are one of the largest species of bat and are said to be quite endangered. Apparently the park has about 15,000 of them. It was quite late in the afternoon and they were beginning to stir. It must be quite a sight when they all take off at dusk.
During our last week we also went to see Phantom of the Opera taking place in a more distant part of the Botanical Gardens beyond the Opera House. It was all in the open air and the seating was on land and the stage itself was set over the water. It was a brilliant performance and it was really surreal to see the harbour as the backdrop with the boats coming and going in the distance.
I hope you've managed to stay awake during this whirlwind tour of our holiday..certainly one we won't forget.
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