We spent a lovely day with Alan and Deb Boughton in the beautiful area surrounding their home in Albion Park just outside the city of Wollongong. We walked along the Illawarra Fly, a new attraction which consists of walkways and a tower literally above the treetops on a very steep cliff overlooking the ocean and region below. Wow! What a view! However, some interesting tales must be told about this trip. We drove up the very steep and winding road toward the village of Robertson (home of the fabulous Pie Shop) and passed a truck fully loaded (unstably) with hay coming from the opposite direction. As we ate our lunch at the pie shop, we heard that the hay truck had overturned on that road and the road was closed. Later in the day, the road was still blocked off so we took another road down the mountain toward the village of Jamberoo, in order to get back to Alan and Deb's place. Along that road, we passed a car which had just gone over the edge of the road. As there appeared to be other cars stopped to assist, we continued on our way only to see four or five big (fire truck sized) rescue vehicles coming up the road toward the site of the accident. We can only assume that this road was also going to be closed shortly but that we had just made it by in the nick of time. Otherwise, we would have had to endure a three-hour detour.
On a brighter note, we also made an unexpected stop at Alan's cousin, Neil Boughton's pottery gallery near Fitzroy Falls. We enjoyed a cup of tea with Neil and his wife, Beth, in their beautiful garden behind the house in the very tiny village (2 houses) of Fitzroy.
We also spent a fabulous day with Cousin Elwood and Helena at the Taronga Zoo which is Sydney's main zoo. Although it is accessible by land, we chose to take one of the harbour ferries over to the zoo and avoid the parking rush. It's also really nice to get out onto the water to see the city from afar. The zoo is huge and we simply could not see everything. However, it was a Sunday and everyone who had children also seemed to be at the zoo. It was busy, indeed.
We also met up with Bruce Skeen, a friend who Trevor's mother and father met in the 1990s through their association with the International Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society Shows. We also met Bruce in Toronto in 1993. We spent a terrific day with Bruce as he came to visit us at our hotel and he took us for lunch at of the Blacktown Worker's Club where he is currently running in the elections for the board of directors. We had been to Alan and Deb's Bowling Club in Albion Park just a few days earlier so we feel we are having quite an initiation into the "social club" scene in Australia. These social clubs are found literally all over the country and many community residents belong to these. This phenomenon is something very new for us as we do not have these back home to the degree that the Australians do. Please remember to ask us about these if we are talking to you.
Finally, we also enjoyed a performance of a new production of Guys and Dolls at the Capitol Theatre in downtown Sydney. This is an older theatre which has been beautifully renovated. It's always great to see live entertainment and there is certainly no shortage of concerts and musical events in Sydney. We'll continue to update the blog as things unfold in Sydney.
1. With Elwood and Helena at the Taronga Zoo, Sydney2. Panoramic View of Sydney Harbour
3. With Deb and Alan Boughton on the Illawarra Fly treetop walk near Albion Park where they live
4. Lorraine with Deb on the Ilawarra Fly
5. Alan with his cousin, Neil Boughton in Neils pottery gallery near Fitzroy Falls
6. Alan and Deb by the Pie Shop in Robertson (AWESOME PIES!!)
7. Fitzroy Falls in Morton National Park
8. Nellie, Alan and Deb's dog--She doesn't like being kissed on the nose
9. Elwood and Helena on the Sydney Harbour Ferry to Taronga Zoo
10. Trevor on the harbour ferry (Sydney Opera House in the background)
11. Large cruise ship at the Circular Key in Sydney Harbour
12. Giraffes at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney
13. Harp Sculpture in front of the Conservatory of Music in Sydney. This temporary display cost over $100,000 and is supposed to play music when there is high wind. We were there. There was lots of wind and this device DID NOT PLAY!
14. Lorraine at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney where we saw the musical production, Guys and Dolls.
15. Beer Can Raft from the Darwin Beer Can Raft Festival on display in the National Maritime Museum of Australia in Darling Harbour
16. With Bruce Skeen (An old friend of Mom and Dad's whom they met through their association with the International Dahlia and Chrysanthemum Shows) at the Blacktown Worker's Club
17. Bruce at the Blacktown Worker's Club
18. Bruce in his garden at home in the backyard
