February 24 2007
Hello from Australia!! After juggling accommodation arrangements, flights (trying to redeem frequent flier miles) and securing house and kitty care (Bless you, Malle, Leo & Kristi) we’re back in the land down under again. We knew we wanted to try and get back here again this year, but had a few bumps in the road as we were planning this trip. First of all, it’s nearly impossible to redeem frequent flier miles these days unless you wait until the last minute, or book nearly a year in advance. The airlines, understandably, prefer to sell as many seats as possible before letting them go as freebies. Secondly, about 10 days prior to our proposed departure date, Tom discovered a crack in his bicycle frame – a fatal flaw – during a routine bike ride with his Seattle cycling group. This was at least as critical as unsure airline seats, as his frame had to be sent back to the manufacturer for diagnosis and repair/rebuild. He knew it wouldn’t be fixable, but the team at Seven cycles came through, built him a brand new frame and had it back to him in a week (that’s ONE week!) We can’t say enough good things about Seven – they make a fantastic bike for starters, and their incredible warranty service throughout this ordeal has cemented our belief in our choice of road bikes and has made us loyal ambassadors and cheerleaders for Seven bicycles.
We’d been having trouble finding long term accommodation in Sydney, mainly due to our timing. We were due to arrive about 1 week before Mardi Gras (more about that later) and Sydney is historically packed to the gills for that annual event. We got lucky, however, and a couple of days before we left were able to rent a serviced apartment in the same building where we stayed 2 years ago. The apartment wasn’t to be ready until Feb 26, so we decided to spend the first few days up at Nelson Bay, about 2 ½ hours north of Sydney. 24 hours prior to our departure on February 22, our airline seats were confirmed, so everything finally came together. We left Mackie and Jaycie (the kitties) in the capable care of Malle and Leo Hannibal and our niece, Kristi, and left for the airport with happy hearts.
The flight was uneventful – always a good thing – and we arrived in Sydney on time. One passenger had been ill during the whole flight, so when we reached the gate, everyone was asked to stay seated while the quarantine officials boarded and assessed the passenger’s health. It was somewhat surprising to me that everyone was quietly cooperative, given the usual chaos when a plane lands after a 15 hour flight. However, everyone waited quietly and patiently for 15 minutes or so, until we were cleared to disembark. We landed at 6:35am and were in our rental car and ready to go by 7:15.
Since it was Saturday morning, we sailed through the city and were soon on the main highway to the north. About an hour into the trip, we decided to take a small detour and visit our friends George and Silvi, who own a winery and B&B in the Hunter Valley. We hadn’t told them we were coming over this year, but they have a cellar door, which is open for business daily, so we didn’t feel awkward about stopping by unannounced. Their winery, Peacock Hill, is one of the premier boutique wineries in New South Wales, so of course we also had to pick up a few bottles of their award-winning wines. It was great to spend a couple of hours chatting with them at the picnic table in front of their beautiful home, after an enthusiastic greeting from their three dogs. Hopefully, we’ll see them again in Sydney while we’re there.
It was a hot day (92 degrees), so by the time we got to Nelson’s Bay, we checked in and promptly went to the beach for a swim. We stayed in a familiar place, situated within an easy walk to two beaches. After cooling off and spending about an hour in the sun we went back to the room, unpacked and Tom put the bikes together. We had planned to go out for dinner, but we were both so tired that we opted for takeout pizza and had a little picnic on our patio and watched the birds settle in for the night. We were visited by kookaburras, rosellas, lorikeets and some gorgeous rosy galahs. I managed to stay awake until 7:30; Tom did a little better and sleep came very easily that first night.