After arriving back to Vancouver Island from Baja in April 2024, we returned to the campsite on the south side of the Big Qualicum River at the Qualicum First Nation (QFN) seasonal campground that we have enjoyed so much for a couple years now. For a couple of nomadic wanderers like us, it’s a great centrally located, rustic (no electrical or black water hookup) campsite rental that we can call home for the summer months. Location, location, location. The beach site has loads of trails for hiking and biking nearby and the fisheries road that follows the river upstream is a popular bikeway to get to Horne Lake for a swim.
Spring at the campground was cold, windy and sometimes pretty wet. So, what do you do when it’s miserable outside? You plan a getaway. This year we planned BIG. Albert traded his long-earned Alaska Airline points for our one-way tickets to Australia via a return stopover in Honolulu. In between the return Hawaii tickets are a month in Australia driving the coastal road from Sydney to Adelaide in a camper van (caravan), a month-ish in Thailand, a month in Vietnam, possible Laos and Cambodia (TBA stay tuned as this evolves) , and almost 3 weeks in Japan.
When QFN closed the campground Sept 30, we headed into 3 fun and quite different housesits with and without pets. During October we looked after a house in Vancouver for a close friend and explored the many recreational attributes offered in around this amazing city. November was spent housesitting and pampering an adorable, elderly cat while also exploring the environs around a lovely seaside home close to Campbell River. We split our time in December with some dog sitting in Victoria along the West Bay waterway and 2 wintery weeks in Montréal with our kids for Christmas.
We returned from Montréal, quickly stored our winter gear, repacked with our summer garb, celebrated a birthday during New Years while saying goodbyes to family, friends and winter all to begin a new chapter of travel in the southern hemisphere.
Finishing 2024 with a fun night with friends capped the great year off nicely. We made all our connections to Vancouver on January 4/25 to board our flights for Honolulu and Sydney.
On January 5 after a bleary 3 AM wake up we were bound for a quick stopover in Honolulu via a plane change in Seattle. Our plans for Honolulu were limited to the short duration of our stay there between flights. The New Years birthday festivities in Victoria, a lingering cold bug, cross Canada time changes between Montreal, Vancouver Island and Hawaii all sent our bodies reeling from the barrage of change. Rest sounded logical but “Hey it’s Honolulu!” We Uber’d to the Pearl Harbor monument and had a good look into the dark details of the Japanese attack on Dec 7 1941. The insights gleaned from this deep historical dive will hugely inform our visit to Hiroshima in a couple months. Our hotel was very close to the airport with no food services except “a local favourite” Chinese restaurant that we chose to dine in and then hit the sack early as we were off to Sydney the next day.
“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man happy and wise.” But were we? Happy? Of course! Wise? Maybe? Or was that jingle “wealthy and wise”? Neither!!!!
We got up and figured we would go to the airport early since there was no food at our hotel and no restaurants nearby. We had “checked in” on line the day before, but no electronic boarding passes were given so we had to go to the airport to finalize it. Good thing we were VERY early as we had neglected to get our Australian visitor visa “ETA”. This Electronic Travel Authority three month visa is mandatory in Australia and purchased ($20 AUD) through an app on your phone. It is a bit glitchy when scanning your passport and face, but it all works together with their recognition screening at the airport customs border crossing. We were fortunately able to do this in about half an hour and headed for the gate.
Feeling a bit under caffeinated and rattled by being out of step with how this “easy” connection was supposed to unfold we made a beeline for Starbucks and ordered some breakfast. 2 Starbucks Grande Lattes with extra shots, 2 sausage, egg croissantwichs, orange juice and tater-hash brown thingies worked out to $67.40 CAD. OUCH!! Not sure if the indigestion that followed was the result of the food or the price.
Waiting at the gate watching the fancy people and people needing assistance were called up to board. Being used to boarding last is how we roll so we missed the announcement for our seat number so ended up getting on almost last. The plane had a entry door between elite first class and the premium economy then economy behind that. We walked to our usual back of the plane location without looking at the seat numbers along the way and realized we had come too far when the rows were in the 40s and we were supposed to be in the 23rd row. We had booked premium economy!! Wide cushy seats, padded seatbelts, comfortable noise cancelling head sets, large chairback video screens and pretty good food with great red, white and sparkling wines being served! But we missed the first glass of sparkling by not getting on the plane with all the other fancy people!!
We booked the Great Southern Hotel Sydney as a relatively inexpensive choice that had good reviews for our accommodation. The 19th century building has many art deco features and antique displays in a well cared for and very busy lobby.
It is in the heart of an area called Haymarket and has the bustle of a vibrant Chinatown and nearby Darling Bay a pocket of Sydney harbour, and it’s waterfront walks. Right outside the back door is a large market with predominantly Asian influence in produce, fish, meat and shopping stalls selling everything from t-shirts and vitamins to boomerangs and baseball caps! Across the busy George Street entrance is the road to the train station. The tram outside the same door to whisk us to the Sydney opera house during a heavy rain!
Sydney is both foreign and familiar, historic and modern, and gorgeous. Nineteenth century architecture positions itself among the high-rises of the future. Multilane high volume traffic causeways are above the relatively peaceful pedestrian walk ways fully beautified with trees, greenspaces, lighting and art installations. The success of these otherwise neighborhood killing freeways being so cleverly designed to integrate with comfortable human friendly spaces was no mean feat. The whole of the engineering objective was seamlessly accommodating humans and all manner of people moving contraptions. Bravo we say, Bravo!
During our walks we noticed an absence of dogs and their leashed owners. Also an absence or at least a lower percentage of our demographic. The area we had unwittingly plunked ourselves into was refreshingly dominated by a younger crowd. With the atmosphere and central focus of this neighborhood being China Town the streetscape is dominated by restaurant takeaways offering dumplings, bahn mi, Ramen noodles, sweet confections, gelato and spicy hotpots. We have fallen for this cosmopolitan, vibrant, thriving destination and it’s fascinating cultural backdrop.
Our first full day (of two) began with provisioning. If you know Albert, you know that he needs his fruit in the morning. Over to the market for sweet, large and inexpensive mangos, bananas and apples. After that Google lead us to a trusted chain called Aldi that had been our favourite in Portugal. We also saw an IGA branded store that had completely Asian foods and another with an Italian theme. Interesting. Bread, cheese, milk, coffee and done. Along our walk we marvelled at the train station bustling with people. It is very reminiscent of our travels to Europe and New York city. We also had to remember to look right first before crossing the roads!! And when walking along the sidewalks and trailways we noticed people move to the left to pass. Just like on the roads which we hadn’t driven…yet…a good soft lesson.
Still feeling the effects of time change, we headed back to the hotel to unload our wares and grab a nap. The night was going to be all about the Sydney Opera House and we wanted to feel fresh. At about 4pm we walked out the door and followed the tram line route along George Street to the Circle Quay. Circle Quay is a hub where trains, trams, busses and ferries whisk patrons away to their destinations. It is also the drop off to get to the Sydney Opera House (SOH) at the end of the peninsula that it was built on. Beside Circle Quay is a neighbourhood called The Rocks, the original landing spot and convicts encampment for all who were sent down under for their crimes. These describe criminals who became famous city planners and respected citizens.
George Street is diverse and is possibly the first street in Australia. From our hotel we pass Haymarket, Chinatown, the Town hall beside the Queen Victoria Building built in the Romanesque Revival architecture and restored in the late 20th century. We also pass the Cinema district. Along George Street it is impossible not to notice the fusing of old architecture with new skyscrapers of glass and steel. Favourite shopping from Cartier and Rolex compete with pawnshops selling the same.
Everything about Sydney Opera House was spectacular. Even booking tickets and choosing seats. But arriving there gave us chills. The walk in is fully covered in case of inclement weather, which we had. The walk provides a view of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Rocks as well as shops and restaurants full of theatre goers. The patrons are herded through well staffed hallways paved in bright purple carpet through concrete and wood finished archways up many stairways to the bar!
We purchased tickets months before to see Rufus Wainwright who happened to be playing on the night we could visit the venue. His music is not everyones favourite, including Albert’s, who has more of a Rock and Roll prefered genre. Before the show, Albert thought he may want to leave early as Rufus Wainwright has a unique voice that is a bit “heavy” to listen to; especially on our small portable speaker that made him almost sound monotonous. But the concert hall changed all of that because when you closed your eyes his voice transformed you as you were communicating with the universe. It actually made your insides physically resonate. WOW!! Truly transforative. His opening act was Folk Bitch Trio out of Melbourne. These three young women are talented harmonizers who also performed 4 songs with RW.
Our second day was also forcast to be stormy so we decided to take a ferry to Manly on the other side of the harbour. With clouded in views of the bridge and shorelines, we had a wonderful water view of SOH. Notifications on board asked people to stay seated as the Pacific ocean swell bounced us to our destination.
This peninsula has a storied history of aboriginals being displaced to accommodate tourism, military fortifications and a former coal powered gas generating station. Plus it was where plague victims were sent to either live or die! Now it is a quiet neighbourhood with both modest and posh homes, beachside restaurants, snorkelling and surfing. Sydney Harbour National Park is an easy walk from the ferry through neighbourhoods with repurposed barracks and posh mansions. There is even a 19th century catholic seminary and convent resembling a castle that now houses a school. We had a long walkabout along the steep bluffs on well maintained trails looking out at the pacific before heading back to our ferry.
We were starving when we got back to the city center and chose a spicy hotpot restaurant to dine. Sorry no pictures but imagine the following. First you get a bowl and pair of tongs from a pile of clean wares. Then move along past 3 open coolers with over one hundred items to put into a soup. Everything from poached liver jelly, to prawns, mussels, chicken, every kind of asian green leaf, dumplings, wontons, shaved meats, tofu, and much more. At the till you choose the broth, pay, and take your buzzer that calls when it is ready. Picking up the hotpot takes you to another buffet of toppings from chopped green onion and cilantro to chilis, bonito flakes and MSG.
And that was Sydney. Off to get our campervan! See you later!!
The Grape Escape 
Fabulous- I just love reading about your trips Thank you Hugs from Jeanette AlexSent from my iPad
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