December 20 - Remembering

The other night as I was watching the news, one short clip caught my attention. The story told of the threat of a volcanic eruption in Iceland. The news commentator went on to say that the town of Grindavik had been evacuated. I thought back to 2015 when Lyle and I had been in Iceland and had spent a couple of days in this same town.

Grindavik is a small fishing town with a unique harbour. While we were there, I think that we paid more attention to the town’s proximity to the ocean than we did to the presence of the black lava rock beside the trails where we walked. It was such a peaceful place and for the two days of our visit, the sun was shining. We promised that if we were ever to return to Iceland, this was one spot that we would like to revisit. Now I just feel such great sympathy for the townspeople who have been evacuated from their homes. The pictures on TV are quite frightening.

If you would like to read about Grindavik, I wrote about our visit on my blog. You can click here to access this blog post. You could also go to the archives section and look for May 2015. It is the post titled "May 25 - Iceland (Part 2)" where I have written about Grindavik.

While New Year’s Day is often a time to look ahead with new plans and resolutions, for me, Christmas is a time when I can reflect on memories of the past. I remember our trip to Grindavik with much fondness.

 

 

December 14 - In Sydney

I love spending time in Sydney. There is so much to see and do in this bustling city. Whenever Lyle and I go to Australia for family visits, we try to spend at least a couple of days in Sydney. Even though I grew up in the suburbs of Sydney, I can still find new things to explore and familiar places to revisit.

On our last trip we had two days to ourselves. For the first day we had booked tickets for a theatre production of Wicked. Sydney is well known for its live theatre productions, and an afternoon at the Lyric Theatre in the Darling Harbour area lived up to our expectations. We took the ferry from Circular Quay and had a picnic lunch in a park near Pyrmont. That was fun in itself. There just happened to be what looked like a Harry Potter scavenger hunt happening. Various costumed characters rushed around the park in front of us. They were obviously looking for something but whether or not they found it was irrelevant to us. They provided us with our pre-show entertainment. 

While it was relaxing in the park, it was a bit more frustrating inside the theatre, which is in turn, inside the Star Casino building. After our experience at Wynyard Train Station, I had become more aware of accessibility issues and was insistent that we find elevators instead of using stairs or escalators. The lifts were a lot more difficult to locate, but we persisted! I was glad that I had my cane with me.

On our second day we took the ferry across the harbour to Manly. This is always a great tourist activity and I never tire of it. This time we made a point of finding the name of my grandfather’s cousin inscribed on the war memorial at Manly. John Williams grew up in the area but tragically perished in an escape attempt from a German concentration camp  during World War II.

After that sombre moment, we walked on to the beach and around the rocks pathway to Shelley Beach. The walk is popular with locals and tourists alike. There aren’t any steps, but there are a couple of steep sections that might be difficult for those using walking frames or wheelchairs.

There are two photos with this post. In the first, I am standing at the rail of the ferry with the Sydney Opera House in the background. In the second, Lyle and I are standing on the pathway to Shelley Beach with the distant view of Manly in the background. Lyle is usually the one who takes the pictures so it’s nice to have one where he is in the frame instead of just me. 

 

Sue across the harbour from the Sydney Opera House

 

Sue and Lyle across from Manly Beach

 

 

 

 

 

December 6 - At the Station

We are in Sydney, staying at a hotel near Wynyard Railway Station.  This is not where we usually stay when we are in Sydney, but this trip we decided to try something new.  It was a mistake.  While the hotel is fairly modern, the location is very noisy, and the railway station is a zoo.

Wynyard Station is huge.  It was constructed in 1932 to coincide with the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  The station is built on the side of a hill, a major engineering feat in itself.  The various underground train tracks can be accessed by a series of stairs, elevators, or lifts.  It’s hard to believe that I first negotiated this maze when I was an eleven year old school girl.  Now many years later and with Lyle by my side, it seems more difficult.  Of course, part of the problem is my sight.  Lyle is good at reading the signs and I do my best to try to remember which signs he should be looking for.

The other issue is the escalators.  In order to reach the four levels of the station, one must use a long and steep escalator or find the lift.  Yesterday Lyle couldn’t find the appropriate lift and so we thought we would try the escalator.  Lyle went first, but as I stepped to the top I could see that the steps were moving way more quickly than usual.  I was frozen at the top.  Lyle couldn’t retreat up the same escalator and had to find the up escalator to get back to me.  By the time he reached me a small group of passersby had gathered to assist and encourage me.  Someone was able to point us in the direction of the nearest lift.

All these things are adventures, but I do think that we could find some that are less heart stopping than our adventures in Wynyard Station.  Tomorrow we are going to attempt to negotiate Central Station. It is larger and also complex. As I recall, there is only one set of major escalators, and there are lifts located at the bottom of each platform.

Once you know the way, trains are an easy to get around Sydney.

December 1 - In the Ocean

I love the ocean. I love the sound of it, the feel of it, and even the smell of it. I like swimming in the surf, but I especially like swimming in the various rock pools around the area where we stay when we come to Australia.

My favourite of these pools is at a place called The Entrance. This is on the Central Coast about an hour and a half north of Sydney.  At The Entrance there are three separate pools carved into the rocks. The largest of these is Olympic length. The middle sized one (my favourite), is perfect for swimming or walking my laps. There is also a wading pool for the kids with a large sun shade over the top. Yesterday when were at the pools at high tide, the waves were just high enough to crash and splash over the outer rock wall.

There are two pictures with this post. In the first I am standing in the smaller lap pool. The second picture gives an overview of the three pools.

 

 

Sue in smaller pool

Rock pool at the Entrance