Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sydney Finalee

With Dara & Nazee
Whale watching with Rene

Sydney monorail



Whale Beach




Near West Head




Palm Beach







Opera House from ferry






Preparing Blog










Hamburgers with David









Cousin Val & David Altman









Marilyn with her cousin Corinne






The last week of our adventure has been spent in Sydney where we stayed in the Northern suburbs with my (Maurice) cousin Val & David Altman & then later at an appartment in the East at Bondi. We spent the first shabbat with the largely South African community in St Ives attending the Massada & local Chabad synagogues & meeting part of our family that had originally emmigrated from Dublin (1966) & Johansburg.What is so exciting about the Northern suburbs is that they are so near to the "Bush" which enabled us to also visit the Ku-Ring Gai Chase National Park & experience again the fantastic topography ,trees & wild life over here. Last Sunday we walked across the famous Sydney Bridge with Val & David & then took the ferry to Manly passing stunning views of the Opera House & open sea.


View from West Head







Later on in the week ,we were excited by the old & new architecture of the city which although less impressive than Melbourne has an excellent museum & art gallery.
On reaching Bondi we treated ourselves to steak & chips at Katz's kosher restaurant. In the last few days, we met up with Renee Levy ,who was our neighbour in Yaarrot in the 80's , & who took us whale watching & organized for us a visit to the the Bondi Marine Centre.Then last night after 42 years ,we met up with an old friend , Dara who studied economics with me at Essex University.
Marilyn adds that the reality of Sydney is so different from her expectations as she has learn't during this 12 week odessy.For exanple, she expected Sydney Harbour Bridge to be silver but it is black. Then she saw it silver coloured when the sun shone on it reflecting the blue water below it. She expected man made Sydney to be overwhelmingly beautiful whereas it is natures undescribed lovliness which peeps around every corner & belittles anything mere man has made be it a bridge or an opera house.
For our final night in Australia (to-morrow) we are going to the Opera House & then we have to get up at 4.30a.m. for our flight to Hong Kong. Therefore ,this is our last blog before we return to Israel next week so I hope you have enjoyed this adventure together with us & hope we won't bore you too much when we return after..............driving 7378kms, sleeping in 45 different places, flying on 12 different flights & experiencing temperatures between 0 & 30 deg Cent.
We have met here many wonderful friends & family who have been incredibley warm & hospitable & given up their valuable time to show us these incredible countries.
Shabbat Shalom


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