Tag: travel

cairns, kuranda & port douglas

92F93BB8-2780-4F0E-A923-A6781D67B57820 July 2018 Friday

Port Douglas.  I need to be putting days of the week with dates because we’ve traveled long enough to lose those connections.

We left Sydney on the 18th and struck out on our own.  No more cousins or friends whose counsel we could depend upon. Flying to Cairns and picking up a car.  Driving on the other side of the road!  Big deal for me.  I’ve wanted to explore the UK for years and didn’t dare for fear.  Friends and public transport got me to enough places, but in Australia . . . This is a big country.  There is some public transport but what I want to see is not necessarily close to anything.  Transfers via private buses and vans are pricey and constraining.  And so, it was time. Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 2

sydney fish market

0F168454-ADA7-47FC-8B57-83EBB5DD85C8(Written 26 August 2018). 

On Monday, we visited the Sydney Fish Market and just typing those words, my mouth begins to water.  It isn’t that I haven’t been to wonderful fresh fish markets on the east and west coasts of the US but midwesterner that I am, my trips are few are far between.  Reminding me somewhat of Seattle’s Pike Place Market but the Sydney Market was all about the fish.  Busloads of Asian tourists pulled up and emptied out ready for lunch.  So were we!  We ate outside on a deck overlooking the water.  Sea gulls competed for our sushi which drove Julia a bit nuts.  After our sushi, Steph suggested we get some very big shrimp, cooked and ready to peel.  I didn’t think we could eat any more but more than a dozen of the shrimp disappeared very quickly.  Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 0

family

CE4317A0-AACB-42C3-8317-DDFEA0460A30(Written 28 August)

Sunday with cousins.

Sunday morning Scott picked us up for a drive and more Sydney views.  Writing a month later, I don’t remember the interesting walk but perhaps I can impose on Scott to remind me.  The cliffs are wild and beautiful.  It was a spot where people trying to end their lives pondered jumping, but nearby the top of the cliffs a solitary man lives in a small house.  When he saw people contemplating their final decision, he would come out and speak with them, invite them in for a cup of tea and somehow I imagine, a slice of cake.  Life the story of the boy throwing starfish back into the sea, the kind man managed to turn many people away from the sea. Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 0

friday the 13th

0FBCA4D8-9DDD-4190-A90D-41D4AA905A0B

Steph, cousin and hostess extraordinaire, has been showing us bits and pieces of this glorious city that we might not have spent time in on our own. As much as I love exploring places on my own, it is always possible to miss the gem in front of my face because as a first time visitor, I lack context. Steph and Scott, the cousins we are meeting through them, and my friend Marianne, have provided so much rich context for which I am so thankful. Yesterday, Scott and I talked a bit about how we connected- his meeting David’s folks when he was a high school exchange student, David getting in touch with him as his interest in family grew just before his death, Cheshire meeting Scott when he was traveling in NYC, our meeting at Rita’s wedding, and the larger faceboook family group.  Serendipity played no small part, small pieces of a moving puzzle that needed some magic to connect. And then, here we are!

Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 0

beach day

CB9901CD-F456-4DEF-9854-01F110B7B6F4

Time is crazy.  I’ve been chatting with Cheshire and some friends back home.  I think it is last night.  I look at the dates on this blog and they are not necessarily reflective of when I posted.  Not exactly.  I acknowledge how tied I am to clock and calendar.  How would I do in a Star Trek universe? Jumping galaxies, condensing and expanding time. I’m overthinking.  I am inclined to hold the time differences in my head—it doesn’t work.  I write, I post, I text.  I just hope I haven’t woken anyone up. Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 4

Travel challenges

2FEE176F-2829-4F02-91AE-FC2715000860On the train from Umina Beach to Sidney Central and then Randwick, traveling from a quite northern suburb of Sydney to the center.  There is a lot of water to see, quiet water and surf beaches.  I am enjoying the water. Marianne took us up Mount Ettalong to view the beaches that flank it—Pearl Beach and Umina Beach.  Later, we walked one of the beaches. So much of what we will see in the next weeks hugs the coast!  I need time to just sit and stare at waves. Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 3

Sydney: ferry and art

7FCDCE73-EFB4-49A9-A290-1156B9930136Back to Sydney!  Staying with my friend, Marianne, in Umina Beach which is north of Sydney.  We took advantage of a Sunday special, Family Fun Day, on the trains and ferries. $2.70 for the entire day. We took a regular ferry under the landmark bridge and past the Opera House, the Maritine Museum and Luna Park.  Later, we walked into the old Customs House.  I was particularly struck by the carved face of Queen Victoria.  Younger than most that I have seen. I can’t imagine what it is/was like to be a person whose image is such common currency. Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 0

King’s Canyon

Another early morning hike. This time in Kings Canyon. The proposed hike began with 500 natural steps which I didn’t think we could do successfully.  We did half the hike beginning at the end.  We still climbed steps and clambered over rocks but the rise was gentler and easier to manage.  Julia climbed easily and was independent through tout most of the hike.  This adventure is offering her a good deal of independence.

Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 0

Uluru

B6E9B455-A9E5-430A-A145-2C21B92695B3After our Kata Tjuta walk, we climbed back in the van heading for a prime viewing spot to see the sun set at Uluru.  We were one of many tour groups but it was a big viewing site with plenty of space.  Our group was set up with wine and cheese and crackers and our first tastes of emu and kangaroo.  Continue reading →

Posted on by Suzanne Buchko 1