Sunday, November 27, 2011

When there is a "bump" in your vacation....

There is only one nightmare that haunts a traveling nanny.  In this nightmare she is rushing around, exploring new ideas of things to do, when suddenly in slow motion she sees herself falling, turning wrong, any number of scenarios where she feels the pain of an injury. The mere thought of having unbearable pain is enough to make her wake up in a sweat.  Fortunately, it is just that--a dream.

Today, however, my dream became a reality.  DH's taxi was having trouble finding the apartment and I saw it drive by and ran up the stairs and down the street trying to catch their attention. I don't know exactly what happened but I felt the pull in the muscle in the back of thigh.  I tried to shake it off thinking it was just a "kink". Two hours later trying to walk around Sydney I gave up as the pain was just too great.  DH was suffering from jet lag by then anyway so we made our way back to take a nap.  A very expensive Bridge Climb is on our agenda tomorrow and I am in panic knowing there is little chance I will be up to it. 

I can try to see if I can rearrange the climb for the last day of our trip but if they won't do it, I will be climbing in immense discomfort!  My gracious host has made up ice packs for me and as I type I am moving it around to see if I can freeze the damn muscle into submission.  Pain makes your irritable and I'm trying hard to keep the spirits up for my DH's sake. 

The only good thing in this "half full glass " nanny is that I finished the job!  So only part of the nightmare is real...

Will I make it?  Will DH hate me by the end of the week?  Stay tuned...


We walked to Darling Harbour last night or rather DH walked and I limped!  Everyone has told me how fantastic Fish and Chips are here so I just had to try some last night.  They lived up to their reputation and a full stomach took my mind off the leg for a bit.

We managed to arrive during the Rugby World Cup being played out in New Zealand and they had these huge TVs set up in the Harbour so you could eat and watch the Rugby game.  I feel like I am watching a combination of soccer and football except I am not convinced there are many rules!  It seems like you just keep pushing and shoving, running and tossing till someone can't get up anymore!  Needless to say, "I don't get it!"

The exciting thing about Sydney is the ability to walk to most places and the easy access to the tram and trains. There is absolutely no need to a car and we have managed to go from Pyermont to the inner city with no problem.  The other couple who stayed at our BnB gave us their Transportation Pass that had one day left on it.  The great thing about these passes is that it lets you do unlimited rides on the bus, trams or train.  They are worth buying if you are going to be in the city for 5-7 days.  Since we were only staying 2.5 days the first time around, we hadn't bought one.  With my knee hurting, it was great to ride rather than walk so much.  Normally I love walking a city but this time we had a shortage of time and my injury wouldn't have made that enjoyable.  

We made our way to the town hall where they have a free walking tour by volunteers.  When we got there we found the square dominated by people protesting support with the Mothers Against Wall Street Protest in NYC.  Imagine coming half way around the world to find support for a US protest!  It was interesting talking to them and seeing their added agenda for the problems Australians are having with the new immigration laws.  Sound familiar?!  We figured the tour was cancelled as the grounds were filled so we explored a bit on our own.  The parks in the middle of the city are gorgeous and peaceful.  We took a tour of the History Museum and there were a lot of parents with children from 3 to teens and I watched the children to see if this would be enjoyable to them.  The 5-12 year olds seem to enjoy it the most.

There are delightful cafes along the way and DH and I love the black and whites which is coffee with milk.  They use steam milk so it's more like a latte and we are becoming addicted to them!  It's such a beautiful day we walk back to Darling Harbour and take the train back to Pyermont.

Later that night we are off to experience the revolving Tower Restaurant where it is advertise you can see the complete city by the time the meal is done.  It is very pricey at about $65 each but it's a tourist attraction and I figured something to say "you did".  Plus I wanted to experience it so I could advise my readers/parents.   The good news:  the view is terrific and I love seeing a city at night.  For those who want to experience a day time view, try the lunch time.  The bad news:  the food is pretty mediocre, the service almost non-existent.  It is a buffet so I did expect to wait on myself though remember to take a good look where you are sitting as it does revolve!  But there were things like ordering the drinks that took forever and then one was incorrect and basically indifference to the patrons.  Would I do it again?  Probably...if it was my first time in Sydney.   But I might just do the tower view and skip the lunch/dinner!

We took a harbour cruise that included lunch the next day.  A harbour cruise is a must as the view is gorgeous!  We ended up paying about $65 each but we were trying to cram in as much as we could on our last day.  To be honest, take the ferry over to to Manly Beach for practically nothing.  Enjoy a walk around to the shops and cafes.  We enjoyed our little Majestic Cruise and the lunch was actually quite good.  I have no regrets as our time was limited but next visit I will definitely do the Manly Ferry.

Our two and half days in Sydney have been busy but I am excited about taking off for Broken Hill the next day.  I had finally managed to secure a rented car with Bayswater Rentals.  They have the best deal in town for insurance rates!  They are not at the airport which was fine with us as we were leaving from the city.  They would be worth taking a taxi to your hotel and later renting from them if you need a car rental.  All the cars are white and have this "No Bird" logo on them.  I had wondered where that came from and our taxi driver enlightened us with the story.  It seems years ago in the early days of Sydney, escort services were shown as rental cars that "came with the bird(girl)".  Eventually rental cars became respectable and the woman who founded this rental put on the logo "no birds" meaning all you get is a great little car!  Taxi drivers have the best stories!

Next:  Our journey to the Outback....