Melbourne and Sydney

This entry is being written in Sydney airport, while we wait for the flight to Perth.

We spent the last 3 weeks in Austrlia's 2 largest cities - a week in Melbourne and 2 in Sydney.
I must admit I have enjoyed these weeks much less than expected. First, we had VERY cold, and very often rainy weather, during most of our time in Melbourne and more than half of our time in Sydney. Nothing like the warm weather that they had here in the weeks previous to our trip (we have followed the weather forecasts here to know what to pack). The days in which we had scehduled organized tours were - obviously - the worst weather-wise. In spite of the cold, the two trips we took from Melbourne - the "Penguin Parade" and the Great Ocean Road tour - were worth it, because in the first one we got to see a lot of local wildlife (overfed kangaroos, sleeping koalas, and penguins that can't decide when to get out of the water) and in the second one the landscapes were beautiful. I can't say the same about the trips we took from Sydney - the blue mountains were not blue, but covered with mist, and we got rained on in the very short time alotted for the visit there, and the trip to the Hunter valley was also much less interesting (for me) than expected. One problem with all these tours is that you spend hours on the bus (and when it rains, there is almost nothing to see) and the breaks for actual sight-seeing are always very short - an hour at most, except in the Hunter valley gardens, where they give you 3 hours which is much more than the gardens really merit.

Oh well, never mind the tours. I am a city girl anyway and more interested in whet the cities have to offer. Cousin Michael is probably right in saying that Sydney may be more dramatic in its views but Melbourn is more livable. It is indeed a very pleasant city, also for visitors. There is a free hop-on-hop-off tourist tram and a free shuttle bus circling the city, in which you can listen to information as you go along and easily get to the most interesting museums and sights, as the city's historical, cutural and commercial center is very compact. One more thing that was partcularly pleasant is the fact that we stayed in the University College, in which the staff were very hospitable and helpful. Meals were included, and we got to participate in the High Table Dinner (see our photo in the college robes). Eric and I sat at high table and the kids sat with the students - and saw that, in contrast to what they may have been led to expect from Terry Prachett's books on Unseen University, the professors do NOT hold food fights during these dinners.

Sydney, on the other hand, was a lot less interesting and lively than we expected, people were a lot less friendly, and the service in various facilities was not half as good as you would expect from a developed country. In spite of all that, we did manage to see all that we were interested in, until I at least got tired of sight-seeing and by now feel ready to go back. The best times for me were those spent with relatives and collagues - and this after all was one of the main reasons to take this tour.

This is almost the end of the vacation part for me - as next week I will be participating in a conference in Perth, while the family keeps touring. So I shall leave it to them to describe the rest of the tour.