Days one and two in a land down under

 

Just one of the many deadly fauna that call Australia home 

One of the perks that comes with working for the State Department is R&R travel. Rest and Recuperation is provided to employees working overseas at posts with "distinct and significant difficulties". Most foreign tours allow for at least one R&R, with the number rising with the greater the hardship (in combination with the length of the tour). In our case, we're not quite at the midpoint of a three-year assignment in Beijing 北京, and due to a combination of environmental and political considerations, plus a reflection of the difficulties entailed by the Chinese government's now-abandoned zero-COVID restrictions, we're entitled to three R&R trips during this tour. 

How this travel works is that the department will purchase a roundtrip ticket for you and your eligible family members from the post to anywhere in the United States (including the territories such as Guam and the Northern Marianas). But unlike home leave, visiting the U.S. isn't required. There are regional designated relief points, the fares to which can be used in calculating airfares. For us here in China, that R&R spot is Sydney, Australia. If, for example, we wanted to fly to somewhere in western Europe for our rest and recuperation, the cost of flying to Sydney would be used to determine if we would need to cost construct, i.e. pay any differences over and above the airfare to the land down under. Having been in China now for sixteen months without yet taking our first R&R, we decided that Sydney itself would be an ideal destination for a roughly two-week break from Beijing during our daughter's school winter break. 

Which is how we found ourselves landing at Sydney Airport in the late afternoon of Boxing Day, following a 10½-hour flight from China's capital, and a change in seasons from frigid winters (a record-breaking run of below-freezing temperatures in Beijing) to summer on the other side of the equator. As our Air China jet prepared to touch down, we were provided with our first glimpse of Sydney Harbour, with its iconic steel through arch bridge:

In our hotel room, and trying to familiarize ourselves with a new currency. We never did get completely comfortable with the coinage, as Australia is becoming an increasingly cashless country, and there wasn't a business where we couldn't use our credit cards:

The view from our room on the 21st floor of The Sydney Boulevard Hotel, which would be our Aussie abode for six nights in total, leading up to New Year's Day:

Following check-in, it was time to go out and seek some nourishment, which took some doing as most places were closed on Boxing Day. We did eventually come across a pub that was open for business:

It was here that I had the first of what would be many Australian dishes, Chicken Parmigiana:

After dinner, we stopped off at a grocery store, where I admired the sweets on display. So many flavors of Tim Tams, so little time:

The view from our room the following morning:

Two more Aussie faves were sampled over breakfast. The Weet-Bix I could easily handle; the infamous Vegemite, on the other hand, proved to be more of a challenge, though apparently it didn't help that I applied it too thickly that first morning, and without the benefit of butter between the bread and the spread:

The weather forecast called for rain in the afternoon, so we decided to put off visiting Sydney Harbour to a more favorable day. Still, things were pleasant as we exited the hotel and headed east, passing Hyde Park and one of its many resident Australian White Ibises:

Sydney Town Hall, completed in 1889. We never ventured inside to have a look, but it proved to be a useful landmark on our explorations of the central business district:

We eventually made it to Darling Harbour after more than twenty minutes of walking, which put a considerable strain on my wife's aging knees. We had intended on using public transportation to get there, but by the time we found a kiosk that actually sold Opal cards, we were already close enough to the water that Shu-E decided to damn the torpedoes and go full steam ahead:

Once there, we purchased our tickets for the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium, much to the delight of Amber:

The aquarium is home to a pair of dugongs who were rescued as orphans after being found washed up on a Queensland beach:

Of course there were plenty of sharks and rays to admire:

A Disneyland-like water ride allowed visitors to get up closer to the popular penguins. The person being admonished for using flash is none other than my spouse, though in her defense, Shu-E wasn't actually trying to take a photograph; rather, she had inadvertently turned on the flashlight function on her cell phone:

Following our visit, we had lunch at the Helm Bar and Bistro, and discussed where to go next:

Fish and Chips:

The decision was made to take a ferry to Cockatoo Island following our meal, but nature had other ideas:

So, a different decision was agreed on to do some window shopping, first by riding the light rail to Glebe, to peruse the aisles at Gleebooks; and then by taking the bus to Newtown, and Better Read Than Dead (one guess as to who was leading the way to these shops). Unfortunately, bibliographic bliss was rudely interrupted at the latter when my wife discovered to her horror that she had left her backpack on the bus. While all her cash and credit cards were safe in a separate purse, both her U.S. passports had been inside the backpack. Needless to say, the possibility of having to apply for emergency travel documents suddenly put a damper on our first full day in New South Wales. Though we filled out lost property reports with the bus company (online) and the police (over the phone), for the remainder of the afternoon, and on into the evening, Shu-E and I were both in a state of travelers' PTSD. Still, we soldiered on:

Newtown street scenery

After returning to our hotel, we ventured out in search of dinner, passing by Hyde Park once again, and its Gothic-looking St. Mary's Cathedral:

Queen Victoria sits above the fray outside the huge shopping center bearing her name:

Pondering the days highs and lows at the French restaurant where we had dinner:

For my meal I had that most Gallic of dishes, a cheeseburger and fries (on the menu, and in French!):

The holiday seasonal lighting on the facade of the giant Woolworths Town Hall branch:

Captain James Cook. His reputation has undergone debate and revision in recent decades, but as a young lad I was enthralled by a National Geographic article on his adventures aboard HMS Endeavour:

The moon was an amazing sight that evening, though you wouldn't know it from the quality of my cell phone's camera:

One of the most fascinating critters we encountered while in Australia was what my daughter assumed was this Grey-headed flying fox. Perhaps it was a hallucination brought on by the stress of what happened earlier that day, but I could have sworn this thing had a long, serpentine-like tail as it flew away and over Park Street:

A good omen? Stay tuned...

It's hard to have a Gaytime on your own:

"Somewhere in Sydney", a song by a Melbourne band. Somewhere in Sydney was Shu-E's backpack, along with her passports: