To Sydney and Beyond...

By: Eileen Schenck

I began my big adventure on the other side of the planet last week, meeting up with the girls in Sydney. Can’t tell you how great it was to set my eyes on them after three months. To all who know and love them, they look good and seem pretty comfortable in their new roles as world travelers.

I chose to meet up with them in Australia, in large part, because it was supposed to be an English-speaking country. Getting a cup of coffee proved otherwise. Ordering a coffee, light, turned into a team effort. What does she want?, the waitress asks the guy next to her (like I couldn’t hear). He says, “You want latte?” I say, “No I want coffee, brewed coffee with milk.” We have espresso. He drags someone else over who put ice in a cup and wants to know if I want whipped cream. Anyway, there definitely was a language barrier. Even Starbucks failed me! I got no sympathy from either Manda or Jess—claimed I was a princess.

Spent the first few days in Sydney seeing all the usual attractions, the Opera House, the Rocks and Harbour Bridge. We were going to do the Bridge climb, until I learned the privilege of climbing an enormous number of steps to a ridiculous height--from which you could plummet to a horrible death-- was $179 pp. Cheap won out, and I breathed a sigh of relief—the steps would have killed me long before the fall. The girls even charmed their way into a photo exhibit for free, by batting their baby blues at the guy behind the desk. Wasn’t he surprised when Mom stepped up and went in with them. If you want to feel every single day of your age, just walk around with two twenty-one year olds. It never gets old hearing “You three must be sisters!” GEEZZZ!

We rented a car (which we did not name). Suffice to say, I found driving on the wrong side of the road a challenge, though no one died as a result. Drove into the Blue Mountains which are known for the beautiful scenery including the famous rock formation called the “Three Sisters” (the very earth was mocking me). The night we arrived in Katoomba, we took a quick drive to one of the overlooks. It is an understatement to say the view was spectacular. As night fell, we honored this most beautiful gift of nature by spitting over the side of the overlook down into the valley. Thank God there was no wind. I am proud to proclaim that Manda is one wicked spitter—both in substance and distance. Jess needs some work. Me, I did OK too. It’s a sport at the summer games, you know.

We stayed in the mountains for another day, but that night was the last we actually saw of it. We woke up to fog so thick that—well, pictures of the valley and the hotel wall look one and the same. We attempted a hike into the valley, but the driving rain put a stop to that.

Left the fog behind, but not the rain, and drove into the wine country, always on the lookout for kangaroos and kuolas. Saw one live kangaroo and one dead (road kill). I liked the live one better—those little buggers can stare you down. Jess got some pretty good pictures, which I’m positive they have posted. Rain caused some flooding problems along our drive. I personally found it hard to believe that this country was in the midst of a drought. Moved right on to wine country where we did some wine tasting, cheese tasting, honey tasting, fudge tasting…you get the idea.

Considering the weather, all of Sydney’s indoor entertainment looked like a good choice. After the a days ride down the coast, I was happy to find the sun shining in Sydney. Then, the highlight of the entire trip and the reason for a 22 hour airplane ride—Princess Di’s wedding gown. That’s right, we three lucky “sistas” saw the twenty-five foot train in “real life.” and a tiera or two. I can die happy now.

Took a dinner cruise on my last night in Australia with the girls, where, one more time the waiter asked “Are you three sisters?” Like I said, you never get tired of hearing that one.

It was surprisingly hard to leave. The last of saw of the two sisters was through the rear of my airport van waving (as instructed) until out of sight. I miss them already. They looked so pretty!