2020-02-20 – Botanical Gardens and the Waterfront

We walked through the Botanical Gardens today…mainly because we wanted to make it out to the far point for some photos.  However, we did enjoy the gardens and park. There were some pretty gigantic trees...

shaded paths,

places to rest,

and interesting buildings,

including a restored gate house, Victoria Lodge.

There were good views of the city...

and no park would be complete without some statuary.

One really interesting piece was a giant koala made from plants.

The park was featuring an exhibit on carnivorous plants...it was called "Bite Me".

We saw a lot of ibis in the park.

Out at the point (Mrs. MacQuiries Chair) we had very nice views of the opera house and harbor bridge.

We walked back along the bay front for more views.

The walk took us back along the edge of the park.

Masked Lapwing

and we stopped for lunch on the waterfront near the opera house. 

At the harbor front there are a lot of outdoor restaurants.  There was a bit of a crowd under one of the trees beside a restaurant.   Everyone was watching a couple of Rainbow Lorikeets that had snagged a sugar packet from a nearby table.  They were taking turns eating the sugar from the packet.

After spending most of the afternoon in the hotel working on photos we decided to head down to the Rocks.  The Rocks is the oldest section of Sydney where the original Europeans settled.  There are a lot of restaurants in the area and we found a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. 

2020-02-21 – Down Day, heading to the airport for the night

We will be relocating at the end of the day to an airport hotel.  We managed to arrange a late checkout so we could finish packing and do some additional photo work.  After checking out we took one last walk down to the harbor for a leisurely lunch.  Then back to the hotel where we tucked away in a corner of the lobby and spent most of the afternoon working on photos and finance and future travel plans.  

About 4:30 the lobby was inundated by about 30 people who staged some type of protest with loud chanting.  Was hard to hear ourselves think.  We eventually went over to see what was up.  They were protesting mining.  I chatted with one of the staff. No, Sofitel Hotels doesn't own mines and no, there were no mining organizations meeting at the hotel. However, there will be a mining meeting at the hotel in a couple of weeks so it was thought that the protesters were getting a jump start on their protests.       .

Our transfer arrived about 5:00 for our trip to our new hotel near the airport.  Tomorrow we fly to Lord Howe Island.

2020-02-22 – Lord Howe Island

We just found Paradise in the Tasman Sea. Lord Howe Island is a self-governed, unincorporated area of New South Wales (Australia). It is 483 miles northeast of Sydney and 368 miles from New Zealand.

Because of the currents their climate and environment is a combination of tropic, subtropic and temperate. And it is beautiful. Because of its isolation it is a little like the Galapagos in that there are (or were - many now extinct) many species of birds and fish found only on this island. No kangaroos, poisonous snakes or poisonous spiders.


Population is 382 and the "town" has no name...just Town Center. To protect the fragile plants and animals here they allow only 400 visitors a day. Visitors generally walk everywhere or ride bikes but there are actual cars and trucks on the island (seen only rarely). Great diving, snorkeling and bird watching to be found on the island.

We had good views of Lord Howe Island as the plane circled for landing.  Lots of turquoise water and lovely mountains.

With flights to the island only once a day, and the planes only carrying 36 passengers, they need only a very small airport.  We were greeted by the owner of our hotel, given a short tour of the key points of the island and then dropped off at the hotel, Earl’s Anchorage.  We have a lovely one-bedroom apartment with full kitchen and lovely deck. 

The island has around 380 permanent residents and allows only 400 guests on the island at any given time.  There are limited restaurants and many are only open for a few days a week for dinner.  Consequently, reservations are required.  So, we made reservations at Earl’s Restaurant, down the hill “in town”. 

After settling into our new home we walked down to the town center via Stevens Reserve, recommended by our hostess.  A recent cyclone seemed to have left a lot of fallen palm fronds all over the path.  

Highlight was the sighting of a couple of Emerald Doves…very pretty green backs.

We took photos of the lagoon, a main feature of the island, and then had lunch at Earl’s.

We walked back up the hill to our home, changed into swim gear, brought our snorkels, and headed off to Ned’s Beach.  The beach is part of the surrounding marine park and the fish are protected.  

But you are allowed to feed them, so we bought some fish food and waded into the water.  The fish were expecting us. 

We were swarmed by Doubleheaders and sand mullets. 

Eventually an incredibly neon colored fish showed up to be fed.  It was a Green-Blocked Wrasse and was one of the most colorful fish we had ever seen.  Beautiful.

The snorkeling was great, very colorful coral and lots of fish.

After cleaning up we eventually headed down the hill for dinner.  Everything must be brought in by boat from the mainland; consequently, the dinner was very expensive.  Very good but expensive.

The island has no streetlights to speak of but the hotel offers a shuttle back to your hotel, so we took the shuttle back.  Beautiful island and a beautiful day.

2020-02-23 – Lagoon Tour and Snorkeling

We walked back down the hill for breakfast this morning and then over to the lagoon for photos…

White Tern

and to check on some of our scheduled excursions.  Turns out our cruise of the lagoon is based on the tides and because of that, it conflicts with one of our other tours.  However, the captain had room on his cruise that was leaving in 45 minutes…so we got back to our room as fast as we could, changed into swim suits and grabbed our snorkel gear and headed back down the hill as fast as we could.  Made it just in time. 

The barrier reef at Lord Howe Island is the southern most in the world. The island gets currents from the north and the south so the reef is used to fluctuating temperatures. Consequently, it is handling climate change pretty well. The reef was one of the most beautiful we have ever seen. Lots of fish, healthy, colorful coral.

We saw several very large green sea turtles.

We went snorkeling near an old shipwreck. The water was extremely clear, the reef in very good health, and the fish plentiful.  We had a great time snorkeling.  We were able to identify a few of the fish:

Surge Wrasse

Green Moon Wrasse

Bookfish

Gold Belly Gregory

Blue-Green Damsel Fish

Doubleheaders (so named because of the funny bump on their head)

Six-Bar Wrasse

Long-Spined Sea Urchins

and lots of  Three-Band Butterfly Fish.

The cruise then took us to North Bay where we disembarked and took a short walk through the forest...

to Old Gulch on the opposite side of the island. 

The captain then gave us a short tour along North Bay, talking about the various ocean birds in the area.  

Many are migratory, only coming to Lord Howe to lay eggs and raise their chicks before heading off to their feeding grounds in the arctic.  We say lots of Brown Noddies...

some golden plovers along the shore front...

and a sooty tern.

After the cruise we checked out some of the (very few) shops in town.  The population of the island is so small that the town is called “town center”; no formal name.  

We bought some groceries so that we could make a couple of breakfasts and dinners.  That night we had tacos for dinner.