The next morning, I woke up very early and decided to wander outside to see if the clouds had gone away enough to see anything in the sky – NOPE. Oh well. Went back to bed for a little bit. We had another lovely breakfast and conversation with the owners, and then headed toward Sydney. Our plan was to hit the Blue Mountains along the way and the owners of the BnB mentioned a good place to stop for hiking and views. On our way there I got pulled over by the police. Yep, that hasn’t happened to me since I was in high school. I wasn’t sure what was going on at first, and then I had something happen I have never had happen – I had to do a breathalyzer test. I passed (that was a relief). They were doing random checks in the area. We thought it was funny since it was around 2pm (when do people start drinking in this area we wondered). New experiences all over the place on this trip. We made it to the Blue Mountains and did a few miles of hiking before it got dark. It was cold, but it was beautiful. After that we continued on to Sydney. When we got there we discovered another new experience – street parking in a big city. The description from the Airbnb listing said there was paid and free street parking. Well… free street parking was only overnight and then only for an hour or two on the street our place was on and similar on the side street nearby. I contacted the owner of the Airbnb and they mentioned a couple places they thought had free all day parking, but it was late and I didn’t wasn’t to hunt for parking. “B” and I spent some time looking at the next days activities, and we found it was cheaper for us to driving into downtown Sydney and park than it was for us to find parking near our place to pay for and then do public transportation to downtown. I don’t get how anyone in a city can afford to have a car. The parking rates were terrible. I guess there are passes in some areas, but I would guess they aren’t that cheap either.
Had to have car moved by 10am or would get a ticket (or worse). Seriously, how do people do this? Thankfully, we decided to drive to a parking garage for the day’s activity at the Royal Botanical Garden. The garden was fun. We started by going on a talk/walk about aboriginal food/plants with a guide. We got to try some of the plants in the park, which was a treat. There as a sour fruit that he gave us right off the tree that was a plum of some type. He said it was going to taste like a warhead (those sour candies). I loved those so I was all game and sure enough it tasted just like one. Then we wandered around until the evening. We spent time inside and outside the gardens. We got to see the opera house and the Sydney Harbor bridge. We then wandered over the quay area and had some nice chocolate desserts and bought some others for later. The bakery we went to was closing as we walked in, but thankfully let us buy a few things.
After wandering for a while we headed back to the botanical garden for their night light show. It was like Zoolights in AZ. It was put on by Sony and was there for the big Sydney light festival they do regularly. We missed the official light show, but they chose to keep this one area open for another month or so. We decided to spend our evening there. We started at the food carts since we weren’t sure how crazy busy it was going to be. We got food from a jaffle truck. What is a jaffle? It is like a calzone, or a stuffed bun, or something like that. It is made with two pieces of bread with some kind of filling and then put into a round mold that is then held over a fire until cooked. We chose a lamb and a butter chicken jaffle. They tasted amazing! It was probably the best food I had in Australia. Seriously, I loved them. I even left a google review on their truck which I don’t think I have ever left a review on google before. It was so good that I went back for more. I got yelled at by security because apparently it was a “one way” track for the light show (it didn’t say that anywhere), but I said I needed more food and the food was only at the beginning. They finally let me through asking me to be careful of others. Of course I would be careful, why would I be rude while going by others. So, I got another jaffle. We wanted a lamb, but they sold out and so I went with the butter chicken again. And on the one way thing, why make it one way? If you wanted to see something again because it was one you liked there should be a way to see it again, but they didn’t have that option. I think this is an oversight by someone. The lights were well done. There was a dragon exhibit with fire, and a really cool whale one where the lights emulated water around a whale sculpture.
