dad's trip

yeah yeah. i'm doing the photos today. dad has just been back home for a bit and did some touristy things through darren's work www.freshtrackstravel.com (i think). anyway, he has written a testimonial for their website so i just thought i'd post it here for you all to read.

Dad says:

I have just had a great holiday in my home country of Australia! Most of the time was spent in my home State captital of Adelaide, South Australia. It was winter but temps in the early 20Deg C made it very pleasant. The city is laid back with a beautiful mediterrean climate. Lots of coffee shops that spill out onto tree lined streets both downtown and along the beautifil Norwood Parade. The early colonial architecture and stone buildings are quite unique and very attractive. Adelaide is the only Australian city founded by free settlers rather than convicts from Britain. We caught the new Tram from the beachside suburb of Gelenelg into downtown Adelaide. The downtown streets are very wide and the city was planned by Colonel Light to be exactly a square mile. Walks along the lazy Torrens river and a sneak visit ( no one stopped me!) into the historic Adelaide Oval (home to Australia for many Test cricket matches) were further highlights! The view of the city of Adelaide from Mt Lofty is impressive, complete with a fairly new cafe/restaurant and tourist shop. We visited the hsitoric German town of Hahndorf where craft shops, coffee shops and German pubs selling genuine German sausage meat and beer will whet the appetite of any tourist! Unfortunately we did not have time to tour the Barossa Valley, another German setltlement which produces some of the finest wines in Australia.
We moved onto Sydney. I had forgotten just how impressive Sydney and Sydney Harbour are! Circular Quay is the gateway, by way of numerous ferry rides, to some great scenery as well as beachside suburbs such as Manly. On the way you pass by Sydney opera house and the Sydney Harbor bridge. At night we took a ferry which sailed under the great bridge, stopping, like a sea taxi, at interesting little ports, dropping off homebound commuters while we alighted at Darling Harbor. Here we found a myriad of restaurants spilling out onto the Darling Harbor walkway underneath great sea going yachts, hotels and shopping malls. A place of real life and excitement. Next morning we set off for "The Rocks", which is the original old Sydney town where convicts and their soldier guards first settled in 1788. Some of the old stone buildings still stand and are worth exploring. It is here we commenced the 'climb of our life' . The Sydney Harbor Bridge climb is one of the best tourist.things I have ever done . It is a 3 hour experience! We gathered in our group of 12 for careful instruction on safety procedures and then fitted out into our climbing gear. Some parts of the climb are a little challenging but when you stand on the very top and view Sydney Harbor, the Opera House and beyond it is just magnificent! It really is a 'must do' activity when in Sydney. You can also climb at night to view the lights of Sydney and surrounds and I want to do that next time! The day we climbed the 'Winter temp" was 25deg C!! As an Australian I felt very proud of Sydney and particularly Sydney Harbor. Britsh tourists are arriving everyday in Sydney in their hundreds and it seems like everyone of them are climbing the Bridge. North Americans need to know the good news about touring Australia and particularly Sydney!
Ross