Australia Travelogue - Day 13,14 and 15

 Day 13 - Ride to Mount Kiera & Kiama Blowhole Point🚗🚗🗻🗻🌄

After the tiering marriage and reception ceremony, everyone took a day off the next day, rather it was more so a family meet-up affair the next day and hence there was less action. We were to plan the next 15 days that were remaining of our visit. The last 5 days were reserved for Melbourne, hence we knew that the next 10 days we have to plan to places we want to visit. So on 1st April 2019, we decided to go for short drive to Mount Kiera and Kiama Blowhole Point. It was a Monday and we expected less rush on the motorway.

Mount Kiera is a 70km drive from Glenfield where we were staying. We bunched up in 2 separate cars, one driven by my uncle and the other by his friend. We started our journey from home at 1pm post lunch. We were also to visit the Chinese temple on the way, but first we were to visit Mount Kiera lookout. We reached there by 2.30pm, as it took us good 90mins to travel to the location. We travelled along the scenic M31 motorway. From the lookout we could clear Port Kembla.

Port Kembla from Mount Kiera

The lookout was very green and with lots of trees around and showcased an awesome view. We were informed by few locals that the Chinese temple would be closed today as it was a Monday. We thanked the locals for the information and decided to go directly to the blowout point.

From Mount Kiera we had 2 options, either take the B65 motor way which takes us from the city near Kembla or carry on our way via the M1 motor way. We decided to stick with the M1 motor way and continue towards the Kiama blowhole point.

We reached home by by 7pm and had to run to a family dinner. This was given by the elder brother of the aunt as they were to fly to New Zealand the next day for their further family travel. At a Thai Restaurant, I ordered the Roast Duck Curry Noodles while my wife ordered Red Curry King Prawns Noddle's. The food was tasty and we called it a day as the next day my uncle had to drop aunts family at the Airport for their travel to New Zealand. Our next visit on 2nd April was to the Taronga Zoo Downtown Sydney.

 

Day 14 - Raronga Zoo Sydney🐘🐪🐵🐴🐂🦘🦘🐊

We were up early and ready by 10am the next day to travel to Taronga Zoo. We took the metro to get off at the Town Hall and then walk towards the Sydney Ferries at Circular Quay. From there we boarded the ferry towards Taronga Zoo.

As we sailed away from Circular Quay, we got to see the Cruise Ship called Carnival Legend. This was the same organization in which my brother-in-law was working for and was amused to see his office docked at Sydney.

As we were sailing towards the zoo we got to see the Sydney Harbor Bridge also called as the Hanger in Australian terms and the the legendary Sydney Opera House. It was a beautiful and picturesque view of both the marvelous structures.

 Post a sailing time of 30 mins, we were at the Taronga Zoo, we got down and had to walk for 5 mins towards the gate of the Zoo, we paid the necessary fees for entries and off we went via the ropeway towards the main gate of the Zoo. In between I saw a Puneri Paati mentioned in one of the cafes.

Puneri Pati in Taronga Zoo

As soon as we were off the ropeway, we entered the zoo post checking in our hand bands. The first site of the Australian animal was the Kangaroo. They were lazing around in their paddock.

Then we came across the Emu, along with the Southern Cassowary considered one of the dangerous birds to have a deadly pointed nail in its leg.

Post this, it was the time of the Giraffe, and the ranger explained to us the various attributes of the animal while feeding it some carrots.

Post that it was time for aquatic animals and mammals. It was the seal show that we were able to witness and post that we got a chance to see the Kuala's.

We spent around 4 hours at the zoo going through various paddocks of animals and finally started our return journey towards home. It was a tiring day for all as we had to walk a lot. Clicked some pics of the Hanger and the Opera House while on the ferry.

It was a fulfilling day and since everyone was tiered we called it a day. Today we got to travel via 2 means of transport which were not part of our life back in India. It was the metro and then the ferry service. We enjoyed this day a lot. Up next in our tour of Australia was the famous beach of Bondi.

Day 15 - Bondi Beach Walk🏖🏊🏄⛅

It was Day 15, half a month of my travel and leaves were already over and we still lot of places to visit and see for ourselves. This day was reserved for travel to Bondi Beach. Uncles friend was happy to join us during this visit. So again it was time to travel via the metro and then the bus to the Bondi Beach. When I was a teenager there used to be a series on Discovery Channel which was called as the Bondi Rescue, I got to witness the same beach today.

I had no plans to take a dip in the water but few of my family wanted to take a dip and so I obliged to take care of their belongings so that they can enjoy the sea. I sat along uncles friend and chit chatted about life and how are things back in India.

We spent the entire day there and in the evening after having some fish and chips at the beach returned home.

It was a wonderful day and tomo it was time to visit the Chinese Temple. Since my family were going to return early to India, we planned this visit to the Chinese temple the next day. See you in the next one.