Sydney & Melbourne, Australia

Sydney

We visited Sydney in March for David's work and spent five days there.  Sydney is always a pleasure to visit, as there is so much to do in the city.  We were there for part of the weekend, so we did our favourite 10km scenic walk along the coast from Spit Bridge to Manly.  The other highlight of this trip was a visit to the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, which was featuring an exhibition of famed photographer Annie Leibovitz's work, entitled " Annie Leibovitz, A Photographer's Life 1990-2005".  The exhibit was fantastic and showcased not only photographs from her professional assignments for Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and Vogue magazines, but also photographs of her personal life.  The photographs included recognised portraits of politicians, filmmakers, actors, musicians and artists; some landscape photography (taken in Monument Valley in the American West and in Wadi Rum in the Jordanian desert); photographs taken during the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990's; and photographs documenting scenes from her life, including the birth and childhood of her three daughters, vacations, reunions and rites of passage with her parents, her extended family and close friends.  It was a wonderful exhibit and well worth the three hours spent at the museum.

Melbourne

After our stay in Sydney, we flew to Melbourne to do some sightseeing and to meet up with our good friends Cathy and Mandy from Vancouver (they were visiting Australia to attend a friend's wedding). We also got the opportunity to see Sam's cousins, one of whom happens to be married to one of Cathy and Mandy's cousins (a small world!).  Cathy and Mandy's cousin Mabel and her husband Gavin invited us over to their home for dinner, and it was a wonderful evening with great food (a delicious home-cooked meal) and great company.  As it turns out, Mabel and Sam attended the same school in South Africa and Mabel's younger sister Julie, was in Sam's class.  It was a wonderful reunion and we all had a great time catching up with each other.

The Great Ocean Road
Bells Beach
With limited time in Melbourne, we decided to explore one of Melbourne's great attractions - The Great Ocean Road.  This is considered one of the world's great coastal drives with its dramatic scenery of striking contrasts.  The region boasts the magnificent ocean, golden beaches, peaceful towns, giant limestone cliffs and lush forests.  The Great Ocean Road starts about an hour and a half's drive from downtown Melbourne in the town of Torquay.  Torquay is home to Bells Beach, Australia's most famous surfing beach and home to World Surfing Championships.  Although it was a rather cool and overcast day, there were quite a few surfers in the water.  In winter, big swells and cold off-shore winds make the waves unique.     

Anglesea Golf Course 

We made a stop at this golf course to view Kangaroos. This golf course has approximately 1000 resident Kangaroos, who freely roam the fairways.  The Kangaroos didn't seem to bother any of the golfers, and the golfers in turn didn't seem to mind them roaming and relaxing on the course.    

Aireys Inlet

Our next stop along the Great Ocean Road was at Aireys Inlet, famous for the Split Point Lighthouse.  This lighthouse was built at the end of the 19th century and stands at 34 metres high.  It is an important part of the Victorian navigational aid system and is one of approximately 400 lights, warning ships of the hazards of the coastline around the island continent. 

Memorial Arch at Eastern View

The Memorial Arch at Eastern View is a tribute to the returned servicemen from World War 1, who built the Great Ocean Road from 1918 to 1932.  It is a testament to the hard work of these returned comrades, who hand chipped and dug this road, often out of sheer rock.

Teddy's Lookout

Considered to be the best view of the Great Ocean Road, we made a stop here to take some photographs.

Kennett River

This area is considered one of the best places to see Koalas in the wild.  At first we had a hard time spotting them, but after a while we saw more and more.  By nature they enjoy sleeping a lot (they are only active for 2-4 hours a day), so many were curled up in balls sleeping in the trees. It was a thrill to see them in their natural environment.  It was also here that we saw some beautiful birds.

Apollo Bay

We made a stop at the sleepy seaside holiday town of Apollo Bay for a late lunch, before heading further along the Great Ocean Road to the main attraction - the Twelve Apostles.

Castle Cove

Although it had been overcast and grey for the most part of the day, by the time we reached Castle Cove in the Great Otway National Park, the sky was blue and the glorious sun was shining.  It was another opportunity to take some photographs of the beautiful coastline.  

On the way to the Twelve Apostles

By the time we reached the viewing site of the Twelve Apostles, it was late afternoon and so we decided to stay for the sunset.  The long drive from Melbourne (approximately 264 kms) was worth it, as we were blown-away by the breathtaking views of the giant rocks soaring from the ocean, the sleep cliffs and rugged coastline.

The Twelve Apostles

The breathtaking and stunning Twelve Apostles, are the famous limestone stacks rising dramatically from the Southern Ocean. Some of the stacks rise up to 70 metres from the ocean.  These stacks were formed by erosion due to the harsh weather conditions of the Southern Ocean.  We got to view the Twelve Apostles at sunset and it was spectacular.  Just before it got pitch dark, we decided to make our way back to our rental car and start the long journey back to the city.  The Twelve Apostles was definitely the highlight of our visit along the Great Ocean Road.

Michael Buble in Singapore

Canadian crooner Michael Buble, performed to a sold out crowd on the 9th March at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  This concert was part of his "Crazy Love" tour and it was a roaring success.  Michael Buble is a very charismatic performer and he connects so well with the audience, that it was a fun concert with fantastic music.  The last time Michael Buble performed in Singapore was 5 years ago and he mentioned this because at that time he basically flew in, performed and then left.  This time he came a day earlier and visited the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino, the Singapore Zoo and the Singapore Night Safari - he had such good things to say about this city state, that even though we are not Singaporean, we felt proud of Singapore and proud to be residents here.  

David purchased our tickets back in November, but on the actual day of the concert, we were fortunate in that we got to swap our tickets for better seats.  Someone that David knows was given a pair of tickets as a gift, but he could not go, so he offered to swap the tickets he was given for the ones that we had (he gave our tickets to someone else).  As it turns out, the tickets that we ended up with were in the middle section,  ten rows from the front and worth a whopping  $600.00 Singapore dollars - needless to say we were very grateful for the way things turned out.  These seats allowed us to come within feet of Michael Buble, as he walked down the aisle where we were sitting.  I (Sam) even got to touch him on the arm - okay now I'm sounding like a crazy fan, but it was such a thrill to see him up-close and personal.

The last time we saw Michael Buble was in 2005 in Vancouver, two days before we got married, so this concert brought back some very happy memories!