Vacation Down Under

Before leaving Hong Kong to head back to the US, we took a short vacation. During our Hong Kong stay we met and befriended Marina and Peter who are my friend Tamara's parents. We decided to combine a visit with a get away. Lucky for us they live in Sydney, Australia! We only had five days but they were packed with so much fun and so many interesting sights that we can't wait to go back.

We arrived on a Saturday and spent the day touring the area around Parramatta. It is where Peter and Marina live and is full of the rich history of Australia's early British settlers. We toured Government House which is Australia's oldest surviving public building and we took a walk along the Parramatta River.

The river connects Parramatta with Sydney Harbor and it is a short ferry ride into town. We spent some time relaxing at the house where Ken enjoyed his first Aussie beer.

I took a turn at a very unusual instrument.

In the evening Marina was off to dance practice. She practices and performs almost nightly with a colonial dance group, a regency dance group and an Irish dance group. Most weekends she and Peter go to various festivals and spend hours dancing and enjoying the entertainment.

We spent our time getting better acquainted with Peter and the area around Parramatta. And for the very first time we were able to gaze up at the night sky and see the Southern Cross.