Oceania
sunday snaps: sculptures by the sea
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After almost 10 years together, we thought we might have run out of ‘firsts’ together – hang on, this is beginning to sound like the “How I Met Your Mother” episode where Lily and Marshall have a similar conversation while stuck in the bathroom together. Who’s seen that episode? Actually, let’s not get off track…
Back to “our first” yesterday… it was the first time we both went to the Sculptures by the Sea but also the first time ever in our 31 years of life in Australia had we even walked the coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama. We can’t believe that we have never done that walk – its so easy and so beautiful! We are now keen to walk more of that coastal walk especially if we want to do the Camino de Santiago (it could become part of our training).
So Sculptures by the Sea is running from Oct 25 to Nov 10, and has been going since 1997. It is free to see the exhibits & there are donation buckets around to help keep the events free. The sculptures are available for purchase & we assume it could set you back a few dollars, we don’t know as we didn’t check.
The walk takes about an hour depending on how much time you spend photographing and learning about the artwork. We walked through and stopped along the way to take some pictures and that took us an hour and half return. We got up quite early to go to hopefully avoid the crowds. Arriving at 8am, it was already pretty crowded!
If you manage to dodge the morning joggers, dog walkers and other sculpture enthusiasts, it is a really lovely walk especially when the sun is out. Then afterwards, you can enjoy breakfast or coffee at the many eateries along Campbell Pde.
Hope you enjoy our photo essay!
Disclaimer: Our descriptions of the sculptures are OUR opinions and do not reflect what the sculptures are really called!
Just realised this is also our first every post about our home state, New South Wales. Wow, lots of firsts for us with this one 🙂
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rise and shine: a desert sunrise
The desert morning was freezing, it was pitch black except for the moon and the “green” lights lining the path directing us to the viewing platforms. Rugged up, we trudged up the slope to position ourselves for an uninterrupted view of Uluru at sunrise. It was worth every numb finger, it was worth every shiver, it was worth waking up at 4.30am. As the sun crept over the horizon in the east behind us, Uluru began changing colour.
With the sunrise day tour that we booked with AAT Kings, we were spoilt (and fortunate) enough to be the only two who had booked the Cultural Walk around Uluru. With two tour guides in tow, we were given a very personal tour of the base of Uluru. We walked half the base to Mutitjulu waterhole and also did the Mala Walk before finishing up at the Cultural Centre which has some educational and very fascinating exhibits on display. Walking alongside Uluru – we learnt a great deal about Aboriginal history. But all the time, we were looking up, and up at this massive monolith, only to see people as little as ants walking atop it! One of the tour guides, the one on our Kata Tjuta day trip in fact, provided a great “food-for-thought” statement before he sent the group on our self-guided walk. In so many words, he basically put it to us to ponder how we treat sacred sites such as churches and temples, and therefore why should these sacred sites be treated any different?
Although there is so much left for us to still explore in this area, this was an incredible taster to what the Australian wilderness has to offer. To think it has taken us this long to see Uluru, we can only get excited of what’s next on our Australia to-do list. But before long, we will probably fall back to our old habits of travelling further afield before we try and soak up some more of our own backyard!
View more photos of our trips at Photo Gallery.
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a desert sunset
We couldn’t have asked for better weather while we were in the Red Centre. The skies were blue, the days were warm, there were cool breezes and nights were mild. April is definitely a great time to go where you can escape from apparently large number of tourists and searing unforgiving desert temperatures. One thing you can’t escape from though are the flies. Be prepared by bringing a fly net to put over your wide brimmed hat, or be prepared to spend a lot of the sunlit hours brushing and swotting them away from your face.
Kata Tjuta (known to some as Mount Olga or The Olgas) means “many heads”. Here we were to witness a sunset with drinks and nibblies organised by the tour operators, AAT Kings. With the camera perched, we were ready to capture the many shades of the beautiful rock formation. And how gorgeous they were. The photos don’t do them justice but then again neither can our words.
View more photos of our trips at Photo Gallery.
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a little luxury in the red centre
On countless occasions, we have spoken to people we meet on our travels overseas who have seen more of our country than we have. In conversation, we sheepishly confess that we haven’t seen the Great Ocean Road, Cairns, Broome or Uluru. And then more often than not the very same people have seen less of their home country than we have. Is it possibly because we forget the wonders we have in our own backyard or simply take it for granted that its not that far away and will always be there? For us, it is a little bit of both. We had this notion that we would travel further afield and do the “harder” trips while we are “young” and save the “easier” ones for when we get “older”. But its all relative and subjective so why delay what you really want to do because of such perceptions!
So rewind to the beginning of the year when we were thinking of a place to getaway, close enough to squeeze into 4 days but far enough for us to feel like we had a holiday. Flights directly to Yulara and 3 nights at Sails in the Desert were booked. Our review of the hotel can be found on TripAdvisor – link
Now fast forward to the end of April, we were on that Qantas flight flying towards the centre of Australia, eagerly peaking out the windows to sneak a peak of anything and there it was, or more like, there they were: Uluru and the Kata Tjuta sitting tall on the red desert sand. Earth so red that it was quite a sight.
The Sounds of Silence dinner (priced at $188 per head) is such a spectacular experience. It all starts with watching the sunset over Uluru and Kata Tjuta while enjoying a cultural Aboriginal dance before sitting down to a buffet dinner under the stars. The full moon decided to join us that night along with a sky-full of stars as the sounds of a didgeridoo were played.
In between, main and dessert, an astronomer dazzled us with information about the night sky and one of our biggest highlights was seeing Saturn and its rings in the high powered telescope that was set up. It was extraordinary! Moments like these when you get to meet other like-minded travellers adds to the experience. The food was delicious, with a good variety and the dessert spread deserves a mention.
View more photos of our trips at Photo Gallery.
wise monkeys abroad 