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Europe and Oceania 2023
  • Christie Mitchell

Europe and Oceania 2023

Second trip “around the world”. Much less time than the last trip, but sheer time doesn’t determine the greatness of an adventure!! Determined to enjoy ever second. Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 6, 2023
    Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell

    And we’re off!

    September 6, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 97 °F

    Well, it’s been a tad over 8 months since the end of my last adventure - my Round the world trip in 2022. I’ve been home, trying to adjust (ever so poorly) to “real life”. It’s a first world problem, but its been a problem none the less.

    So when given the opportunity to join Adam on his first trip “across the pond”, I jumped on it! I’ve been to the countries he wanted to see, but I haven’t seen them thru his eyes, so excited to be a part of his first trip. I consider it an extreme privilege to now have gotten to travel with BOTH my kids.

    So we’re off! Can’t wait to be in awe again of this world we live in.    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Kings Cross station
    St Pauls Cathedral1Burough MarketChilling on a bench. Exhausted!Tower Bridge1The London Eye1Me and my boy❤️

    It’s London, baby!

    September 7, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    We had a fantastic (yet exhausting) first day! We flew red eye and both didn’t get much, if any, sleep on the flight. We Landed at 7:00am, and the hotel wouldn’t allow us to check in until 5:00, so we had no choice but to power through!!! So we operated on pure adrenaline

    Stopped into St Pauls Cathedral, walked across the Millennium Bridge, and then got some yummy food at the Burroughs Market. After resting a bit, we powered through and toured the Tower Bridge and then finished the day on the London Eye.

    Fantastic day, as I said before. I honestly never thought I’d see London once, let alone twice! And even tho I have “seen most of it already”, it’s really fun seeing it all through Adams eyes this time.

    9.5 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Windsor castle
    21Awesome Filipino ice cream2

    Day trip to Windsor castle

    September 8, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 82 °F

    We took a train out to Windsor castle today. Its 90 min or so out from London and a beautiful trip through the countryside. When I went last year it was PACKED but this time was really pleasant. Lots less people in the fall.

    Headed back to the city and met up with a friend of Adams from college and her wife for a great Italian dinner and Filipino ice cream! Not quite sure what Adams look of surprise is about, but thought it was too cute not to post. 😂Never had it before - was a little nervous, but it was awesome. Hard to describe sweets in Europe … they just do them differently than the US. Much more flavor - not just sweet. Was fantastic.

    6.0 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    1The walk along the cliffs
    Dover castle in the distance1The light house we hiked toDover pierOur lunch spotThe lighthouse we hiked to, from the waterIan Flemings house

    Day trip to Dover

    September 9, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    We took a day trip to the White cliffs of Dover today!! Located on the Eastern coast of England on the English Channel. It’s a first for me. It was a 90 min high speed train ride to get there but so beautiful getting out of London. We hiked the top of the cliffs for a couple hours, and then went down to the water front for proper fish & chips. Yummy.

    We also took a boat ride so we could get a good view of the cliffs - which was well worth it. The cliffs are gorgeous- very impressive.

    A bit of history - we saw the home of Ian Fleming. For those not aware - a famous author. Wrote Chitty Chitty Bang bang, as well as the James Bond series. You could see his inspiration in both he got from living at the base of the cliffs.

    9.03 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Walk up to Wembley
    BEAUTIFUL locker roomsSitting in the "Royal Box"Press roomUber boatTower Bridge, from the water1Maritime museumRoyal ObservatoryAdams explanation of the Prime MeridianPrime MeridianLondon Cable Car

    Another day in London

    September 10, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    When in London with a lifelong soccer referee, you can’t NOT go see the world famous Wembley Stadium. Adam was thrilled. It holds a few “best and biggest” titles - it is the 3rd largest stadium in the world, has the most toilets in any facility in the world (over 2600), it is built in such a way as there are NO posts or obstructions in the entire facility, it has an amazing retractable roof, and lastly, was the venue for the world renowned Live Aide concert in 1985. It was a fantastic tour.

    We then took a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich park, Maritime museum, and the Royal observatory. Again, can’t NOT visit when in London with an Astrophysics major. Fascinating learning all about the Greenwich Mean time and seeing the historic facility.

    Then I coaxed Adam onto the the London Cable Car across the river. (Really didn’t know he had such a fear of heights - the things you learn when traveling together). Beautiful views.

    9.11 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Reformer's tree
    Very large pet cemetaryHyde Park lakeSmall portion of Princess Dianas memorial fountainHorses and guard riding thru Hyde ParkGates heading to Buckingham palaceQueen Victoria fountainWestminster AbbeyBig Ben and ParliamentLondon eye from the bridgeFound a working iconic phone boothHorse guardTrafalgar squareNational Gallery2Cool art thing near Tottenham station

    All the sites of London

    September 11, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    We headed out to Hyde Park first thing this morning - it’s somewhat like Central Park in New York. We had a very relaxing walk. In the middle of the park is a unique fountain in honor of Princess Diana. Nothing like I’ve seen before.

    We saw all the other London icons today as we made our way through the city, including Westminster Abbey.

    My body has had about enough. We figure we’ve walked about 45 miles in 5 days. I did a lot of walking at home leading up to this trip, but not enough. Every night I climb into bed and am hurting everywhere. I guess a good hurt. My last trip I slowly upped the miles over a period of a few weeks - this one we just jumped right in.

    9.91 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    British Museum
    Entrance to the museumRosetta stone (taken from Egypt)Aztec amuletEaster Island headAfrican containersTower of LondonThe old and the new

    Last day in London

    September 12, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    It was our last day in London today. Kind of sad but ready to move on.

    We went to the British Museum and I personally was very torn about the experience. They have some AMAZING artifacts - from ALL over the world. The sad part is very many, like … the majority, were “stolen” from those countries while being colonized or invaded centuries ago. Many of those countries are now asking for their artifacts back, and England is refusing to return them. So with that knowledge, it made me somewhat uncomfortable as I viewed amazing things from Egypt, Asia, China, Africa, Mexico and even some things from the United States and Canada. There’s a saying … if the British were to give back the stolen items, there would be no museum left - and after viewing it, sadly I agree.

    After that we headed to the Tower of London and had a nice tour there to end our time in London.

    We’re off to Paris tomorrow - high speed train under the English Channel. Should be an experience.

    8.08 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    St Pancras station, in London
    Waiting to board the trainFresh fish market at the local grocery store outside Paris1Sunset from our hotel window

    Travel day to Paris

    September 13, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    We had a travel day today, which was very good - our bodies needed a bit of a rest after all the walking. Did 56 miles this week, and the body is feeling it.

    Took the high speed train from London to Paris, under the English Channel - the Chunnel. The entire trip was about 2 1/2 hours, and it took about 25 min to cross the channel - our top speed we hit on the trip was around 200 mph. We ended up at Gare Du Nour train station in Paris - third largest in the world. It IS big.

    Got all our needs taken care of - transit cards bought, bearings set - and got on the metro for another hour to our hotel for the night. Ended up at a HUGE grocery store to buy some snacks. Fun watching Adam experience the differences. Like I said, a pretty easy day on the body. Much needed.

    4.28 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    5Rope drop time!
    2Ready to go!!!1Space Mountain1AutopiaIts a small world rideUS represented in Its a small world2Exhausted3VERY different Indiana Jones ride - a roller coaster, not a truckDecked out for fall!Adam chilling4Beautiful firework show at the end of the night

    Disneyland Paris!

    September 14, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Anyone who knows Adam knows he is a total Disney fanatic! I went there a bunch as a kid, and then we took our kids numerous times. It’s turned out to be one of Adams favorite places to go, so when given the opportunity to go to a Disney property overseas, it was a must with him.

    So today was one of our two days at Disney. It’s much like Disneyland with just a few changes - no Matterhorn (which just looks weird) and no splash mountain. The lines were super short, the ticket in was much less than the US and of course, everything is in French. Kind of strange listening to all the characters speaking French.

    It was a fun day though. Tired us out as always, but it’s not a good day at Disney unless you leave exhausted.

    8.95 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Walt Disney Studios
    2Pirates covePixar landRC Racer rideFun Fantasia fountain1Drone show

    Last day at Disneyland Paris

    September 15, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    We had our last day at Disneyland - they have a second park called Walt Disney Studios (similar to California adventure Park in California). They have an avengers section and a Pixar section. There were some very original rides that we’ve never seen in that park which were real fun.

    They also did a drone show tonight before the fireworks. I hadn’t seen one of those before, so found it pretty cool

    I’m hoping we didn’t wear ourselves out and not have enough energy to now see Paris - just going to have to push through but both of our legs are pretty tired.

    8.98 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Paris Space and Science museum
    Submarine tour1My musical son showing his skillsMonets MASSIVE water lilliesMusee d'OrsaySmall version of the Thinker1One of Van Goghs Starry NightsModel of ParisNormal sized MonnetHe was SO highSome of Paris' builsingsLuxembourg garden12Chillin in the park

    First day in Paris

    September 16, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    We took the metro from Disney to our hotel in Paris - dropped our luggage - and went adventuring.

    Adam being a science major (before he was a lawyer) he really wanted to see the Paris Science Museum. It’s the largest science museum in Europe and was quite impressive. Then onto Musee d’ Orangerie - which was a beautiful display of the largest water Lilly paintings by Monet. Absolutely amazing.

    Then we crossed the river and went to the Musee d’Orsay. It’s an art museum in an old train station. The venue is almost as beautiful as the paintings and sculptures inside.

    We were pleasantly surprised with a tight rope walker - he went back and forth over the museum many times, 5 stories high! Fun to watch.

    Then we made it to Luxembourg gardens - and took a bit of a rest. They have the most comfortable chairs there, so we sat for an hour or so near the fountain, enjoying the perfect weather and beautiful flowers letting our feet have a breather.

    9.43 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Starting our day, refreshed
    Where Napolean is laid to restTrocadero PlazaAdam thrilled to be on a glass floor2Egyptian obeliskArc de TriumphLOTS of stairs todayHop on / hop off busSeine River tourNoter Dame restorationCrepe stand in the park - so yummy1

    Iconic Paris

    September 17, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    We did the Eiffel Tower climb this morning - a first for me. I didn’t do it the last trip. It was 674 stairs to the 2nd floor - and then we took the elevator to the summit, the height of an 81 story skyscraper. Back when it was built in 1889 (for the Worlds fair) it was the tallest structure in the world at that time!

    We learned all sorts of things on our tour - one fact I found interesting: when The Nazis invaded France, Hitler wanted a photo op of him personally hanging the Nazi flag from the top of the tower. The French would not hear of it, and cut the cables to the elevators, rendering them useless - and Hitler was said to have been afraid of heights and wouldn’t do the hike to the top - so no Nazi flag ever was flown. They said “you can take our country, but you cannot take our tower”.

    We walked through the river area and saw a few sites on the way - I love seeing the Egyptian obelisk. It was a gift to the French, and an identical one stands at the Luxor temple with a blank space representing this one. Fun that I’ve seen them both! Then went to the Arc de Triumph. A military monument built in the center of Paris. That turned out to be another 282 stairs. My legs were shaking by the time we got down.

    We jumped on a hop on/hop off bus for a bit of a rest - which are really nice if you ever get a chance. Very relaxing. Then went on a Seine River cruise. We topped off our evening seeing the Eiffel Tower at night all lit up. Pretty sight.

    8.66 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Entrance to the Louvre
    Playing around with the pyramidStairs EVERYWHERE!!!Goddess Nike statueThe Mona LisaWhat getting up to seeing the Mona Lisa is really likeVenus de MiloFrances Crown jewelsThe ceilings look like this throughout the Louvre - crazy!!Saint Chapelle2La ConcieregeBasilica from belowHad to go up THREE sets of these to get to the BasilicaInside the BasilicaOur little "train" ride3Dinner in a beautiful courtyard

    Another day in Paris

    September 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    We had a beautiful day in Paris. Fall is approaching here, the leaves are changing and the temps are falling slightly. Very nice.

    We started our day at The Louvre - the largest museum in the world. Its an amazing place - at times I am more in awe of the beauty in the actual building, than the actual art. Crazy ornate.

    Then we headed over to Saint Chapelle and La Concierge - a church, and an old prison. (Famous in that Marie Antoinette was held there during the revolution). Both are beautiful structures and the stained glass is like nothing I’ve seen anywhere in the world!!

    Lastly, we heading up to Basilica Sacre Coeur and Montmarte village. Again a beautiful church high on a hill overlooking Paris. We can’t seem to get away from the stairs - everywhere we went today, there were stairs everywhere!! My calves are yelling at me. We also took a little “train ride” around the village which wasn’t a train at all - more of a tram, but relaxing and enjoyable none the less.

    9.03 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Palace of Versaille entrance
    1These ceilings!!The palace from the gardensOur little golf cartCompletely floored ... top speed was not very speedyParis Aquarium jelly fish areaThe jellyfish were captivatingLast view of the Eiffel tower

    Day trip

    September 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    We took a day trip out to the Chateau de Versailles. It was about a 90 min train ride out to the country. The palaces may have been some of the largest I’ve ever seen, and so ornate.

    What was even more exceptional were the gardens! Acres and acres of gardens, forests and fountains. Absolutely beautiful.

    We rented a golf cart to take us to the furthest parts, which turned out to be really fun. Then we walked the garden sections. Beautiful crisp fall weather - couldn’t have asked for a nicer time out there.

    We had a bit more time left so we headed to the Paris Aquarium. Somewhat small, but nicely done. Adam really likes Aquariums - the things you learn about your adult children when you travel together.

    9.66 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Travel day started at 4:00am!
    Bye, Adam!! Hes off to DC. So grateful for my time with him on this tripHogh speed train back to LondonLaundry time in LondonHeathrow is a HUGE airport1Getting mentally prepared for this!

    Time to fly!!!

    September 20, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Adam and I parted ways this morning - he flew back to DC and I jumped back on a train to London to catch a flight out late tonight, solo. Used the time in London to do all my laundry - nice to start fresh for this next leg.

    This next few days are going to be an experience. I’ll fly 13.5 hrs, then have a 5 hr layover in Taiwan, then fly ANOTHER 9.25 hrs - I’ll spend just shy of 24 hours in the air, 46 hours of total travel time till I reach Melbourne. This is definitely a record for me. I actually LOVE to fly, but this may be pushing it even for me. Not quite sure how I’ll be after that long on a plane, but … going to give it my best effort. 😀

    6.53 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    LOTS of rules in Taiwan3

    Layover in Taiwan

    September 21, 2023 in Taiwan

    5 hr layover in Taiwan

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    1Royal exhibition center
    Beautiful parkFitzroy gardensStreet art everywhereMore street artQueen victoria marketStreet food at the market2Amazing bakeriesThe Yarra river2Sunset from the Melbourne Skydeck

    Made it to Melbourne, Australia

    September 23, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    The flight from London to Melbourne was quite an experience. Never have I ever been on a plane that long (almost 24 hours) - it was definitely a challenge physically. But I survived.

    I arrived in Melbourne in the morning so pushed through and stayed up all day seeing the city. When we got to the hotel I literally crashed and slept for 12 hours straight after traveling well over 56 hours. Crazy.

    It’s been about 10 months since I saw Jordan so It was GREAT seeing her in person again. (Opposed to FaceTime)

    We saw lots of sites in just a couple days. We wandered the city, hit LOTS of food stalls and markets and had a great time together. So much more to see …

    6.18 & 7.8 miles (two days)    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Koala reserve
    Koala WAY up in the tree2A rare moving koala - they sleep 20 hours a day1Lots of mama's with their babies3321Out view waiting for the penguins to come home2They came up in groups of 5-20Not quite accurate - it was much darkerOnly about a foot tallMore like what we saw - at dusk

    Kangaroos & Koala’s!!!

    September 24, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    Jordan and I had the best day yesterday! We rented a car and took off south east from Melbourne to Arthur Phillip Island. It should have only been a couple hour drive, that turned into about a four hour drive. There was a steep learning curve for me as I tried to master the art of driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car - much easier said than done. So far so good tho. No accidents, not even a near miss.

    We went to a Koala conservation reserve and then to a wildlife park. Not too many koalas at the reserve, but a few cuties. There were tons of native wildlife at the park and an area where the kangaroos and emus were free roaming. We were able to walk amongst them, feed and pet them. VERY cool.

    Then we headed to the west end of the island to watch the “penguin parade”. This was amazing! The smallest penguins in the world live here - hundreds go out to sea every day and then at sunset come in to return to their burrows after 1-3 days of fishing. We sat on the beach and watched the penguins emerge from the ocean and make their way up the beach and into the grasslands. Cautiously at first, and then they would sprint to the grass. Very cute, and a neat experience. They are very shy and skittish so we had to remain very quiet (hundreds of us) and no pics were allowed because of their sensitive eyes (afraid of possible flash being left on). So we didn’t get any pics of it, but they did let us download a number of professional photos of the them which I’ll post. It was adorable.

    5.36 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Gorgeous Bay Island National park
    221

    Drive to the Southern coast

    September 25, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    We left Arthur Phillip Island this morning and headed to the little Southern coastal city of Port Campbell (back via Melbourne). It was a beautiful 6 hour drive through the countryside. At times, we felt like the only car in Australia!

    The coast was beautiful - unfortunately it was overcast, so not as pretty as it possibly could have been, but hopeful for tomorrow as we continue down the coast. The forecast is for beautiful blue skies! Fingers crossed!

    2.51 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Our route todayThe Great Ocean road2The grotto4The 12 apostlesMarriners lookoutKoala in the wild2Kangaroos in the wildWILD Cockatoos just hanging out in the city1

    Great Ocean Road

    September 26, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    We drove the Great Ocean Road today - it’s a stretch of road along the southeast section of Australia right on the coast. We were on it about 6 hours. Absolutely beautiful!! Never seen anything like it. Normally I find nothing compares to Oregon beaches, but this was something else. Amazing.

    We stopped at many places along the way, but the most famous was the “12 apostles”. There used to be 12 rock formations out in the water, but time and erosion has widdled them down and now there are only 6 or so left. 😢 they were magnificent.

    We’ve had a goal - to see a kangaroo, a koala, and cockatoos (all in the wild, not in captivity.) And today we found all three during the drive - a single koala up a tree, a herd of kangaroo, and a FLOCK of yellow crested cockatoos. (My favorite bird!!).

    5.09 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Sydney harbor from the air
    Opera house & bridge from the airUnique downtown buildingsOur ferry we took in the harborSquare decorated at night

    Travel day

    September 27, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    Jordan has been house/pet sitting in Australia the last 6 months and she has met so many nice family’s. One couple she sat for asked us to stay with them last night. Fun to put a face with names of people I’ve been hearing about for months.

    Today was a travel day. We got up early and flew out of Melbourne and landed in Sydney early this afternoon. We don’t plan much for our travel days normally so just got checked into our hotel and then explored just a bit. We did take a ferry down one of the legs of the harbor which was beautiful. I love boats of any kind - very pretty.

    5.35 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Queen Victoria building
    Cool clock in Queen Victoria buildingDr Suess galleryLove this quoteA$3500 for this print!Sydney Town Hall3Hyde ParkWW2 memorial - the bullets were HUGEObelisk from the 1800'sAnzac WW1 memorial4Pool of reflectionWater earth & fire sculptureJohn the baptist fountain1St Marys cathedral1

    Fun day in Sydney

    September 28, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    We did our own little walking tour of a portion of Sydney today. It reminds me a lot of Seattle - but a flatter version.

    We went to the Queen Victoria building which had been converted to a beautiful six story mall. In it was a gallery selling prints of Dr Seuss, whom I absolutely love. I swear you can learn everything in life from Dr Seuss books!! I was admiring art related to “Oh the places you will go” and the curator there came over and offered to do a reading of it. Honestly, it was kind of magical. It’s a great story.

    We then headed to historic Sydney town hall and into Hyde Park - so many fountains, memorials, pools, sculptures - really enjoyable stroll.

    7.14 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Art gallery of new south wales2Chinese Garden of friendshipA freeway underpass!! BeautifulChinatown2Creme brulee strawberry creme & matcha crepes!!!!!2Jordan's 25th birthday!!

    Jordan’s 25th Birthday!!!!

    September 29, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Today was Jordan’s 25th birthday!! So it was HER day. We went to an art gallery and then went in search of Japanese food - her new love of her life. Little known fact - 1/3 of the Australian population is Asian so it feels sometimes like that’s the only food here. Which is awesome, because we both love it.

    So we found the Chinese garden of friendship which was beautiful, Chinatown and then a Japanese food mall and had THE best crepe of my life. It was a great day! Jordan felt loved and celebrated.

    5.34 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    Fog covered Sydney as we left in the morning
    Not a person on the usually very busy city streets (at 6am)The hop on hop off bus"Three Sisters", much different than the ones in Bend OregonThe gorge was VERY bigGot turned around and walked these stairs by mistake (900 of them). Woops.The Skyway2Glass bottom on the SkywayVERY steep train2Elevated boardwalk walkway on the rainforest floor22Wild cockatoos being fed seeds - they were flying around everywhere

    Blue Mountains day trip

    September 30, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    We took a 2.5 hour train west from Sydney (away from the coast) to the Blue Mountains. We had very mixed feelings about our day.

    Coming from the Pacific Northwest I’ve lived near/visited gorgeous places like Mt Hood, Mt Rainier, Columbia river gorge, Olympic mountain range, Grand Teton National park, Yellowstone, the Rockies (you get the idea). And I’ve learned … that’s hard to beat, and THOSE are mountains. And then of course hiking the Swiss and Austrian alps last year was just icing on the cake. I’ve definitely seen my share of “mountains”. So … for these to be called “mountains” seemed like a stretch. Jordan and I thought it was more like seeing the Grand Canyon’ish but covered in trees and vegetation. It was a gorge, more than mountains.

    Regardless, it was pretty and unique, just not … mountains, in our estimation. (I have the same problem visiting “mountains” in South Carolina. Haha).

    We did a hop on hop off bus that took us all around the gorge edge. There were 37 stops to pick from and dozens of hikes of all different difficulties. And there was also a Skyway that took us across a portion of the gorge, a steepest railway in the world that took you to the forest floor, an hour long hike on an elevated walkway path and then a cable car to get us back to the top. Those were really fun.

    We hiked a bunch and saw lots of beautiful views. Other than Jordan coming down sick yesterday and not feeling the best, It was a pretty perfect day. ❤️😀

    6.9 miles    Read more

  • Christie MitchellEurope and Oceania 2023Christie Mitchell
    The Sydney Bridge - look close and you can see the climbers on it
    2Fun street market we foundThe ferrySydney Opera HouseBondi BeachHornby Lighthouse3Sitting on a cliff, whale watching1Sydney Bridge at night3I LOVE boat rides!! 😀

    Iconic Sydney

    October 1, 2023 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 88 °F

    We began our day climbing the Sydney Bridge! There are three ways to climb it - the free way (just going across the deck), the Pylon lookout for $20 (which is ascending 170 steps up the tower on the side of the bridge), or the full on climb over the arch (which costs $240!). As much as we wanted to climb the arch, we couldn’t bring ourselves to pay that much so went with the second option, up the pylon. It was a great view, and a great choice.

    Then we headed thru the city, meandered thru a street market and then boarded a ferry to see the Sydney Opera House from the water. A definite bucket list item for both of us.

    We took the ferry out to the infamous Sydney Bondi Beach. It’s a Sunday here so VERY crowded. The water was really cold so we just took a walk in the surf and opted out of swimming. Hopefully will be warmer up north.

    Jordans not been feeling well so she headed back to the hotel and I took a hike to the Hornby lighthouse. I got out to the mouth of the Sydney Harbor, sat on a cliff in the shade of the lighthouse, watched the beautiful ocean and contemplated life. Fun surprise is I was able to see many whales surfacing as I sat there. Really cool experience.

    Jordan and I went out again after dark, boarded another ferry and saw the harbor all lit up. It was really pretty.

    9.86 miles    Read more

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