Day 13: Sydney, Australia

Day 13                          7/18/06

Our last day in Australia started out with rain. Bummer!! We got our stuff packed and stowed and had breakfast. We walked down to Darling Harbor and when we arrived, the rain stopped and the sun came out. We had a nice (if not windy) tour of the harbors of Sydney.

I visited with Danna Maray, our tour director. She is in the business of tour director and guide. She is married to a French man and has one daughter. She has worked for EF tours and Globus for quite awhile and it showed as she did all the little things that helped make the trip special. She is interested in starting her own little guide business and perhaps making trips from Australia to France.

Sam, Tim, Chelsea, and Stephanie in front of the Opera House

Our Tour Director Danna Maray on the harbor in Sydney

Sam, Kayla, and Tim staying warm on the water

After the tour, Danna took us on a brief tour of the Rocks region of Sydney. It's by the water and got its name because of what the early houses looked like. They looked little houses made of stone and mortar.

The groups split up and took the last few hours in Sydney to do their own thing. I walked down and watched a didgeridoo performance by a fellow named Jeremy. He demonstrated how to play the Aborigine instrument. You have to have strong lungs and lips to play. The lips blowing together and the sounds made by the mouth are amplified by the didgeridoo. The noises are actually aboriginal words repeated over and over again, or in a story that is being told by song.

The day continued to be wishy-washy and rainy. After the performance, I started shopping and trying to buy some last minute stuff. I ate a Turkish pie and found them to be good for a cold day like the day was. The students made it back to the hotel and played cards as they waited for 4:30 to arrive. At that time, Danna gave the group evaluations to fill out. When done, we got our stuff and headed for the bus to go to the airport.

We got in line and said our good byes to Danna. We spent awhile mixing with the other groups and notice it was raining quite hard outside on the planes. So much for the draught while we were there. We got on the flight and headed to the U.S.A.