A trip to Sydney

CEBU, Philippines - Sydney, Australia is a place down under that I hadn't yet visited. So we joined a familiarization tour for Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo and Bacolod travel agents. The trip was sponsored by Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Travelways International Incorporated of Alan Carvajal. The experience

just blew me away.

Upon arriving at Sydney International Airport, we didn't waste time and started our tour. First stop was at the Gap Park, for a view of the Tasman Sea where the Indian Ocean meets the Pacific Ocean. From a vantage point in Gap Park, the Sydney Harbor Bridge - with the iconic Opera House - was visible. But we would have a closer view later.

Then our tour guide and driver Monty brought us to the famous Bondi Beach, one of the iconic beaches of the world, and a perfect place for surfing. For a chilly rainy Saturday, there were so many people on the beach - in their beachwear.

Next we took the Magestic Lunch Cruise in Sydney Harbor, a two-hour cruise passing under the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge (Aussies fondly call it "The Coat Hanger" as it resembles a coat hanger). It also brought us past the Sydney Opera House, one of the world's most identifiable opera houses. And, of course, we enjoyed the sumptuous lunch buffet.

Afterwards, we went up the Sydney Tower Eye, the tallest structure in Australia, where the 360-degree view was terrific. It rained hard, but the view at the top - of Sydney Harbor and those million dollar homes by the sea - was great. The tower gave us a good perspective of the whole city of Sydney.

The unexpected part of the familiarization tour was going to the Blue Mountains, which was an hour and a half drive, and visiting the Featherdale Wildlife Park.  For the first time we saw a Wallaby, a type of kangaroo, only smaller, and we got to see a kangaroo up close. And the Koala Bear was the cutest thing in the world; it didn't feel like a real animal at all!

There were lots of birds too, of various sizes. It was my first time to see a Tasmanian Devil, a nearly extinct species found only in certain parts of Australia and Tasmania. Seeing those different kinds of wildlife indigenous only in Australia was really worth the trip. (Those of you planning to visit Sydney shall ask Travelways Tours to include it in your itenerary.)

The Blue Mountains is what I would call Australia's version of the Grand Canyon, except that this natural rock formation is in the middle of a rain forest. From the ledge, the sheer drop is thousands of feet to the bottom of the Jamison Valley, and the Katoomba Falls is seen in the distance. From our vantage point, we saw the strange rock formation that the Aussies call "The Three Sisters."

The memorable thing for us was that we took three different rides in this one single visit. First was the Scenic Skyway, a cable car that connected us from gorge to gorge. From there, we took the Scenic Railway, dubbed "The Steepest passenger train in the world" at a 52-degree angle. It was akin to riding a roller coaster, except that it just went straight down the side of a cliff! They had to put a glass roof so that the passengers could see how steep the drop was and how fast it went down.

The ride came out of an old coal mine that was part of the tour itinerary. When we got to the bottom of the valley, we had to walk a distance from there to take the next ride, a Scenic Cableway, which then lifted us all the way up to the gorge where we originally started. The Blue Mountain was an adventure worth taking a trip to in Australia because nowhere else in the world could one get to take three rides in one adventure.

On our last day, we went to the National Maritime Museum, since the Ibis Sydney Darling Harbor Hotel was right across it in Cockle Bay, where HMAS Vampire, a Daring Class warship, served the Australian Royal Navy from 1959 to 1986. On the other side of the dock was the HMAS Onslow, an Oberon Class conventional submarine, which served the Australian Navy from 1969 to 1999. It would seem that the Australian Defence Ministry sets a 30-year service record for its naval ships, after which they get replaced.  On the other dock was the full-scale replica vessel of the HMB Endeavor of Captain Cook, that British naval explorer who founded Botany Bay in Sydney Harbor. This sailing ship is very well maintained and part of the floating museum in Cockle Bay. This is something worth seeing in Sydney, which PAL flies to every day.