McFarland's in Sydney

My parents and brother were in town recently for about 10 days. They packed in about as much as you can in that time with trips to Botanical Gardens, Taronga Zoo, Bondi Beach Coastal Walk, Manly Beach, Watson's Bay, Seaplane Tour, and a tour of the Blue Mountains. It was a whirlwind visit, but I couldn't be happier that they made the long journey to see us. Hopefully, they didn't get too worn out and will come back to visit.



My brother's photos are much better, but I suspect it has to do with the camera. :) Just kidding Steve.

Steve's Album

Cottage Point via Seaplane

For our 1 year wedding anniversary, Jess reserved a seaplane to take us to a very exclusive part of Sydney known as Cottage Point for lunch. Surrounded by National Park lands, Cottage Point is a small community that was established in the mid-1800’s and cannot be further developed. The easiest way to access Cottage Point is via Boat or Seaplane.

We left out of Rose Bay (about a 10min drive from our apartment) which is located in the middle of Sydney Harbor. Rose Bay has quite a history with regards to Seaplane travel. There is even an old Control Tower at the point of the bay which previously managed the air traffic in the area. Sydney Seaplanes is the main operator out of the Rose Bay and flies DHC-2 de Havilland Beavers on floats.

We arrived at Rose Bay at about 11:15am and were airborne by 11:30am, despite some light drizzle. The floatplane offers great views of the city, opera house, harbor bridge and beaches in all directions. We flew East out of the main headlands of the harbour and then turned North to head to Cottage Point. Along the way the pilot told us a little history and stories about some notable points. For example, we learned that the reason why it is named Manly Beach is because the first settlers saw the aboriginal men on the beach and noted how “Manly” they looked.

We landed at Cottage Point at about noon and probably didn’t go above 1,000ft for the entire trip. While taxiing on the water, we noticed the amazing houses sticking out of the point which have a variety of styles from very plain to very modern. The pilot noted that there were a couple for sale with a price tag in the $5 million range.

Once docked at the Cottage Point Restaurant, we made our way to the table, which had great view of the bay for boat/plane watching. While the day was a little dreary with drizzle and temperatures below 20C (70F), we made the most of it by relaxing and enjoying some great food. The lunch consisted of three-courses (starter, main, and dessert) – all of which were delicious. My personal favourite was the tomato, mozzarella, basil, and prosciutto starter – which was served with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. During the lunch we watched a storm come through and were slightly delayed leaving, but we didn’t mind as it gave us some time to warm up with some hot tea.

We left cottage point at around 3:45pm, and made it back to Sydney harbour without weather problems…in fact the clouds were actually breaking up over Rose Bay to let some blue sky through. The pilot also made a steep turn around the harbour which gave some amazing views, but probably didn’t set too well with all of the passengers.

This was an amazing anniversary gift (thanks Jess) – mostly because of the Flying but also because it was something that Jess and I got to experience together. I can only hope that in the future I can give Jess something this memorable.

Seaplanes and Opera

Since Jess was working today I went out on my own expedition. I took a 10min bus ride to Rose Bay to check out Sydney Seaplane base. Jess got me Seaplane ride for our 1st anniversary present. The bay was packed with some very nice boats and a couple of seaplanes (beavers on floats). On the East side of the park is a the Sydney sailing club and a kayak rental place. I had a quick bite to eat at the Lyne Park Cafe...a tasty chicken burger...and watched 2 seaplanes come and go.



After the seaplane base I took the bus back to Edgecliff station where I caught a train to the Circular Quay (pronounced "key"). This is the spot where a bunch of stuff is going on...ferries, busses, tourists, street performers, etc... I headed out to get some pictures of the Harbor Bridge, The Opera House, and Sydney's Downtown. Although it is summer here, the temperature isn't really that bad when compared to Houston. The best part is that in the shade with a little breeze it feels just like air conditioning...which is not very common here.