Australian surprise 50th birthday – Emily, Jason + Kezia 17.11.23

The Australian surprise 50th birthday was not just the trike tour but the whole birthday experience. Emily didn’t even know they were coming to Australia! Jason organised it all and we were happy to help with our part. We bought some Champagne for the adults and soft drink for the 12 year old daughter. Our trike rider picked them up from their hotel in the city.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Firstly, they rode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We always tell our passengers to look up and enjoy the unique view. The more than 6,000,000 rivets are so interesting and the arch is so iconic. It’s nicknamed ‘The Coathanger’ because of its arch-based design. It is the largest steel arch bridge in the world. This bridge is the eighth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m (440 ft) from top to water level. It was also the world’s widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m (160 ft) wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver was completed in 2012.

Jacaranda trees

Not far from the northern end of the Bridge, is McDougall Street, Kirribilli. One of the most beautiful streets in Sydney with canopies of jacaranda trees. For six or so weeks (usually from mid-October before a peak in mid-November) the streets become filled with beautiful purple flowers gently falling on the footpaths like purple rain… it’s just stunning (ellaslist).

The funny thing about tourists of a certain nationality, is they jump out into the middle of the road. Not to take photos of the jacarandas but of the trike 😂 :-).

Kirribilli

Next, they rode past Kirribilli House. Kirribilli House is the secondary official residence of the Prime Minister of Australia. Further on is Admiralty House. It is the Sydney residence of the Governor-General and one of the most historic and important residences on Sydney Harbour. The house – originally called ‘Wotonga’ – was built in the mid 1800’s.

After that, they rode around the corner to Jeffrey Street Wharf. From here, the views across Sydney Harbour towards the Sydney Opera House and the CBD are magnificent. In addition, it also has an up-close view of the side and underneath of the bridge. A perfect place to stop for photos.

The Kirribilli Loop

The loop is a fab thing to do, so they rode under the north side of the bridge and continued on their tour. The underside of the northern end of the SHB – Sydney Harbour Bridge – is very interesting. The Kirribilli Loop was finished by riding past Luna Park and the North Sydney Olympic Pool. Already, the Australian surprise 50th birthday trike tour was showing our passengers some interesting and beautiful sights.

Then they rode southbound over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and through the city to Centennial Park.

Centennial Park

Here, they stopped for a break and to crack open the champagne. After that, they rode through the huge Centennial Park, a lovely experience. 120 fields and venues, and 35+ different sports played in the Centennial Parklands. It is the largest community sports precinct in Australia! The history is also interesting: “Originally a swamp and then set aside as land for the water source for Sydney. Centennial Park was reconstructed as a public park and opened in 1888. Sir Henry Parkes’ vision was to create a ‘People’s Park’ in which the citizens of Sydney could ‘take in the air’ away from the Sydney town centre.”

Bronte + Tamarama

Riding further east they arrived at Bronte. Bronte Beach sits on Nelson Bay, surrounded by Bronte Park. Bronte offers scenic cliff-top walking paths south to Coogee via the Waverley Cemetery and north to Tamarama and Bondi Beach.

Just north of Bronte is the suburb of Tamarama. It has a small ocean beach about 1 kilometre south of Bondi Beach and a couple of hundred metres north of Bronte Beach. It is an extremely narrow beach and deceptive for its size. Tamarama Beach is often referred to as Glamarama (or Glamourama), owing to the alleged abundance of glamorous people who sunbathe (often topless), on what must be one of the smallest strips of sand in the state (Wikipedia).

Bondi Beach

Next, they drove past the world famous Bondi Beach to the south side. Looking from the two ends of the beach give a different perspective. This is the beach where Bondi Lifeguards of the Bondi Rescue TV series is filmed. When in Sydney it is one of the places you should visit. The beach is seriously nice (but not our favourite) and we usually stop near the lifeguard station, made famous by the TV series “Bondi Rescue”. Bondi Beach is one of the most visited tourist sites in Australia. Bondi Beach is recorded by the Australian Museum that Bondi means place where a fight using boondi sticks (nullas nullas or fighting sticks) took place.

Our trike rider dropped them off here at Bondi Beach. They were going to have fish and chips for lunch and explore the famous area. In conclusion, the Australian surprise 50th birthday trike tour was a great experience – fun and memorable.

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