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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday June 16, 2007 - 27 Down under in Sydney O ne glance at the Opera House and you know exactly where you are --Sydney Harbour, of course. What you may not know is that lovely Sydney has many great attractions, and too many coves and bays to mention. The harbour, by the way, is officially known as Port Jackson. This means no trip to Sydney is complete without being on the harbour, and there are many ways to do it. Catch a Sydney ferry to one of more than 20 destinations, ride a river cat, take a water taxi, book a guided luncheon or a dinner sightseeing cruise, rent your own canoe or even a yacht. Each time I come to Australia, I spend as much time as I can on the ferries. And I get off to have a swim or to explore the suburbs which Australians call neighbourhoods. Most of the ferries originate at Circular Quay, where if you walk to the right, yes, you'll find the Opera House, and to the left is the historic restored "Rocks," a small area where the settlement began in 1788. This shantytown, with narrow cobblestone streets and colonial buildings, is a great place to wander when you're tired of the bustling city. The Sydney information centre is here, and it's the nicest I've ever seen. You can shop, get advice, have a cappucino or surf the web. There is a great weekend open air market here. Take a break and go to the Glenmore Hotel on Cumberland St. Grab a "midi" ( small beer) and climb the worn staircase to the rooftop for one of the best views in Sydney. Just to the left is the other icon: The Sydney Harbour Bridge, and, yes, you can climb it. When you do, send me an e-mail and tell me about it. I made Circular Quay my home base a number of times. It's in front of the ferry dock. The food is good, it has great service, and if you're eating or drinking, you get free wireless access. If you didn't bring your computer, it has an internet café as well. You can sit and watch the buskers, the ferries carrying commuters, and the tourists...it is never dull. Behind the Quay is the City (we'd call it downtown). I stayed in the Grace Hotel, a restored 1930 Neo Gothic beauty with Art Deco features. The location is perfect, just a 10-minute walk from Circular Quay, a quick walk from Darling Harbour, great shopping, the Theatre TRAVELLING WITH TEENS...COOL! Mood swings, sleeping until noon, two-word vocabulary ­ cool and gross ­ such are the joys of travelling with teens! Well-travelled families agree that once you get kids involved in the planning and decision-making process of where to go and what to do ­ it makes life a whole lot easier! All-inclusives are great for families with teens because of the extensive array of sports and activities that they offer ­ everything from windsurfing to rock-climbing to eco-outings and unlimited food and beverages ­ all with "no surprise" pricing for Dad. Cruises are now catering more and more to teens with "Coke-tail" parties and teen movie nights. The great thing about an all-inclusive or cruise is that you can safely let your teens have some space to explore on their own ­ within the boundaries of the property or ship. When you are flying with teens, arrange seat selection so that Mom and Dad are together and the teens are sitting a few rows away. When you arrive at the all-inclusive resort or board the ship, make sure you attend the welcome briefings that outline all the activities, the do's and don'ts and optional excursions, etc. Give your teens some independence, but set ground rules such as a specific time they must check in with you each day and an evening curfew Perhaps there is a common interest such as tennis or sailing that you may want to participate in as a family for an hour or two each day. Some families eat all meals together while others only insist that their teens join them for dinner. For more information on teen-friendly vacations, give us a call! Royal, and State Theatre, and all kinds of buses and light rail. Aside from the great location, the service was wonderful, beds comfy, the front desk very obliging and quick, a good recommend from Goway Tours. This is not the place to buy those souvenirs you promised your family. You need to go to Paddy's market in Paddington, which sells everything from kangaroo bookmarks, to boomerangs at much better prices than any- where else. They also have interesting clothes, shoes, bags, art and jewelry. You can take a bus, or light rail, or just grab a cab. You could spend weeks exploring the city and the harbour, and not see everything. Darling Harbour has much more to offer than the last time I was here. I took my grandsons to the newly-opened Sydney Wildlife World, right in the heart of Darling harbour and they were as fascinated as I was. You don't have to travel all around Australia to see 6,000 native animals anymore. Zach and Alek loved the Sydney funnel spider, considered to be the deadliest spider in the world. They adored the world's biggest cockroach, and lingered at the Mulga snake, and the Jungle carpet python, not to mention all the other species, while I had to be dragged away from the koalas feeding and the wallabies hopping around. At the end of a full day, after we'd been next door to the Sydney Aquarium, they couldn't decide which they liked better. The aquarium is highly popular with underwater walkways through two huge tanks -- one had fish that can be found in Sydney harbour the other has enormous Grey Nurse Sharks, giant sting rays and other huge fish. Six-year-old Alek loved stroking the baby sharks, while nine-year-old Zach was more interested in the two saltwater crocodiles. They were too tired to go to the National Maritime Museum across the bridge, but we agreed we'd go look at the submarine and the warship another time. They said they weren't too tired to go to the Luna Park theme park that they could see across the harbour, but we're saving that treat for next week. The little ones needed to go to bed, and the big kids were waiting for me to go clubbing with them. -- Sam Ion can be reached at sion10@cogeco.ca. Visit McTavish At: www.mctavishtravel.com DON'T JUST SEE THE WORLD, EXPERIENCE IT! Creating memorable vacations and providing personalized attention is our travel agency's specialty. With our Ensemble On Location program, we are able to offer you extraordinary experiences beyond the boundaries of your expectations. Our resourceful in-destination specialists help us provide you with unique travel ideas, expert planning and much more. Gina Cheng Leave the details up to us, so you can sit back and enjoy every chapter, every page and every word of lifeís journeys. We can arrange dance lessons at the hands of a Flamenco dancer in Spain, the art of preparing fine cuisine in France, or experience wine tasting in Italy. The sky is truly the limit, so share your dreams with one of our travel professionals and weíll help make them a reality. Allow yourself to be inspired by the sampling of one-of-a-kind experiences that our travel agenc can arrange for you. Call our travel agency today - 905 849-0333 - it will be our pleasure to transform your travel plans from a simple vacation to an unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime adventure! Oakville Town Centre I 300 North Service Road, W. Oakville 905.849.0333 www.totaltravel-oakville.com Ont Reg No 2766538 Ont Reg No 2766538 Oakville Location: 146 Lakeshore Rd. E. 905-842-4999 lakeshore@travelchoice.ca Oakville Town Centre I 300 North Service Road, W. Oakville 905.849.0333 www.totaltravel-oakville.com Voted Best Travel Agency Best Cruise Company Best Travel Agent Thanks Oakville! Hopedale Shopping Centre 1515 Rebecca Street, Oakville Relax... you're with us 221 Lakeshore Road E. (905) 827-1100 fax: (905) 827-4982 e-mail: travel@mctavish.com 905-337-2228 www.hookedoncruising.com