A Texans Trek - Chapter 1, Landing in Sydney Australia

This summer I found myself having been terminated from my job of seven years and decided to do something unheard of in the central Texas excavation estimating world......

Go on a four week long vacation.... then I realize how much ground I have to cover and ended up extending it to SEVEN weeks; so I'll be doing the write up and pictures in chapters because I got lots of material.

With the help of some friends from the AusHunt forum
https://www.aushunt.com.au/Forum/

I drive from Austin to my Dads house and park my truck, hop the plane from DFW to LAX then a short 15hr flight from LAX to SYD and I arrive bright and early the 1st of May 7am SYD time.

I'm picked up at the airport and we're straight to it, being shown around Sydney by my host for the next 3 days Warren, a Sydney native that knows all the great spots....

Bare Island - we walk down the gangway and start talking with the local fisherman wearing angle iron riveted to the bottoms of their shoes to grip the rocks while they fish in the surf.


Then the Beaches

Coogi.... look close and you can see the berm of a long distance rifle range in the back ground




Bondi


The next day we go to an Aussie gun shop called Abela's

Now how do you hunt water fowl and other birds in a country that banned and "bought back" all semi auto and pump action shotguns back in 1996?

The first lever action shotgun i've ever seen beside the Winchester 1886



Then I'm introduced to this guy who is picking up his new Sako .375H&H with Swarovski

Mark Banasiak, of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party



We got to talking and the next thing I know the three of us are having lunch at Maccas(nick name for McDonald's); and after talking with him I can honestly say I would have never guessed this man was a politician and I can tell by the way he speaks that he's concerned about the length and breath of the population he represents, he is certainly a friend to the responsible sportsmen of the world, has good taste in rifles/optics and I think the world would benefit if more politicians were like him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rwf8uXcq-Y

Awesome...but, what about the babes and beer?

Great write up.

I agree, thanks for posting!

Off to a good start, looking forward to more

Warren had suggested the Manly ferry for the best view of both the harbor bridge and opera house..... and he was spot on!







Then for a change of scenery went for a hike in the blue mountains....



Pictures just don't capture the blue..... The blue mountains get their name from all the water vapor from the photosynthesis of the "gum trees"(eucalyptus trees) taking the oil from the tree leaves with it during evaporation; then the sunlight refracting the blue light spectrum gives the entire horizon a blue glow

very cool. Looking forward to the rest