At the airport in Melbourne on the morning of March 7, I heard an announcement that flight such-and-such to Sydney had been cancelled, as the plane had been hit by lightning on the way to Melbourne. I thought, "Well, we couldn't expect to be lucky all the time with the weather." It turned out that the affected plane was the one scheduled after ours, and we departed for Sydney only about an half hour late. We arrived at our hotel on Sydney Harbor's Circular Quay in time to watch from our balcony as Queen Mary 2 maneuvered around the Opera House.
The weather remained clear and seasonably warm during our stay in Sydney. Brief holiday stays are always vulnerable to weather; but we were especially dependent on conditions for March 9, when we had booked a helicopter for the day to take us north to Hunter Valley ("The Hunter") to visit the four most important stud farms in Australia, Widden, Darley, Coolmore, and Arrowfield. As luck would have it, March 9 was a picture-perfect day for flying; so we got full enjoyment of our hour-long flights to and from The Hunter over the wilderness of the rugged, dark green, national park. Thanks to the good offices of the highly respected bloodstock agent Vin Cox, and the helpfulness of his assistant, Garry Cuddy (who accompanied us, as Vin was in Japan), we were extremely well received at these world-class farms, each of which operates on a staggering scale. It seemed to me that the Australian thoroughbreds are sounder looking than their American and European counterparts, with bigger bone and much more solid feet. The box stall of the leading sire in Australia, Redoute's Choice, is the size of a small, indoor-riding ring; a highlight of the day for Susan was pulling Redoute's Choice's tongue.
In Sydney, our room at the Park Hyatt had the picture-postcard view overlooking the Opera and the harbor. Our stay was greatly enhanced by a friend from New York, Lee Edwards, a recently retired professor of art history who lived the first 19 years of her life in Sydney and now spends her Northern Hemisphere winters there. As I have long been interested in Aboriginal art, seeing it in museums and galleries with Lee was a prized opportunity. She had great seats at the opera, where we saw a fine production of "La Traviata" in the surprisingly intimate, 1,500-seat auditorium. She also took us not only to the public parks, beaches, and restaurants for which Sydney is noted, but also to her golf club, the Royal Sydney, and to her yacht club, the Royal Prince Edward (which was founded by her grandfather). On our own, Susan and I went shopping and did such tourist things as take a ferry to visit the zoo to see the exotic fauna. For the first time since I was diagnosed with cancer a year ago, I purchased a discretionary article of clothing, an Akubra hat.
On March 12, we flew from Sydney to Christchurch, New Zealand. To summarize what I think about Australia in general, and Sydney in particular: If I were young, just starting out, with my life in front of me, I would move to Sydney.
