En route to Sydney, Australia and with that being an approximate distance of 1570 nautical miles, it took us about three and a half days.  Our ship was unloaded of her cargo which consisted of raw sugar from Fiji and the previously mentioned saved load of lumber.

Every evening we would go ashore to see the town and eat what we could.  As we are seaside and when the sun has gone down, there’s a bit of chill to the night air.

The next day, while it was still warm and sunny, the guys and I walked across the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  At the beginning of our trek I spied what looked like an amusement park underneath the bridge on the far side.  ‘Hey! something more for us to investigate, let’s go there!’

Our company of guys who would go ashore together exploring the new surroundings was usually the same four; two were say about mid 20’s in age while the other guy and myself were all of 18.

It turns out this point of interest is Lunar Park and as we got closer I could see it’s wasn’t exactly under the bridge, it only looked that way when seeing it from the other end.

As we entered the park it was almost right away we could sense eyes upon us; the girls were definitely checking us out but we also knew we had to be very careful as there may be boyfriends about and probably a lot of them, versus the four of us.  Most likely our appearance gave us away as foreigners.

I guess what I’m saying here is that we made great effort to stifle any urges to flirt, mainly for safety reasons you understand.

For the little bit of time we had left in the day we thought we could check out at least some of Lunar Park and so we did.  🎢 We walked around a bit, grabbing a snack here and there and played some arcade games.  It seemed like no time at all had passed and the moment to leave was already upon us.

As dusk rolled into Sydney, the Ferris wheel lit up with its dazzling display of lights 🎡 and so too did the entire park.  The rest of **the city donned her evening wear as well.

Oh how I hated to leave this place;  I realized it encouraged my youthful spirit.  🎠 It could have been a night full of great adventures, I’m sure.  We were nearly all the way back over the bridge into Sydney proper when I turned to look at where I had just been and saw a sight to behold.

For what I have seen up till now in my life -apart from my first sighting of Honolulu that morning not so long ago- and coming from a little south pacific island; as far as man-made sights of beauty, this was unforgettable for me.

The illuminated bridge, the lights of the Sydney skyline and how their reflections played upon the water, and all the various sized and types of boats simply buzzing about their watered way, left me momentarily speechless.

We all took in this sight and then turned to walk off the Sydney Harbor Bridge towards our return for an early morning shift.  The air has now brought back its sundown chill at the water’s edge and we are walking with our hands in our pockets.

There it is again, I caught wind of it before on the other side of the bridge and I suspect this beautiful smell in the air has to be following us around because now it has directly assaulted my nostrils!

I don’t think it’s going to let-up anytime soon or show any mercy until I’ve paid direct attention to it.  As if we didn’t already know it was dinner time this aromatic, similar to hamburgers but ….I don’t know, was delightfully wafting through the air working its magic on my curious taste buds.  The guys and I followed our noses to a cafe, stopping to peer in like window shoppers.

Beyond the glass there were many people happily enjoying every bite of what looked like well, fat sandwiches.  I’d seen these before …ah yes!  =It was while I was employed in the private home back in Fiji.  We could see the grill loaded with patties of meat smoking, sizzling, lapped by flame spurts and scenting the air.

That did it, we knew where dinner was!  Only moments later we too were inside and soon after, deep into our own dripping experience and so it is noted here, I ate a hamburger for the first time in my life!

Okay it’s a possibility; maybe it was a kangaroo, goose or wombat burger for that matter, I don’t really know but it sure was juicy and I enjoyed every bite of it!  It was the beginning of a lifetime of burgers, not a regular experience of course but I did love ‘em.

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** The Sydney Opera House wasn’t a part of the gorgeous skyline view at this time.  It’s construction didn’t begin for a few more years.

=    The house chef had prepared these hamburger sandwiches a couple of times for the family but I dared not indulge, still a youth living in my Hindu home; absolutely not a good idea.