Moving on to Sydney …. Part 3

  Day 34     Sunday   January  11

We arranged to meet Padraic Maher and family today. He lives in a place called Newcastle about two hours north of Sydney. We got the train from Sydney to Blacktown where Padraic picked us up. We are very lucky that our accommodation is just two minutes from Sydney Central Station. Padraic, Angela and their three children, Phoenix, Scarlet and Hunter brought us on a day trip to the Blue Mountains which is a very scenic area. We stopped at Echo Point, a viewing point on the mountain. However there was quite an extensive mist and visibility was quite poor. Later, we went to a dinosaur theme park and had a nice walk and some train rides. They brought a picnic for us and we finished a lovely day with dinner all together in Sydney.

Day  35      Monday  January 12 

Dee went for a run in nearby park this morning and I went for a wander through the streets of Sydney. Later Aine and Deirdre went out to meet friends and Fionnuala and myself took a train to Marrickville. This is an old neighbourhood of Sydney where two of our grand uncles and two grand aunts settled at the end of the 19th century. We walked to 135 Victoria Road where Patrick Bourke had a produce store. We have an old photograph of himself outside the store at home.  It is now a furniture shop and we got some photographs outside it. We spoke with the owner’s  husband who was very interested in the old history and we promised to send him on a copy of the old photograph. We then went on to St Brigid’s church in Marrickville where Ellen Bourke had donated a shrine to St. Patrick asking for prayers for herself and her relatives. We got more photographs here and spoke with a very helpful lady in the parish office. She gave us an email address where we may be able to get some details from the parish archives. We discovered a link between the church and the Passionate Order and I wonder is that the reason why Auntie Ellie went to Cross and Passion in Kilcullen.

Made our way back to house and rested for sometime before going out for a meal with the girls.

Day 36   Tuesday  January 13th

Went on a walking tour of Sydney this morning. Met the tour guide outside the town hall at 10.30 am and the tour went on until 1pm. We walked from the Town Hall toThe Queen Victoria building onto Hyde Park, St. Michael’s Church, the museums, library, post office, The Opera House, The Rocks and finished on the lookout looking across at Sydney Harbour bridge. Temperature was quite high so we had lots of sun cream, hats and tried to stay in the shade where possible. Later in the afternoon we got an Uber taxi out to Coogee Beach. This is a beautiful beach, thronged with swimmers and sunbathers with lovely soft sand lots of sunshine and big waves. After a swim here we decided to walk from Coogee to Bondi, a very scenic six kilometre walk along the coastline. Aine and Deirdre walked all the way, but Fionnuala and myself got a bus ride for the last km or two. We arrived at Bondi around 7pm and after another swim sat on the beach and watched a glorious sunset. Bondi is another beautiful beach with fine sands, clean water and big waves. It is somewhat bigger the Coogee and even more packed with people. Back home and ordered an Uber Eats for dinner. We ordered Indian curries on WhatsApp and food was delivered in about 15 minutes. 

Day 37   Wednesday  January 14th 

Today we are visiting Dan Lee in Canberra. Dan’s grandmother and our grandfather were brother and sister. She left Fairyhall in the 1880’s. Two other brothers and two other sisters also emigrated to Australia and settled in Sydney. Dan had called to Fairyhall twice over the years and now it was our turn to visit him. Dan is a hale and hearty 92 year old. We met himself and his wife Nancye  at their daughters residence. A number of other family members were also present, including Dan’s other daughter, Julie Anne, his grandsons James and Tom, Margaret ‘s husband Bruce and Dan’s niece Cathy and his nephew, John. We had a lovely afternoon with a nice tea and lots of chat. We hope to see some of these in Ireland in the future.  Canberra is a three hour drive from Sydney, so we rented a car at Sydney airport this morning and Aine and Deidre did most of the driving. We arrived back home at around 11 pm.

Day 38  Thursday January 15th

Dee and myself went to Hyde Park early this morning. I had a walk and Dee did a 5km run. Aine and Fionnuala later joined us for breakfast. In the afternoon the ladies went wedding dress shopping and I wandered through the centre of Sydney. I went to the Australian Museum, St Michael’s Cathedral, through  the Botanical Gardens and finished at Macquarie point. Lochlann Macquarie was the first Governor of New South Wales and is credited with much of the early development of Sydney. Maquarie point is at the tip of the penninsula with great views across at Sydney Harbour bridge and the Opera House. A seat is carved into a big rock and is called Mrs. Maquarie’s chair. I sat on this for a while looking out across Sydney Harbour. The ladies joined me in town later and got some retail therapy in the Queen Victoria Building ( an upmarket shopping mall). We had dinner in town before returning home.

Day 39   Friday  January 16th 

Today we got the train to Circular Quay where we had breakfast together. I then left the ladies in town and got the train to Lidcombe and from there made my way to Rookwood Cemetery to search for some Bourke graves. The cemetery is huge, with sections for all religions. I eventually found the Catholic Cemetery and went into the office attached to it. Here I spoke with a very helpful lady who looked up the records for me. There were many Bourkes, but I knew from Dan Lee that Patrick Bourke died in 1910, aged 57 years.  I found a grave with this detail and it was confirmed for me when I discovered that Ellen Bourke was also buried in this plot. Ellen died in 1927. Patrick and Ellen were brother and sister and both were unmarried.  I found this plot which had a large headstone but unfortunately the plaque with the names has disappeared. I met another very helpful man working in the graveyard, who proudly told me he had Irish blood also. He showed me an app that could help identify the graves. Using this I was able to identify the grave of Richard Bourke. Richard was married to Margaret ( Dan Lee referred to her as Aunt Maggie and he remembered meeting her as a child). Richard and Margaret had no children. Richard died in 1931, aged 63 years and Margaret died in 1944. I found the reference for Marcella, but could not find the grave. She is buried with her husband Edmund Stewart and her daughter Marcella Amelia Stewart. Edmund died in 1917, Marcella in 1942 and Marcella Amelia in 1966. 

After walking many kilometres to find the graveyard I made my way back on the train and was just back in time to say good bye to Aine and Deidre who are heading home today. Later Fionnuala and myself go to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner before retiring to bed. 

Day 40  Saturday   January  17th

Last day in Sydney. Packed suitcases, had lunch, and an Uber ride to the airport. Our flight is at 5.20pm and leaves pretty much on time. An 11 hour flight to Colombo where we are picked up by hotel taxi and brought to hotel. Arrived at 1am. Colombo is five and a half hours behind Sydney. Aine had an eventful trip back. Her flight from Sydney to Doha was diverted to Singapore. When eventually she got to Doha, her connecting flight was gone. Her journey home took 40 hours and on the last leg, from Dublin to Galway, the bus broke down in Athlone. She texted to say that she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry 🙈.

As we leave Australia we take great memories with us. It was great to spend so much family time with Deirdre and Keith and Aine and Conor. We are very grateful to Dee and Keith for making our holiday so memorable. They had a very busy programme lined out for us and we packed so much into our weeks together. Getting the opportunity to celebrate their engagement with them was special. Meeting the Lees and Padraic Maher and family also added greatly to the experience.