Wednesday and Thursday

Thursday

We had breakfast at the same place we both had eggs and bacon.

It was very hot first thing and we went out to buy beer for Jon to give to the guys who were coming to the apartment for a meeting. (You see he does work!)

We then went to visit the Maritime Museum which is free but I didn't think it was as good as the one in Wellington but very interesting not for children though. We went to the coffee shop and had the best coffee I have ever had in Oz, they are not as good as NZ for coffee. It started to rain while we were having our coffee so we decided to catch the monorail to the shops and bought a day pass rather than a single as it works out cheaper and you can use it as often as you like.

We arrived at the main shopping area and the shops were not as decorated as i thought they would be. One shop, a bit like John Lewis, had a grotto scene in every window which was very nice. We visited The Strand which is a lovely old narrow shopping arcade and really lovely. The nee Westfield Mall, that was being built around the base of the tower when we went with Heather, is beautiful and huge.

We then crossed to Hyde Park and bought a sandwich and a drink and sat and watched the world go by.

I had to giggle when a young Chinese lad asked for directions to a street and I was able to tell him. How cool is that? Me telling somebody how to get around Sydney!!!! I was impressed.

It started to rain again, really heavy so we walked back to the monorail and just went round for a whole circuit and then it had stopped raining so we got off and went to the Powerhouse Museum which is actually built in a huge old powerhouse and is enormous and very good and very hands on for children. There was a terrible storm going on outside and we were glad we had made in before it started.

WE finished with cuppa there before catching the monorail back which was nearly another full circle, good value a day pass!!

I had a little sleep and then Jon's colleagues arrived and I went out shopping and had another trip on the monorail.

I got back about 7.30 and showered and Jon was still talking at his meeting so I sat and read in the bedroom. He didn't finish till 9.30 so we were both very hungry.

We went and had an Italian but the chicken I had was so dry I couldn't cut it, they did deduct $18 off our bill. As it was so late we couldn't find anywhere open for coffee so just went back to bed.

WEATHER
Hot first thing then stormy, wet but warm







Wednesday
After a good night's sleep we went down to one of the bars below the apartments for breakfast and I had a big fruit salad and Jon had bacon and eggs.

We walked down to the ferry terminal and caught the ferry to Circular Quay and we had time for a coffee before out ferry to Manly. We were told to wait by the Harbour Master's steps for the ferry and while we were there a boat came in that looked like a speed boat, excursion type thing. I was starting to panic as I thought that was for us. Fortunately, it moved to allow our ferry to dock which was much bigger. The trip over to Manly, which is on the north side of the harbour was lovely. The Oprah Winfrey show was in town and we saw all the flags and the stage by the Opera House set up.

We arrived in Manly - so named as the man who discovered it in 1783 thought all the Aborigines were very 'Manly'. I met a nice Bulgarian girl on the ferry she has been working on the Barrier Reef and just had one day in Sydney. We went for a lovely walk along the really beautiful beach. There are lots of surf schools there and it was interesting to watch them. At the far end of the beach was a big salt water swimming pool. By the time we got back to the town it was lunch time and we found a lovely spot to eat and had a lovely table overlooking the beach. The food was a cross between Spanish tapas and Italian food, really good and washed down with a couple of beers. There were lots of young people on the beach as it was exam results day and they were all celebrating.

After lunch we went and had a lie down on the beach and Jon woke me up when it was time to go for the ferry - very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

We had caught a lot of sun and I couldn't wear the dress I planned as I had very red marks where my T shirt had been, I hope it tones down for the Genera dinner on Saturday.

We went for dinner at a fish restaurant we had seen which looked good. I had tuna steak but it was very over cooked so not the best meal we have ever had.

We stopped at a boat moored in the harbour for a coffee. It is a restaurant and had a couple of Christmas parties going on, very nice.
WEATHER
Very hot and sunny