Refractions and reflections

[A] We’re now sitting in the airport lounge waiting for our flight home.  Just the pleb lounge, not the Business Class or even the Qantas Club, sad to say.

Our flight is the late one arriving near midnight in Wellington, so we had time for a final look around Sydney.  Our first destination for the day was an arbitrary one – jump on the first available train, go to the end of the line, and see what’s there.  So we ended up in Cronulla, and headed for the beach.

Lots of surfers in the water, even though the beach was ‘closed’ due to dangerous surf.

Plenty of cafes and restaurants at Cronulla, and we found one that had home-made yummy pies (and chocolate caramel slices of course).

[S] It was fun to choose a random destination since we had seen everything on our bucket list and had a few hours to fill in before heading out to the airport. Although the sea was stormy, the sky was blue and it was a lovely wander along the promenade.  Allan did find a 2nd hand book shop and succumbed to two books (this after squeezing our suitcases shut this morning!)

[A] Back in the CBD – I headed for ‘Sculpture at Barangaroo’ (Millers Point/Barangaroo Reserve), where today was the first day of a two-week outdoor art exhibition.  Well done Sydney, it was excellent.  My favourites were the ‘Construction Bangaroo’ on the top of the hill by an ex-Wellingtonian…

and ‘Horizon’, a water-filled acrylic globe…

[S] I opted for a last trip to the shops (one tiny purchase!) and a sit-down.  I clocked up 18,736 steps yesterday so I thought I deserved it.  Most of those were spent looking for a restaurant for our final dinner that was a) open, b) not full of inebriated yuppies and c) had a table for us.  Ended up back at Darling Harbour, with a nice Italian meal of pork belly (!) for me.

[A] Pasta and then tiramisu for me!

[S] It was showery again – Sydney had had its average August rainfall by the 3rd, so not the best time to come, but it hasn’t spoilt our holiday.

[A] Impressions of Sydney – I got to know the CBD much better than I had on previous visits: LOTS of road-works and building construction;

interesting mix of old and new construction; new construction not always completely sympathetic to the old in my opinion;

views of the Bridge...

and the Opera House...

from everywhere – they are very photogenic icons, and so I indulged, from all sorts of angles...

[S] And I was surprised that the CBD virtually shut down at the weekends – obviously hospo in Sydney is aimed at the workers, and only Circular Quay and Darling Harbour are happening places all the time.  Had a great time [A: me too!], but Melbourne still has my heart as an Aussie destination!

Mrs Macquarie has a point

[A] It turns out that Mrs Macquarie has a Point and a Chair named in her honour.  According to ‘reliable sources’ on the internet, Mrs Macquarie's Chair provides one of the best vantage points in Sydney.  The historic chair was carved out of a rock ledge for the Governor’s wife by convicts in 1810, as she was known to visit the area and sit enjoying the panoramic views of the harbour.

We patiently waited at a coffee and cake shop for the rain to stop, then headed to Mrs Macquarie’s Point to check the accuracy of the internet sources.

The sources were right, although no doubt the views are a little different from what Mrs Macquarie would have seen.

And the chair didn’t look that comfortable to sit on…

[S] It was beginning to look like the rain would never stop, and the first part of our walk to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair was in light showers.  The chair is located at the tip of a point across the bay from the Opera House.

It passes by the Botanic Gardens, and there is a promenade around the bay which hosted many joggers, as well as two dawdling McPhersons.  Some of the joggers were running up a flight of stairs three at a time, running down again, dropping for some press-ups and then repeating the process. Phew!

It was very pleasant and the rain had cleared by the time we got back to Circular Quay.  We jumped on a ferry to Cockatoo Island.

[A] That was a good idea Sue! - although this paddle steamer is not the ferry we took...

[S] The island measures 500m by 360m only and has two claims to fame.  It was a ship building site around the time of WW1 and until 1984 and it was a convict prison for a time also.

It had been well maintained or restored (at least in parts) and we were free to wander at our leisure.

It was free and very interesting with lots of notice boards telling the background to what we were seeing.  The views were spectacular and it was a lovely afternoon out.

It is possible to stay on the island with a glamping option (funny to see rows of clearly empty tents) with excellent facilities, and (my favourite!) two luxury 4-bedroom townhouses – a snip at $895 per night (minimum 2 nights) at the weekend.  It does sleep 8 people, so if I could find 3 couples to accompany us…

All up, we have done lots of walking this holiday – only missed my 10,000 steps one day, and most days I have walked between 14 and 16,000 steps or 9 to 11 kms per day.  That should offset some of my indulgences!

Girls' Day Out

[S] Well, one girl really!  Allan was out early to his conference, so today was shopping day.

I got myself on the train to Chatswood (over the bridge on the North Shore).  The clouds cleared briefly so it was lovely to see the Opera House and harbour from a different perspective.

I had been to Chatswood on an earlier trip and it had literally ended in tears.  Allan and I had gone in different directions last time and arranged a rendezvous place and time.  Half an hour after the appointed time, I was still wandering around in circles and totally fretful. I eventually stumbled upon him in quite a traumatised state (me, not him!), and he was slightly in the dog box for leaving his phone on the charger at home in Wellington!

Chatswood is a Westfield Mall with two six story towers.  I think I did it justice today!

I paid a bit more attention to my entry point and floor level so that I could find my way home and was quite proud of my achievements.  I am still finding Sydney a little navigationally challenging in general.

I loved Aladdin last night.  The staging and costuming was exceptionally well done, and the acting and singing were great too.  The best thing though was the sense of fun – lots of one liners and contemporary references were incorporated into the script, so it was laugh a minute stuff.  My book club cronies will know I love a happy ending so I was well satisfied when Aladdin got his girl!  Needless to say, I have been singing ‘A Whole New World’ all day.

Catch-ups and QVB

[S] More rain today – not forecasted but very heavy at times.

I had a leisurely start today – Allan was out early, which I am sure he will tell you about, but my first appointment was to catch up with my niece, Aimee, and sister-in-law Kerry and her husband Peter.  Aimee has been a regular visitor to NZ so we saw her last year, but I have only seen Kerry once in the last 26 years, and Allan hadn’t seen her since she left NZ.

We had a lovely lunch and a good old natter over pasta.  Aimee seemed disappointed that I hadn’t snuck her Nana into my suitcase – I told you that you should have come Mum! Great to catch up with them all.

We parted company and took the opportunity to check out QVB – what a gorgeous shopping centre.

Not necessarily a place I would buy anything at – none of the jewellery in the windows had prices on, so I assumed that the old adage ’If you have to ask…’ applied. Lots of people there and lots of buckets to deal with the leaky roof, so you had to watch your step.

Just chillaxing now until we head off to see Aladdin the musical tonight – hope it stops raining!

[A] My day started with a walk up Observatory Hill...

around some of the older areas of Millers Point...

then down to Dawes Point (Tar-Ra)...

and back along the waterfront for some good views of the Harbour Bridge...

and the Opera House...

Opera

[S] Got to start with the story of last night’s dinner.  We had booked at ‘The Meat and Wine Co’ (at Darling Harbour) for dinner.  We had an outside table, and although it was raining, we were warm and dry and it was great to just watch the world go by.  House specialties were amazing steaks and spectacular skewers so we covered both in our choices.

We had just sat down to order when every boat (it seemed) started honking their hooters in unison – talk about loud!  You couldn’t hear yourself think, let alone talk.  This went on for at least 10 minutes.  Boys being boys I guess!

Anyway, we had a lovely evening, with great food, and a delicious Crème Brulee to finish.

[A] Saw the Opera House this morning.

And did the tour…

[S] I wasn’t the keenest starter for the Opera House tour, but it was really interesting, brought to life by a bubbly tour guide who had lots of stories to keep us entertained.  The main auditorium was stunning, and up close, everything was pretty spectacular.

[A] A planned walk up to the Observatory was postponed due to rain.  So what to do?  I know Sue, let’s go to see Star Trek at IMAX 3D.

[S] I haven’t seen any of the other Star Trek movies, I slept through the first half hour, didn’t know who were the goodies and who were the baddies, but it was an enjoyable enough way to spend a wet afternoon!  Great to see Kiwi Karl Urban in a starring role.

Stayed in the Harbour for a quick dinner.

[A] Absolutely pelting down with rain after dinner, so got a bit wet even though we took the light rail and train to get back to the hotel.

Hello Darling

[S] The day started with an easy walk down to Darling Harbour this morning – our last fine day before a cold wet spell is expected.

It’s been ages since we were here last and we saw lots of changes at the harbour.  In fact, there is a huge amount of redevelopment going on in Sydney at the moment.  Everywhere you go, there are detours around building sites, they’re expanding the light rail network and upgrading railway stations. There is a multi-story building going up across the road from us so we are hearing drills and other construction noises as I write.

Not sure what the impetus for all of this work is but the place is a bit of a mess to be honest. That said, the city has some beautiful old buildings as well as some interesting new ones, and once all this round of work is completed, it will be spectacular.

[A] Shame to see the demolition of some old favourite structures at Darling Harbour.

And the sad remains of the old (closed long ago) monorail (do the loop-doop-doop for those who were there back in the day).

Had my first visit of this trip to one of my favourite bookshops (Kinokuniya).  I’ll be back before the end of the week…

[S] Excited to pick up tickets to see the musical Aladdin which opens on Wednesday night, although the grand opening isn’t until a week later.  And we have booked a lovely restaurant tonight for our first ‘proper’ dinner since we got here.  Looking forward to it!

[A] … dinner is back at Darling Harbour of course, since that was today’s theme!

Walking and Eating

[A] Walking: we thought that because there would be fewer people out and about, Sunday would be a good day to tackle ‘Sydney’s Little Laneways’, a walking tour along many of Sydney’s earliest streets.  It was very well done, and we found it fascinating seeing the mix of old and new buildings, and understanding some of the background to why the streets are as they are.

[S] Wasn’t sure if I’d be up for the 22 ‘Points of Interest’ along the way – distance-wise I thought it might be a challenge, especially as Sydney is not exactly flat.  But it was quite absorbing, lots of quirky and interesting facts and sights.  Proud of myself – 10,000 steps on the pedometer by lunchtime.

[A] Eating: after our walk, we took the ferry out to Manly, and headed straight to a restaurant on the Manly Wharf (Hugos) for a late lunch.  By the time we arrived (after our walk and the ferry trip) it was 1:30pm, and Hugos didn’t have any tables available for 40 minutes.  So it was just as well that it had come highly recommended (thanks Andrew).  It transpires that Hugos was voted best pizza restaurant in NSW in 2015, and 7th best restaurant in Australia in 2015.  And we can understand why – (once we got a table) the food was superb, the service was great, and the location overlooking the water was amazing.

Before:

After:

We rolled out of Hugos about 4:15pm, in time for a quick walk to the beach at Manly before heading back on the ferry, taking in some magical views on the way.

[S} Allan’s right – it was a fab restaurant.  The day had started out cloudy to the point where we were wondering whether we should save Manly for a sunnier day.  It was warm and dry so we carried on, and we were glad we had, since the sun came out and the view from our table was exquisite.  The food was great, the ambience was great, and so was the service.  Allan ordered a fig pizza – unusual, but he raved about it.  We had decided as soon as we saw the menu that this would be our main meal of the day, but planned not to have dessert.  However, the waitress didn’t ask if we wanted to see the menu – she just gave it to us and Allan was lost.  After a whole pizza (six large slices!), he ordered a tiramisu.  I thought I had better keep him company, but it was his fault!  No room for dinner tonight!

The ferries are great and we came back at sunset to stunning views of the bridge, and an illuminated Luna Park.

Interestingly, a lot of the town seems not to open on Sundays, so the streets were very quiet, but as soon as we got to Circular Quay, the crowds (tourists?!) were out in force and it was teeming with people both there and at Manly.  We had to pay a 10% surcharge at the restaurant so I guess the labour laws here must involve extra pay for working on a Sunday.

All in all, a strenuous but hugely enjoyable day!

Watch out Sydney, the McPs are here…

[A] Well here we are in Sydney, safely ensconced in our hotel room on Pitt Street.  After a very early start from Wellington, we landed at Sydney Airport and purchased the obligatory Opal (transport) card, SIM (data) card, and coffee.  Rather than taking one of the usual means of transport, we decided to take the very pleasant walk along the river to Wolli Creek train station and train into town.

[A] Would have worked well too, but after the train journey we ended up walking in the wrong direction out of the Town Hall station, so by the time we’d walked a few extra city blocks we were very pleased that our hotel allowed us to check in early.

[S] The alarm was set for 3.30 am - eek!  Bounced out of bed alert enough though.  Travel arrangements went well and we were on the ground in Sydney at 8.30 am local time.  It was a beautiful morning so we decided to avoid the airport surcharge on the train and walk to the next station.  Whilst it was a little (!) further than we expected, it was a pleasant wander over a long bridge and along a tree lined path beside a pretty river.  By the time we got to the station, we had had conversations with three locals – Sydney-siders are very friendly.

It was great to be able to check in as soon as we arrived so we dropped our bags, caught our breath, and then headed out for lunch.   We struggled to find a café with cabinet food - we just wanted something light, but everywhere seemed to be menu driven, and a lot of them Asian food.

Back by 2.30, I accidentally (!) fell asleep and dozed on and off until 5 pm - oops!

[A] Meantime, I went out briefly to get some food and drink supplies, but instead found Allans Music shop, JB-HiFi (stocking the Garmin fenix 3 - but not yet 4! - sports watch – free advertising: very nice!), some buskers, and a protest march, so “briefly” wasn’t “brief”.

[S] We wandered out to pick up some dinner to bring back so we could watch the Hurricanes semi-final on TV, and ate in front of the tele.  Very satisfactory result!!  But then … oops, I did it again!  Fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 4 am, finished my book, and then slept again until 7 am.  Now, I think I have finally made up for only getting 2 hours sleep the night before – lol!  Not very sociable of me though!

Learning from day 1 of our holiday - Sydney is navigationally challenging to me, and even to Allan.  We have caught ourselves travelling in the opposite direction to what we should have been several times, even with the assistance of a map.  The most classic was coming back to the hotel after picking up dinner - I marched boldly across the crossing only to find Allan not following but standing on the corner waving me back.  Such was my lack of confidence in my directional skills (and my confidence in Allan’s), I turned and went back, feeling like a lemon in front of the waiting traffic.  After some footpath ‘discussions’, it turns out I was right and Allan was wrong!  Luckily the hotel is brilliantly located so we will nut it out soon – we don’t usually have this problem in new cities.  Did clock up 12,000 steps though – got to be good for me!