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!