Saturday 30th March - Sydney
Off to Sydney today. We were up early for final packing and cleaning. We had breakfast with Sally and Chris, said our farewells and the drove off to find the dump to get rid of the grey water and the toilet. It was only just down the road from the depot. We took the campervan back and got an Uber to the airport, checked in and were sat at the gate with a coffee in no time - it’s lovely flying domestic! We were early but better that than being late. We had a very good flight and were early arriving. We decided to stay in our seats and get off the plane without being rushed. It was lovely! Another Uber to our hotel or should I say apart hotel. We are on the 9th floor and have plenty of room plus a nice balcony. We couldn’t see the harbour bridge but it was just round the corner. I unpacked completely as we were in Sydney for 5 nights.
We tried Uber Eats for the first time as they were able to bring the food directly to our room. We chose a burger place and the burgers were good, but the fries were in an open paper cup and were cold.
Sunday 31st March - Sydney
I had arranged a Sydney Greeter to show us round Sydney for a few hours. Quite a few cities have Greeters - we had the services of one in New York once. We met our Greeter, Stewart, in the hotel at 10am and we walked to the Customs House where we met some old friends - it was planned! We had met Ray and Diane while we were boating on the River Soar about ten years ago. They are Aussies and were having a few years in the UK and had bought their own boat, Ferndale. They went back to Melbourne about 7 years ago and came to Sydney to spend some time with us having got up at 4am! Under the glass floor in the Customs House is a model of Sydney so we were able to get our bearings. We walked round the waterfront area, visiting The Rocks which was the first part of Sydney to be built on back in January 1788 when the first colonial fleet arrived. There are still quite a few of the original houses there but there are also a lot of new ones. We walked to where we could get a good view of the bridge and the Opera House (by this stage Ray and Diane have given up as they were up so early!). We continued walking until we could hardly walk any further! My back was killing me and Richard’s knees were about to give out. We had to suggest that we call it a day but we had walked, in the heat (28 degrees) for 2 hours. We had learnt a lot but please don’t ask me what!! We met up again with Ray and Diane and had lunch and chatted. They went back to their hotel for a rest while Richard and I went to the Opera House. We went in but you can’t see very much so walked around the outside. With it being Easter Sunday it was very busy on the waterfront, mainly with Chinese! My back was very painful so we got an Uber back to the hotel for a rest before going out for dinner.
We caught the light railway down to China Town and met Ray and Diane on the way. We looked around for a Chinese restaurant wanting one that was busy! We had a good meal then caught the light railway back. The stop was only 300 metres from the hotel.
Monday 1st April - Sydney
As usual we had booked tickets on the hop on hop off bus and took the light railway down to meet Ray and Diane at the Town Hall then went on down to Central Station where we picked up the bus and went off to Bondi Beach (I mean we couldn’t go to Sydney and not visit one of the World’s most famous beaches). We had a coffee then wandered over to the beach which was pretty packed as it was a 28 degree bank holiday Monday! There were plenty of people trying to surf but there were no decent waves.
We picked up the hoho bus again and went back into the city and got off at the Anzac memorial which I wanted to see. There was a museum there which was interesting. We then caught the bus on the other hoho bus route and went round other parts of Sydney before getting off at Circular Quay and wandering into The Rocks to find a German bar that Ray and Diane had frequented before. This was 3.30pm. At 5.30pm we decided we really ought to have something to eat so ended up with schnitzel. We then walked back towards our hotel and said a sad farewell to Ray and Diane. It had been a lovely two days with two old friends who, to be perfectly honest, we didn’t think we would see again once they returned to Australia back in 2017.
Why is a kangaroo so called? Two British officers were trying to talk to two Aborigine Chiefs when this odd looking creature hopped passed them. It had big ears and short front legs. The officers asked the chiefs what it was, Kangaroo came the answer, so it has been known as a kangaroo ever since. However, what the officers didn’t know is that the chiefs actually said “we don’t know what you are talking about”!
Tuesday 2nd April - Sydney
We had some rain this morning but nothing too heavy. We had a quiet morning then took the tram to the Sydney Tower Eye. It’s one of those places you can see but can’t find! There were no signs to it so we kept having to ask. We finally found the entrance on the top floor of a shopping mall! We went up in the lift and sadly it was raining though not too hard but there were rain drops on the windows. It was also quite grey but it could have been so much worse!
We spent about half an hour up on the observation deck then looked around for the restaurant where we had booked lunch. Nothing is easy is it? You had to go down in the lift then up in another one! I had booked a window table and Richard went to put the rucksack on the windowsill but had to take it off as it was disappearing! The restaurant is a revolving one, the floor that the tables are on is the bit that revolves and it takes 70 minutes to do one revolution. The meal was a buffet and the serveries kept on moving so you didn’t know where you were going! It was an expensive lunch for not very good food but that’s not what it was about!
We had a harbour cruise included in our bus tickets so took the light railway to Circular Quay to find the boat. I had mistakenly thought it was more like a ferry with one going every half hour or so but it wasn’t and we had just missed one and the next one was over an hour’s wait. We walked down the wharves to see if we could find a ferry we could take so that at least we could get out on the water. We chose one to Watson’s Bay. The clouds cleared and the sun came out and it was quite hot, so lovely out on the water. It was only a short trip but nice to see Sydney from the water.
Back to Circular Quay and the light railway just for one stop. That morning I had seen a small shopping complex that was underground and was open so we went down into the bowels of Sydney and found a small supermarket which went on and on - it was quite extensive.
Back in our room we had a cup of tea, and then start packing as we had a ten hour coach trip the next day.
I remember Ferndale but can't remember the people.
ReplyDelete