Sydney

As I mentioned in my last post, we were on a camper site not far from Botany Bay, in the Rockdale area of Sydney, and after a 15 minute walk, I was standing on the shore of this famous place almost 230 years after James Cook's first landing of HMS Endeavour on the continent of Australia on 29th April 1770. However, I am sure that Cook would have had trouble recognising the place in the year 2000 since, as you can see from the photo below, the airport now extends well into the bay itself.

However, after a short tour of the area, I returned to the camper van where I had left Christine resting and then proceeded to scout out the location of the railway station in preparation for getting into the centre of Sydney the following morning.

Friday 25th February and a late start for us this morning as we had wanted to avoid any rush hour. Unfortunately, that didn't work out too well as the 09.40 train turned out to be crowded. Only a 20 minute journey but it didn't help Christine's claustrophobia at all and she was very relieved to exit the train in Sydney, at Circular Quay. The first stop was the nearest cafe for a calming cup of coffee and a chance to relax.

Once revived we set off around Sydney Cove to an area known as "The Rocks" which apparently was the area of the first European settlement in 1788. Here we had a good view of the Opera House situated across the cove on Bennelong Point. It will probably be considered heresy for me to say so but, this internationally famous icon didn't look quite as impressive as it had appeared on television. However, Christine was quite happy to pose in front of it.

We decided that we ought to get a closer view of the Opera House so wandered back around Circular Quay and along the Concourse where Christine was in raptures over the 'retail therapy opportunities'. From this side of the harbour we had an excellent view of the Bridge  

Following an excellent lunch in the Concourse Cafe we boarded a bus to the Hay Market where we finally managed to purchase the 3 boomerangs we had been instructed to get, along with an Australian Rugby League cap for a friend back in the UK. Christine was having a bit of a hard time with all the walking, having previously injured her knee and ankle in a fall so we terminated the day early and had an early night.
The train journey the following day was relatively relaxed and far less crowded. We once again had a saunter around the Opera House and relaxed over a cup of coffee just watching the world go by before boarding a "Captain Cook" ferry for the cruise around the harbour. We found this quite informative with a running commentary pointing out various landmarks and interesting snippets about the main areas to be seen. The photo below shows 'yours truly' against the background of an Australian Navy ship during our trip round the harbour.

That evening we had a meal out in Brighton-Le-Sands, right on the edge of Botany Bay. We managed to get into one of the very popular seafood restaurants where Christine tucked into half a lobster mornay while I had grilled barramundi fillet, in lemon sauce, both of which were superb. We rounded off the evening with a stroll along the foreshore, with what seemed to half of the local population, before having a couple of drinks and then getting a taxi back to our camper site.

27th February was our last full day and Christine was determined not to return home without having acquired some Opal jewellery. We would have need a considerably larger bank balance than we had to purchase some of the spectacular things on offer but, she finally settled for a pendant and matching earrings. Mind you, that was enough to finish off our dwindling budget. Having settled the final 'must have' expenditure we wandered back the 'The Rock' area where we were entertained by a street jazz quartet whilst enjoying a spot of lunch and then stumbled across a craft market, where Christine was in her element but, not knowing which stall to turn to next. See below.

Rose at 06.00 on the 28th Feb in order to get everything done before departing the camper site at 07.45 and navigating our way to the Maui depot to return the camper van which had been our home for the last three weeks. Everything was dealt with quickly and we were transported to the airport by taxi by 09.15. Plenty of time to relax as our departure tome was not until 13.10. The photo below is the final one of our trip as we were making our way through the air terminal to the departure lounge.

It only remains to say that we both had an absolutely marvellous time. Although much of the trip was in the way of a whistle-stop tour, we had covered an enormous distance, seen some amazing scenery and wildlife and met many wonderful people. It left us with an urge to return as quickly as possible to see more of this truly fascinating country.

Since then,Christine and I returned for a short (2 week) visit to Queensland in June 2006 and I was able to take my daughter and grandson for a three week visit to South Australia in May/June of 2009.

I will be posting a short account of those visits over the coming weeks prior to my departure on my extended solo trip beginning at the end of August.