Going Down Under

Had a morning tour of the city, mainly all around the shore line starting at Miller’s Point and the observatory, which gave a good view of the bridge we then went past the NSW parliament & art museums etc the old barracks & Hyde park, all museums are free , we continued round the coast mrs Macquarie chair, which gave great views of the bridge & opera house, perfect place to be for NYE fireworks. We headed round to Potts point & Woolloomooloo, beautiful houses, Russell Crow has a place there so decided not to buy.. saw a lovely Aston Martin parked in the drive of one of the houses, beautiful tree lined roads , expensive shops. We moved on to King’s Cross, once a renowned red light and drug area, but now more sanitised, though plenty of bars & the remnants of sex shops around.Darling Bay, Rushcutters Bay & rose bay, followed before we came to Vaucluse, very exclusive area.. at Watson’s bay we looked out to the pacific & the entrance to Sydney . Opposite us was Manly. From there Dover Heights & down to Bondi Beach. My great uncle Walter lived here, & I remember my gran saying she used to go for a swim most days when she visited him back in 1977. Lots of surfers about, but pretty windy.. the old buildings surrounding the bay are lovely once you go above the shop fronts. From there it was back through Paddington , lovely old streets, & houses with wrought iron railings & balconies, trendy & expensive place to be, through Surrey Hills & Darlinghurst where the Gay pride takes place each May & back to our drop off. Having watched Luxe listing-selling Sydney we seemed to be familiar with these areas & we’re looking out for the estate agents that appear in the programme.
Had a short rest then I went out to see some of the buildings not too far away. In St James church it was interesting to see some plaques of Captains who had been speared by the blacks (sic), and another of a captain’s wife who had died on the way back to England, her longitude & latitude of death were recorded on the plaque. Walking into the NSW parliament, one of the security guards took me into the chamber bit like our house of commons, & gave me a brief history & talk about the NSW parliament.. all free & just wanted to share his knowledge, despite the closed sign on the chamber. I walked along to the old barrack museum again free, but only had a short time there as was meeting Alison. We walked along Pitt street , looking on various shops, some of the department stores had some lovely art deco architecture. Back for a short rest before we head out to see the Sydney Christmas tree and what late night shopping is all about in SydneyRead more