Sydney

Our time clock still not fully adjusted, we were up again at 6am. Another lovely but hot day, we decided due to our limited time, to go on a Hop-on Hop-off city bus tour. The first part took us round the extensive Sydney city centre with its notable Victorian buildings - very British. In the afternoon we went to the famous Bondi Beach on the outskirts of the city. I had feared it might be a bit like Saltcoats with sunshine, but was impressed by the beautiful, spotlessly clean beach and crystal clear ocean. Excellent free changing areas and showers were provided, so I took advantage of a swim in the lovely waters. Had great fun splashing about in the crashing waves, ignoring the fact that I was a bit of a great white whale amongst all the svelte, tanned physiques. Ah, well it’s nice to be different.

An over enthusiastic tour guide try to tempt a posh English lady with a trip to Tarunga Zoo - ‘you will see koala’ he promised. ‘I’ve seen plenty of koalas’ she replied dismissively. ‘What about Cockatoo Island?’ he persisted, ‘You can see a cockatoo’. ‘I’ve seen plenty of them too’ she retorted with a saucy laugh. It reminded us of the gag in ‘Allo, ‘Allo’.

This being Campbell’s birthday, we changed and made our way to the Opera House. What a stunning building in such a fabulous location, with folk enjoying the harbour views from the surrounding walkway. A masterpiece of architecture, the Sydney Opera House is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We enjoyed a Prosecco and a tasty, but nouvelle-cuisine sized, pre performance meal inside, before enjoying a performance of La Bohème in the Joan Sutherland Theatre. We enjoyed the lovely singing and sweeping music, but didn’t really see the point of the 1930s Nazi setting. This beautiful 1500 seat theatre is just one of the performance venues at the Opera House, with the even bigger 2000 seat concert hall next door.

After the opera, we enjoyed the walk back to Circular Quay admiring the illuminated Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Manhattan-like skyline. This time we did pay our tram fare, though jumped off at Woolworths for some cold drinks and another packet of Tim Tams (very popular Penguin-like biscuits), for our bedtime cuppa. Smashing! ☕️ We know how to live it up!Read more