Harmony Park

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DooWhitt tours Big Trip 2017
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- Aug 10, 2017, 5:19pm
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 42 m
- Australia New South Wales Sydney Surry Hills Harmony Park -33.880379, 151.2137333°52’49” S 151°12’49” E
Day 6
Day 6
August 10, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Didn't think much of Qantas. Had fish something with very hot sauce & glass wine. Andy had beef. Not great. Bed seats so low they're almost on floor - bit like a coffin. Only 1 loo for business class and always occupied with people changing in and out of Qantas jimjams. Had about 3 hours sleep then fruit & yogurt for breakfast. Quite nice. Flight approx 7 hours. Landed 10ish in Sydney. Sailed through passport, bag pickup & immigration. Can't believe how easy it was. Straight to waiting limo. Very friendly and chatty driver. Fortunately we could check in early. Nice suite with lounge & fridge etc. They brought bottle of wine for big birthday. Loads of room so unpacked everything then off to collect race numbers for City To Surf on Sunday.

Lovely weather - approx 20. Pleasant after the sweaty heat in Singapore.

Walked to Darling Harbour. Bit like Bristol with some old tall ships. Couldn't get numbers till 3pm so had leisurely lunch 1ish in harbour. Andy has burger and I had barramundi & chips & a pint. All very nice. Horrified at the number, size and cheek of the seagulls. Guy near us took photos of them taking food from his plate. Made me shudder. Waiters spray them with water but they come straight back.
Took an hour to get the numbers - poor organisation for such a huge event.

Home 5ish for shower then out to meet Giovanni from FB running.

Got taxi to restaurant and arrived just about on time. Giovanni recognised Andy straight away. Sat on terrace looking out at boats in the harbour. Owner came for a chat then another 2 from running FB joined us and G's wife Mel a bit later. Nice chat about running, life, travel, families. Had calamares & pizza & wine. G paid whole bill because we were his guests. Very kind and very pleasant evening. Got along with everyone well even though we'd never met before. Susie (runner) & husband Anthony (definitely not runner) run hotels just outside NY - his family business.
Taxi home 10.30. V tired.

First impressions - lovely waterside bits but roads in the city very, very busy.Read more
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- Aug 11, 2017, 9:06am
- ⛅ 20 °C
- Altitude: 42 m
- Australia New South Wales Sydney Surry Hills Harmony Park -33.880283, 151.21368433°52’49” S 151°12’49” E
Day 7
Day 7
August 11, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Good long sleep very much needed! Didn't surface till after 9.30am.
Message from G about meeting for lunch at 11am so we asked if we could join them. Arranged to meet at George Hotel but nobody there when we arrived. Eventually got message to say they were on the next street but coming back to George. Met another new Oz couple, Karen & Mark. They work in event organisation so she is on duty at midnight Saturday night for 12 hours. Also Susie & Anthony from last night. Had veg burger & meat pie with mash & mushy peas. All amused at the small spoonful of peas. They call them mashed peas and fascinated by what goes into pies! Fun conversation about tattoos, travel, ear piercing, boxing, football etc. Anthony insisted on paying and wouldn't accept 2nd drink with us. Not our way but he would have been insulted otherwise.

Left them 1ish and headed for Manly ferry. Very easy €35 ish return on fast ferry. Great views of bridge & opera house. Had lovely couple hours up and down prom in Manly. Lots of surfing. Reminded us of Abersoch but even more money! No chalets or caravans!

Ferry back 5ish and hoped to see Water Light at dusk but we missed it or were in wrong place! Saw wonderful sunset over bridge. Gave up on light show 6ish and headed off for beer. Didn't find any till back at our local Porterhouse. Had couple Superdry beers $7 pint then tower = personal tap for $20. Had sausage & mash and steak & chips. $9ish each. Both ok.
Home and watched tv with glass of birthday wine.

Bed 11.15ish. Lovely day. Happy vibe in city.Read more
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- Aug 12, 2017, 4:42pm
- ☀️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 44 m
- Australia New South Wales Sydney Surry Hills Harmony Park -33.880436, 151.21354733°52’50” S 151°12’49” E
Day 8
Day 8
August 12, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Good sleep again. Up 9ish. Out for walking tour 10am. Eastern European girl took the tour. She was very good. Took us all over the city and told us lots of interesting snippets. Rocks area very busy with chocolate festival. Not sunny this morning so much cooler. Our hoodies would have been ideal.

Finished tour just before 1pm and went back to ICC to drop bags for tomorrow. Easy enough. Then lunch in Darling Harbour. Fish & chips & bacon & cheeseburger & chip pizza. That's a new one on us but it was very nice! One beer each $58 (£35ish). Watched people milling about. Darling Harbour is very nice but there isn't much to look at. No boats!

Walked back home via Romeo's 'everything' shop. Bought milk & flapjacks for tomorrow. Asked on reception for needle & thread to sew up rucksack. Also extra pin for run number.

Did first batch of washing & drying $8.50.

Supposedly easy day today but didn't work out that way of course!

Out 6.30. Tried another bar close by but didn't like it. Went back to Porterhouse. Had 2 jugs $20 each for 1.7l. Cheap! Had BLT & club sandwich - $29. Too many chips!! Home 9ish. Glass wine and watched AFL.

Bed 10ish.Read more
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- Aug 13, 2017, 12:21pm
- ☀️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 49 m
- Australia New South Wales Sydney Surry Hills Harmony Park -33.880451, 151.2137633°52’50” S 151°12’50” E
Day 9
Day 9
August 13, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
City to Surf Day.

Up 6am and out 7ish. Thousands of people milling about in Hyde Park. Cambridge Hotel hotel is perfect location for the start.

Andy went at 8.05 and I went at 8.30. Not a cloud in the sky but chilly in the early morning winter sun.

First half not scenic but second half had lovely views of the harbour and Bondi Beach. Andy did 1.35 and I did 2.05 for 14k. A lot of walking!

Got bus back to Bondi junction then 333 bus home. All very easy. Back home midday ish.

Showered and out for breakfast at 1ish. Had jug of beer (tap) and chatted with crowd from Melbourne. Seemed really nice. Both had burger then off to town. Went round beautiful botanical gardens - enormous green space. Sat outside Opera House watching boats then went looking for beer. Not so easy. Cafes along Circular Quay were very busy on sunny Sunday afternoon so we didn't like them at all. Had a look in a couple of tourist shops - fridge magnets $10 which says it all. Couldn't find any pubs so went to Paragon Hotel for beer then went searching again. No pubs so went to George where we went the other day. Nice quiet beer then went to look for light show from park. People walking away so maybe we missed it again...... Didn't go any further. We've walked/run 26km today so legs have had enough and I need to pee every 5 minutes!!!

Back to Porterhouse. Had 'jug' and shared sandwich & chips. Really nice pub.

Back to Cambridge 8ish with bottle of wine. Very tired.

Bed 10ishRead more
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- Aug 14, 2017, 9:45pm
- 🌙 13 °C
- Altitude: 45 m
- Australia New South Wales Sydney Surry Hills Harmony Park -33.880367, 151.2137633°52’49” S 151°12’50” E
Day 10
Day 10
August 14, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
Up 8ish.

Tea and decide what to do today. Another beautiful day. Smokey outside - were told it's 'backburning' because it has been such a dry winter.

Headed to Rocks. Had sausage roll & ham quiche for breakfast - $16.5. Very expensive but nice.

Walked over bridge and admired the views. On other side, walked through funfair Luna Park then round beautiful houses and back down to ferry back to Circular Quay. Lovely harbour cruise in the sunshine.

Back to Rocks for beer in oldest pubs in town. Fortune of War, Australian Hotel, Hero of Waterloo, Lord Nelson.

Went in Rocks museum. Really interesting short videos on history.

Back to town 6ish to try to see light show again!!!!

Finally saw 7pm show. Was good but not sure worth all the time we have spent waiting over 3 evenings!

Back to Porterhouse for beer, steak and sandwich with chips. Had planned more varied dinner but couldn't be bothered by this stage!

Home for glass of wine. Bed 10.30.

Another beautiful day.Read more
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- Aug 15, 2017, 10:06am
- ⛅ 13 °C
- Altitude: 45 m
- Australia New South Wales Sydney Surry Hills Harmony Park -33.880314, 151.21379133°52’49” S 151°12’50” E
Day 11
Day 11
August 15, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Up 7.30 to do washing and start packing.

Can't believe it's raining today! Not what we planned.

Booked airport bus for tomorrow and confirmed pick up in LA.

All sorted by 11ish.

Out to museum Hyde Park Barracks. Very interesting 3 floors of life since 1800 ish. Convicts slept here and worked during the day and later the building became immigration centre and home for desperate women. Clever people made a lot of money. Rocks became home for immigrants escaping desperate conditions in UK. Great opportunities but lots of vagabonds to deal with! Conditions dire but often better than at home.
Out to courtyard and inviting cafe. Rain stopped so sat outside and had brisket & chicken pie and tea/coffee €32. Really enjoyed all of it.

Left 1.30ish. Bus to Bondi Beach came quickly. Walked to Coogee beach via Bronte beach. All lovely but no nicer than other walks along cliffs. Saw lots of colourful birds and a kookaburra. Quite challenging with lots of steps up and down. Probably good day to do this walk because weather not great. Can imagine very busy on sunny day.

Bus back from Coogee. Very easy. Finished packing then quick jug in Porterhouse 6.15. Meal at Pasta Emilia - very close and we needed something other than chips! Had Peroni then pâté & antipasto then mixed rolled meat (pork, lamb beef with roasted veg) and sausagemeat & pasta. Bottle wine should have been $45 but they didn't charge us for it. Bill was $141 (£85ish). inc tip but no wine! Lovely music - lady playing Spanish guitar and double bass.

Bought $10 bottle with wine so home 9pm.

Love this city. Nice people and fortunately fantastic winter weather. Would definitely come back to Sydney and the Cambridge Hotel.Read more
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