Ready for adventure I

I woke up this morning and started getting ready for the day. Then I realized it was only 6 am Sydney time and promptly went back to bed for another two hours. Alyssa figured out that I am 17 hours ahead of Winnipeg. The condo host left a binder of information about his favourite places in Sydney as well as useful bits of information about the immediate community. So my first task was to buy some food. The nearest grocery store is 2 blocks away and is called Woolworths but locals call it Woolies. This is a full service grocery store, not like the Woolworths chain at home that I remember from many years ago. Food shopping is always interesting in a different country because of the different products available. Prices were comparable to home for some things but more for others. For example, a decent loaf of bread is $5, a litre of milk $1.29 and a locally grown mango $2.50. They don’t sell wine at the food stores but I did find a private bottle shop later and wine is expensive, even the good locally produced wines.

After breakfast I got out the map and plotted a walking route for the day. This condo is centrally located and downtown sites are very walkable. Signage is excellent because at most corners are signposts pointing out the direction to different attractions and how many minutes it would take to walk there. I always felt safe and made it back before dark.

I started with a walk through Hyde Park, a tranquil green space with fountains, wide walkways, and huge trees. There are warning signs to avoid the park after heavy rainfall or strong winds because of the risk of falling trees. From here I went to the Royal Botanic Garden, a beautiful 72 acre park with a variety of gardens.....a Fernery, Succulent Garden, Tropical Garden, as well as the usual rose and traditional gardens. There were two special events, a Tomato Festival and an exhibit of carnivorous plants. The only negative was that many of the plants weren’t in bloom.

From here I went back through Hyde Park to the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Memorial. It is a tribute to their service and sacrifice and is very well done. As if that wasn’t enough I walked through China Town and Paddy’s Market (rows of booths selling cheap Made in China products). In Honolulu the news had reported that businesses in China Town were having to close early because of lack of business related to Coronavirus fears. Here that doesn’t seem to be an issue as it was fairly busy.

At the end of the day my fitness monitor indicated 15,517 steps (or 10.6 km). That explains why I fell asleep sitting up on the sofa when I got back to the condo!Read more