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Entry from: Sydney, Australia
Entry Title: “Sydney day 2″

Entry:

“Had a bit of a late start today – sleepless first night in a new bed (you’d think we’d be used to this by now!) so skipped breakfast and went straight to lunch in the oldest pub in Sydney (apparently) in the Rocks (can’t remember its name!) Had Aussie pies (not sure what makes them Aussie, they’re just steak pies) with mash and mushy peas (mm!) for me and chips for Ivan. Walked over to the Harbour Bridge afterwards and up what seemed like a hundred stairs for brilliant views over the harbour. Decided not to actually walk over today because we hadn’t got our travel passes yet and we realised that would mean walking back too! It’s about 5 degrees cooler than in Adelaide but feels warmer because it’s quite humid – we’re told there’s been a lot of rain lately and it is still quite cloudy so think we’ll be lucky to get away without at least one shower.

Went to buy our travel passes and hopped on a ferry to Darling Harbour – which is walkable, but what the hey, we had travel passes! Nice to see the city from a different perspective, and the ferries are very quick and efficient, no fuss getting people boarded or anything (we’re pretty impressed with australian public transport in general but that wouldn’t be hard given what we’re used to!) Had a bit of a walk round, it looks pretty nice so we’ll no doubt be back. Hopped on the monorail back to the city centre (that was a wee bit of a treat for Ivan seeing as he likes his trains!) Stopped off at a ‘convenience’ store on the way back to the hotel – there don’t seem to be any Coles’ or woolworths’ in the CBD – and got totally ripped off – $4.50 for a bottle of water!! No wonder they say this city is expensive..

After a shower and change we headed to get a bus to Watsons Bay for Doyles on the Beach – it’s a famous seafood restaurant on the beachfront (funnily enough) – you might have seen Billy Connolly there on his World Tour of Australia (it’s what prompted me to book). Salivated for a while over the menu, then plumed for mussels to start and a seafood platter (me) and a mixed platter to start then fish and chips (Ivan) with a couple of bottles of Doyles’ own fishermans lager – very nice. In truth the food was a bit disappointing though – the fish and chips were probably the best (I had a couple of small fillets – Ivan had five on his main course! – with my seafood platter) but we thought the place in Adelaide was much better. Having said that, the view was awesome – a wee sandy beach, then a gorgeous bay looking back to the city skyline, watching dusk fall and all the lights come on. It’s a shame it was quite cloudy so we didn’t get a brilliant sunset but got lots of nice photos nonetheless.

Headed back to the hotel and stopped off at the local for a quick drink – quick being the operative word as we discovered the bar closes at 9.45!! Three wee oldies that got into the lift with us had clearly been making the most of it though – they were bouncing off the walls and one of them got hit by the lift door on the way out – I’m sure he didn’t feel a thing!”
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Photos from this trip:
1. “The Opera House”
2. “Sydney Harbour Bridge”
3. “The Opera House again”
4. “Bridge again”
5. “Sydney skyline from Watson’s Bay”
6. “View – dinner at Doyles on the Beach”

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