Friday 18th February - Sydney

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First full day in Sydney - We decided to take the Sydney Explorer, which is a double decker open topped bus. The bus is hop-on/hop-off and with its 25 stops takes you all round the city visiting all the major sites. This was a good decision as we saw all of the city without too much walking being involved. Sydney is by far the biggest city that we have visited, so exploring it all on foot was not really a possibility

We got off the bus at Darling harbour to visit the Sydney Aquarium, this was quite enjoyable and a lot less crowded than the one that we had previously visited in Singapore. We were also able to buy Aquarium tickets on the bus which meant that we were able to skip the queue.
By the time we had left the Aquarium it was 11:30 and we were feeling quite hungry, the restaurants on the Cockle Bay quay were still serving breakfast. We decided to have a late breakfast and we got a great breakfast a place called BonaFide @Tokio Hotel. We then "hopped-on" the bus to complete the tour,which drops us off right outside our hotel. The hoel that we are staying at (Four Seasons Hotel), as well as being a great hotel with fabulous views from the rooms, is also very centrally placed for busses, ferries, restaurants etc.

We had decided to get the ferry to Manly beach and spend the afternoon there. the ferry was just minutes from the hotel. (I had spent the previous evening investigating the various packages for travelling where they package ferry, busses and rail together, after my research and based on the fact that we are only here for 4days, I decided to just pay as we go).
We took the 13:30 ferry and it took about 30 minutes to get to Manly. We had been told to visit Manly beach as opposed to Bondi, which nowadays Bondi is a bit played out. We did some sunbathing and later went for some wine in a place called "The Pantry" which is the only restaurant on the promenade, but you can sit by the open window and watch life go by on the promenade and beach - but you pay through the nose for a bottle of wine!!
We took the 16:45 ferry back to Sydney. The ferry journey gives great opportunities for photography, especially of the Opera House and Bridge. We called for a beer at the Customs House,on the way back to our hotel, this is where all the office workers seem to go after work.

We were later going out for dinner. Di had spotted a Chinese restaurant ("The East") on the East Circular Quay near to the Opera House. We had a good meal overlooking the Cruise Liner and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We could see the lights of the people doing the night Bridge Climb. I have booked to do the Bridge Climb at 08:20 on Sunday morning!

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