Pilgrims and a well-hung horse

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Mussels? Sharks? Shells? Fans? Swans? Sails? Whatever it is meant to be, if it is meant to be anything at all, that Sydney Opera House is pretty darn impressive. 400,000 teenagers agree. Yes, folks, we arrived in Sydney just in time for WYD - what is WYD i hear you say? it's not a baggage handlers' abbreviation for Wynward Islands, though it could feasibly be that too... it's actually World Youth Day. But what is World Youth Day? Where have you been? Probably the same place as us and our travel agent.. it's basically an event organised originally by Pope John Paul II to get the young people of the world (Catholic world that is ) together to celebrate their catholicism, talk, exchange ideas, debate, pray together. Apparently it also involves teenagers draping flags around each other, breaking into song spontaneously, eating fast food, playing guitar/tamborine/triangle, shouting, walking slowly down crowded streets and staring glassy eyed into the distance. It's not just a day either, it is effectively a whole week of events culminating in Pope Benny taking mass for them all on Sunday.

So we have been seeing a lot of rucksacks, man-made fibres, assorted "experimental" haircuts, dog collars, slogan t-shirts (nothing too racy) and a fair slab of angst. You can't step out of your hotel for pilgrims.. they are everywhere and having a super gorgeous time. In hindsight if we had known about it we may have booked a different week as, and i am trying to be generous, they have rather "taken over" the city. We changed hotels the other day and it took us 25 minutes just to get in the lift to get to our room - they like to hunt in packs these catholics..

However, this is a fabulous city and a load of teenagers having fun really cannot distort our view of it. We love the harbour, the bridges, the beaches, the botanic gardens, the bats (or flying foxes), the weather (it's winter and it's been sunny every day) and above all the sydneysiders friendliness and hospitality. Top hospitality prize to Lew Gemmel, GM at the Cruise Bar who took us under his wing and treated us like Royalty - our turn in London, Lew. Bottom hospitality prize to our hotel the Smelliday Inn, so called because you are gently woken every morning by the smell of curdling powdered scrambled eggs and cheap sausages from the atrium restaurant - not a good look.

We have also used Sydney to have a bit of a "pit stop" - double visits to the physio (dodgy achilles for me, dodgy shoulder for Nige), dealing with hair, stocking up with essentials like lip gloss for me and 9 CDs for Nige. In a very "high fidelity"moment Nige met Mr Squaro the record shop owner who bored him for an hour about sixties music, eventually approving of Nige's choice with an all-knowing wink (or was it a tic?).

Plus we have had an interesting encounter with an Australian animal and not the usual koala, crocodile or kangaroo. We were struck by the site of a well-hung horse - in the middle of the Sydney CBD. And it was dead!!! Unbelievable .... but it's not as shocking as all that. The aformentioned horse was actually a prime exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Arts by an Italian artist. I think the MCA likes to shock and they did!! It was actually an amazing image though i couldn't help thinking my dad may have backed it in a previous life.

So that's it for Sydney, off to Cairns and some rainforest tomorrow but we'll definitely be back.

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