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We caught an early Jetstar budget airline flight to Sydney. The descent into Sydney Airport was great with views over the harbour. Once we'd checked in to our hostel we went for an explore, walking all the way down George Street to the harbour. It was somehow really surreal to be standing looking at the Sydney Opera House; such an iconic building you've seen images of hundreds of times and associate with "the other side of the world"! It looked pretty stunning in the late afternoon sun, set against a clear blue sky. We found an Asian food court for dinner where we ate some yummy cheap Korean food. Then, after doing some laundry (it's such a treat to have some fresh smelling clothes!), we went to see the Chinese Night Market which fills a couple of streets in Chinatown on Friday nights with stalls selling snacks and bricabrac.
The next morning we walked up to The Rocks and had a wander around the weekend markets. The winding hilly cobbled streets in The Rocks seem a world away from the skyscrapers of the CBD. We walked to Observatory Park for views of the Harbour Bridge and then popped into the
Lord Nelson Brewery - the oldest hotel in Sydney - where we had a couple of glasses of real ale and Phil satisfied his craving for a meat pie! From there we walked across the Harbour Bridge then down through Circular Quay to the Botanic Gardens for sunset over the bridge and the Opera House. Later that evening we headed to an Irish bar to watch Man Utd vs Arsenal to see Utd clinch the Premiership, where we spent our time in the company of an extremely friendly drunk Irish Liverpool fan.
Waking to a beautifully clear blue sky, we set off to the harbour to catch the ferry to Manly. It was great to be out on the water, seeing the curves of the Opera House from all angles and getting views across the cityscape. When we arrived in Manly we walked down the main street to the Ocean Beach - a huge sandy beach which was a hive of activity with volleyball courts and the sea dotted with surfers. We lazed on the beach for a while and then spent the afternoon walking around the harbour coast on the Manly Scenic Walkway. The water is so crystal
clear but no one seems to swim in it other than inside shark nets or in the saltwater pools. All the public space here (and everywhere we've been in Australia) is so well maintained, there's so much of it and it's so well used: it was a Sunday afternoon and there were loads of big groups of families and friends sitting on the grass having picnics and BBQs. Elly got an ice cream and we went back down to the beach until catching the ferry back at dusk, seeing the city light up as we approached.
The next day we caught a train to the Blue Mountains. After a 2 hour journey through Sydney's suburbs and some forested hills we reached Katoomba, a hilly little town at the heart of the Blue Mountains. After checking into a hostel we walked to Echo Point for a view over the mountains. The eucalyptus forest that covers the mountains really does give off a blue haze. We shared the view with a few tour groups dropped at Echo Point for a view of the Three Sisters rocks. We then set off on a walk into the eucalyptus forest, down the Giant Stairway
of 950 steps, then took a cable car up a steep cliff and walked back to Echo Point along the cliff tops. The next day the view from Echo Point was not so dramatic - a thick mist had swept in down the valley meaning that we couldn't see more than 2 metres in front of us! We were glad to have seen the Blue Mountains on the previous day as there were plenty of disappointed tourists looking blankly at the white wall of mist. After a short walk along the cliffs getting little more than the odd glimpse of valley through the fog, we went to catch the train back to Sydney.
In the morning we caught a tram to the Fish Market in Darling Harbour - an amazingly wide variety of seafood and lots of places to eat the day's catch. Phil exploited the cheaply priced lobster and Elly had some fresh sashimi down by the waterfront. We had a look around infamously cheap and cheerful Paddy's Markets and then down Oxford Street. In the afternoon we walked up through Hyde Park to the Art Gallery of NSW to have a look at the aboriginal art exhibition
(the largest exhibition of aboriginal art in Australia - not so large in reality). We went for a wander through the Botanic Garden and saw the vast number of the bats in the trees. As we walked past the Opera House a huge thunderstorm was brewing so, under an ominous sky and with the first spots of rain, we dashed into the Contemporary Art Museum. Sure enough, as soon as we got inside the heavens opened so we had a look round and enjoyed the life works of Yayoi Kusama, an eccentric 80 year old Japanese artist. After packing our bags ready for an early morning flight, we had a sudden realisation that we were actually going to the Philippines - apprehensive and excited at the end of our last day in the "Western World" until the end of August!
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