Sitting on the dock of the bay

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We have been entranced by Sydney. This really is an impressive, smart, attractive and friendly city, set around its large, scenic harbor. The architecture is interesting and varied, with some districts exhibiting something like a classic colonial style, while others have dramatic modern styles, exemplified beyond all in the Opera House. Our hotel is in the charming, rather select district of Kirribilli, which is just a short ferry ride across from the Circular Quay, the centre point of the city. From this base we have been able to explore a large part of this dispersed city, making good use of our public transport rover ticket.

On our first full day after the parade and all the celebrations ,we walked the full length of the famous harbor bridge, lunched in Darling harbor, saw the Opera House at close quarters, and walked through the botanical gardens. By now the weather was fully cooperating and we could enjoy plenty of heat and the glorious clear sunny skies. However in Sydney this results later on in extremely high humidity and sticky conditions! But it also meant that we then enjoyed a second day of further sightseeing in equally conducive conditions. However, we appreciate our good fortune with the conditions,because not far away in the same state, awful floods are driving people out of their homes. We took to the ferries again on our second full day of exploration and explored Manly Bay, which is very beautiful and tranquil. All the ferry rides around the harbor are fun, with each one giving a different take on the city,s remarkable landscape.

We encountered one aspect of Sydney's wild life at Mardi Gras. Since then, we have been enjoying the other forms of wild life, most of it new to our European eyes and ears. We have seen and listened to parakeets in the trees, as well as the noisy cicadas, the regular frog choruses and the screeching kookaburras. Some other forms of the fora are perhaps not so welcome, such as the mean looking tree spider that jumped onto Andrew's hat. But no harm was done!

We have had only four days in Sydney, which feels too brief because this charming city obviously has so much to offer. For once, a place seems fully to love up to its reputation, and it leaves you wanting more. However we must return to New Zealand's north island by an early morning flight back to Auckland, from where we will send our next bulletin.

For Jane, we encountered a very friendly little koala today, as you may have noticed in your e-mail. He expressed a wish to travel to England, so keep a look out for him!

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