Bring on the McOz!

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Saturday March 3rd:

What a great start to our day today: a Skype call to a large dollop of family. I

honestly don't know how people used to cope with the separation on either a long voyage

or, even worse, upon emmigration. The internet and Skype must have made a huge

difference as it makes such a wonderful call when you can actually see the people you're

talking to. The family have all gathered for my nephew's 30th birthday celebrations and

it was good to feel a tiny part of it.

After breakfast we hit the Sydney ferries again - our £30 investment in a week's travel

ticket has been brilliant and today we made that money go ever further by going almost

all the way up the river, this time to the site of the Sydney Olympic games. The

housing that used to accommodate the athletes now has a distinct feel of Milton Keynes

to it but the Olympic park itself is fantastic. All the venues are still in use and the

wide boulevards give it a very free and easy feel. The kids put the open spaces to

great use with their bikes and scooters and skateboards. We headed to the aquatic

centre and joined what felt like all the families of the city in the lesirue pool. The

main pool was hosting a swimming competition so everyone who wasn't in that was in the

play pool. It was probably the most chaotic and noisy swimming session we've ever been

to but it was a pretty good feeling to be able to go there. The ferry from the city

takes an hour each way so it gave us a lovely chance to see some of the quieter suburbs

and the properties next to the water range from the fabulous to the oh my goodness!

Last night we managed to get film of lots of bats flying into the Botanical Gardens and

tonight there seem to be even more of them. For anyone who gets subjected to our

holiday video and photos, they are definiutely going to be a major feature! We looked

them up on the internet and they are known both as fruit bats and flying foxes. When

you get close to them, you realise how big they are. We're used to the little bats in

England which are only about 6 inches across. These ones are often 3 feet across their

wing tips and I think that's why they are so mesmerising. As I'm writing this blog,

there are at least 50 of them in the sky outside our balcony. Somehow sparrows never

manage to be this fascinating!

Having survived the trauma of cooking 2 jacket potatoes last night we're going out for

dinner tonight. It's Mardi Gras in Sydney today and there is a real buzz about the

place. And because our apartment is right on Circular Quay, we only have to go down in

the lift and we have a dozen restaurants to choose from. Having eaten Australian for

lunch, we've chosen Italian for dinner. And talking of eating Australian, that's the

topic of our Facebook photo tonight. After our swim we just wanted a quick bite to eat

so headed for the local McDonalds. After all, wherever you are in the world you know

what you're going to get from a McDonalds. Right? Wrong! Here they have a McOz so

what's a visitor going to do? We had to order it. And it was bonzer! No silly green

pickled cucumber. Oh no, in this you get a big fat slice of beetroot. And it makes the

whole thing taste so much better. I think we should start a campaign to get a McOz in

Britland. they're absolutely excellent.

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