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Published: December 10th 2006
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Woke up around lunchtime feeling a bit more human and with it again. Both fancied a bit of a treat so we headed down the road to 'Delectica' - a cafe recommended in the Lonely Planet, which serves breakfast until 3pm. The food was excellent and it was great to be cooked for and not have to worry. After a good feed we headed into town and got the metro to the Town Hall to get a good look around Darling Harbour. Metro is really well done with clear instructions and double decker trains - it's really easy to get around. Decided to catch a film at the Imax - could only be one choice and that was the film "Extreme" all about mad sports. Unfortunately the only showing was on at 8pm so we had a bit of a wait, so we wandered around for a while.
The Harbour is really busy and is pretty bling - with lots of restaurants, bars and several musems - basically lots of places to spend your tourist dollars. We wandered around for a few hours - it feels very familiar and has a nice feel - very London like, but a bit
quieter. The weather feels a bit sunnier and warmer than Perth - nice to be in the warmth again.
The park next to the Harbour was hosting a Thai food festival, but by the time we headed out there it was pretty much all over, tried to see the Chinese gardens nearby as well, but it was closing time for too - oops! Decided to give up on the sight seeing and make like an Aussie and go for a beer instead, which was much more successful!!!
Afterwards headed into Chinatown for some food - it's similar to Soho in London - one of the meals came in a huge glass bowl with lots of liquid and too much oil for our liking, was a bit odd but fairly tasty. True to form we spent more time than we expected eating and then had to run back the Imax to make the film - but luckily made it ok. It's a huge screen and neither of us had been to one before - can make you feel a bit dizzy at first. The film was cool - lots of adrenalin led sports, so Paul was in heaven and
Storking...
Bet Mave and Dave would not have problems with this one eating their fish! it really captured the attention - was a well spent 45 minutes.
Afterwards we headed back to the hostel and crashed out - the trip from Perth was a bit of a killer and is going to take a few days to recover. Our room is overlooking a central courtyard and is fairly noisy, but we did manage to get some sleep... Slept through till 11am so must have been really wiped out.
Took a trip to Coles, the local supermarket, and bought enough food for the next few days - cost about as much as the brunch yesterday - going to have to watch costs again we think! Had a tasty breakfast of fresh Mango and Muesli and attemped to catch up with washing, e-mails and just kind of recovering.
Finally summoned up enough energy to make it out in the early afternoon - Beck thinks it might be a ploy by Paul to stop them wandering around the shops quite so much - he is saying nothing! Wandered down to the Botanical Gardens to reach 'Mrs Macquaries Point' which is along the bay from the Opera House so you get a really great view. Sydney
Harbour is an amazing sight - lots of open water with the bridge, Opera House and lots of impressive sky scrapers. Really impressive and a photographers dream. We could see a group of people - looking like ants, climbing up the Harbour bridge. It was fairly windy today so it seemed to take them ages to climb up. At 90GBP each it was too expensive for us to have a go at.
After WA Sydney feels really cosmopolitan and is pretty vibrant - seems to have something for everyone. It's great to be in such a big city, but to also be so close to the water and the beach. The weather is fairly warm which is great; bth could see ourselves living here - sorry Mums!
Next was the Sydney Opera house to wander around the outside of the building - is really amazing, and up close you can really tell it was built in the 70s - just has that look! We did not realise that there are a number of seperate buildings here - with a couple of theaters and restaurants that make up the whole complex - weird to see it so close after
only seeing it on TV before. Really looks like a ship about to set sail.
Wandered around the otherside of the Harbour, to look at the bridge a little closer and take some more photos, before grabbing a sarnie by the ferry terminal to do some people watching. One street performer was packing up his stuff - then did a set of press-ups before heading off for home - bizarre!
Both felt the need for a bit of exercise so headed over for a swim at an open air, salt-water pool called the Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool. Have apparently been pools and swimming areas in this part of the Harbour for a while and it was a great experience. Apparently it's really popular with the Sydney gay crowd so Paul did not hang around in the changing rooms for long, especially when there was another guy in there going push ups (and no it was not the street fella from earlier!)
Back to the hostel for a BBQ (Pauls latest obsession) and an early night, although it was beer free so not too sure if we will manage to sleep.
Did sleep badly in the end,
adding insult to injury
More birds of Paradise that just grow outside. although we are not too sure if it's from the lack of alchohol or the noise outside the room, due to people milling around the courtyard and being noisy. Seemed to be out there late and then back again early - definitely worth asking for a room away from the courtyard if you are staying there and want some good sleep.
Made it out to the Central YHA to go off with a local surf company for a days surfing tuition. We were picked up by one of the instructors in a 4WD as they just drive down the beach until reaching a suitable spot and then have the lessons there. He was a real surfer dude and was very entertaining and just kept saying 'sweet', 'dude' and 'far out' - for some reason was wearing some thermal ear warmers - maybe this is Sydney surf cool?...
The beach is really secluded and there was no one else about - Beck really enjoyed the lessons and it helped as we did not miss the beginning of the lesson this time. They covered the basics of getting on the board, paddling and how to stand up. The boards were
huge coaching boards and were not in too great condition - held together with duck tape - not quite as pictured in the brochure! Had a good time playing in the waves, and figuring things out - had a free lunch and enjoyed some cookies and beer. Both managed to get up ok and had a good time, so it looks like there will be a new addition in the garage some time soon!!! The weather was pretty good and the sun was out - Beck got suntan marks where the wesuit had been, despite wearing factor 30+ lotion.
Everyone was a bit knackered on the way back and were fairly quiet - much to our drivers disappointment - he tried to get the conversation going - don't think he liked silences, but none of us could summon up the energy.
Back to the hostel to clean up before heading down to the nearby wharf and checking out 'Harrys Cafe de Wheels' a famous pie van that's a bit of a tourist attraction. Opened in 1945 and is apparently open 7 nights a week and 18 hours a day. Fairly popular and very tasty. Wandered back and had
Captain Cook maybe?..
its been a while since we took these so we forget sorry! a few beers listening to some live music - both a bit knackered, but want to make sure we are 'numbed' enough to get some sleep tonight after last night's lack. The guy on guitar was really entertaining and good value for money - did lots of covers and had us all singing along. Both ended up sleeping well - alcohol does have its uses after all!
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