G'day Cobbers

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Location, location, location … I think the rooftop pictures from our hotel say it all. Being situated between the harbour bridge and the Sydney opera house is not too hard a position to be in. We are based in an area of Sydney known as The Rocks and it has been a perfect place to explore the city.

The city appears to be quite small when you compare it to London, and it has seagulls rather than pigeons and as yet (fingers crossed), we have not found ourselves on the receiving end of the ‘lucky’ poop on our heads! Of course we did the obligatory ‘hop on, hop off’ bus tour in and around the city and around Bondi (you know that famous beach place). The city landscape is quite an eclectic mix of old and new - the Ozzies have managed to retain much of their Victorian architecture. We missed completely the scenic cliff walk around/towards Bondi beach and instead managed to get lost finding it, ending up on a route walk around the coast in the opposite direction of where we were supposed to be going. Never mind that’s what being a tourist is all about so we saw parts of the authentic Sydney suburbs, ‘Neighbours, everybody needs good Neighbours’ - sorry wrong city, need to wait for Melbourne to sign that.

Rain drops keep falling on my head or so the song goes. However it did not rain in the rain forest when we went bush walking in Katoomba to view the Blue Mountains. The scenery was really spectacular and our photos do not do it justice at all. My luck must be in as Alan looked a little pale when I went too near the edge to look over at the fantastic views - either that or he doesn’t need to claim the life insurance money yet - just one light push would have done it! Alan just mumbled something about - wanting to enjoy the whole holiday first and too much paperwork!

Alf Stewart was very red in the face and seething, as Irene looked on bemused while Sally Fletcher left … Home & Away, we get closer each day, in Summer Bay. Yes, a few piccies of the ‘real’ Summer Bay for those soap fans out there, taken on location in Palm Beach but we did not see any filming.

Ants, ants everywhere - phew not really - only people looking very miniscule from the heights of the harbour bridge. Can you spot which one is me in the photo? Aside from being exhilarating - it wasn’t as tough climbing all that way as I thought (that’s my quota of exercise for the whole holiday) and it was so worth it. The views were incredible. Alan’s phobia of heights prevented him from going too but gosh he missed a treat.

Our feet were tapping in the aisles as we took in the fabulous show Billy Elliott. It was just as good as the movie - although strange to see County Durham turned into an Australian mining town called Aussie Creek - only joking, they stayed true to the British script and settings.

So much to see and so little time - Uluru next (previously Ayers Rock).

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