Sydney Sat Nov 3rd

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A leisurly start to the day began with breakfast (bacon/egg roll + coffee) in Rushcutter's Bay Park. The cafe overlooks the tennis courts and the local coach was putting a group of aspiring Rod Laver's through their paces - watched by an equal number of doting parents

A short train and tram ride saw us in Darling Harbour - this appears to have been recently developed and is brimming with tourists. We happily mooched around for a few hours, taking in:-


• Replicas of Endeavour ( Captain Cook's ship) and other old ships/boats
• We test drove a Ford Focus & Ford Ranger - I was impressed with the auto parking and urban stop facilities on the Focus, but less impressed with the marginally steep slope that the Ranger drove up and down. Our participation did however ensure a contribution by Ford to Cancer Research and earned us each a coffee.
• We bought some oranges in Paddy's Market ( a very busy indoor market selling evrything imaginable) - to satisfy Kate's concerns about the lack of fruit in our diet!!


Having exhausted Darling Harbour and Cockle Bay, we took the ferry back to Circular Quay - this took 20 minutes longer than the tram but stopped at a number of quays we hadn't yet visited.

Next we strolled over to the stylish Rocks Area and its Market - a mixture of posh shops and expensive stalls. There was an exception to its up-market feel with a band belting out Irish jigs and well-known tunes in an Irish Bar - supposedly the oldest in Australia.

The predicted sunshine had never broken through the clouds and we were getting chilly - so at 4.30pm we headed back to our hotel.

In the evening we decided to celebrate Nov 5 a few days early by watching the weekly firework display in Darling Harbour. On the way we grabbed a burger & chips at Hungry Jacks (bad call!) and then a hot chocolate in Gloria Jeans (better call!!). JC finished off the night with a glass of corona (mexican beer) in the hotel bar (very average call!!)

Kate's Thoughts

Disapointing weather! But nice atmosphere in Darling Harbour- lots of street musicians playing aborigine and folk music and lots of interesting ships( including two P& O cruise liners). I love travelling on the ferries, you really get a sense of geography.

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Photos

Replica of Endeavour
Replica of Endeavour

Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour

Rocks Market
Rocks Market

Irish Pub Band
Irish Pub Band

Paddy's Market
Paddy's Market