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We arrived in Sydney early on 23rd April and caught the train from the airport into the City Centre.
The view flying into Sydney of the sun rising over the city and the coastline was awesome.
We had stopped briefly in Sydney in early February whilst travelling from Brisbane to Perth in our 'Itzy Britzy Campervan' and enjoyed our brief stay .... but the next 8 days would be an opportunity to really discover Sydney properly.
Annie had more meetings arranged for the week, including the first at 10am on the morning we arrived on the 'red eye' overnight flight!
We stayed at The Travel Lodge in the heart of the City - it was by far a better standard than the UK chain....
pleasant staff, a nice little kitchenette in our room and it was close to all the major attractions and within
walking distance of the harbour & Central Business District.
The staff there were kind enough to let us use their facilities and the foyer as our base whilst she made preparations for another presentation.
We had hardly slept on the overnight plane but Madam looked the business as she stepped out into the
plush city centre
office district.
Another meeting over .... and so we spent the next couple of days discovering Sydney and walking miles
taking in the fabulous sights.
On 25th April it was ANZAC day - The Australian National Day of rememberance. It is also a National Holiday.
We watched the parade on TV in our room that morning and then we realised that it was only a few hundred metres away from our hotel!
So, we walked the short distance to George Street and saw the huge parade and a memorial service in Hyde Park. Most of the pubs were holding ANZAC day events and the solemn mood of the morning turned into a celebration. The Anzac spirit was in full flow.
There were hundreds of members of the armed forces in full uniform enjoying the occasion with a few beers
in the many bars holding ANZAC day events. It would have been rude of us not to join in!
So, we paid our respects at the outdoor Morning Service and then joined the International guests & locals
for a great afterrnoon in the Sydney bars!
The military ceremony was nowhere near as slick and polished as our Remembrance
Day parade but the respect shown to both servicemen and women by ordinary Aussies was impressive.
I couldn't help remembering an incident in Coventry last year when soldiers in full uniform attending the
funeral of a fallen comrade were prevented from entering Browns winebar in Coventry.
This was never likely to happen here, the Servicemen and women are held in great esteem & quite right too.
Anzac Day was a day of celebration & will always remain a special day for us....
We met on Australia day in 2001 ( I optimistically asked her to go to the Walkabout Bar in B'ham within minutes of
meeting her!!).... and now on ANZAC Day we received news that will hopefully change our lives forever!
The day evolved into a double celebration!!
The weather throughout our stay in Sydney was beautiful and a real bonus given the fact that it was now autumn. This meant that we were able to top up our tans on the beach!
Getting around Sydney is easy and we walked miles around the harbour, the opera house and the botanical gardens & various parks.
Towards the end of the week we noticed that whilst we
had previously photographed the iconic opera house and bridge at every opportunity, we now became quite blase about the famous sights, almost taking them for granted.
We re-visited Watson Bay where we had stayed in our campervan... one of our favourite spots....
Lottery win permitting we one day aspire to buy a house here!!!
Most evenings we ended up at Darling Harbour - a lovely spot near the hotel with loads of bars and restaurants - and so much cheaper than the bars in Perth. We managed to find the cheapest beer in sydney at $3.50 for a pint compared to $12 a pint in Perth.
On Sunday we met up with Rod and Felicity who we had originally met in Adelaide whilst we had been on our campervan travels. They live in Sydney and had been on holiday in Adelaide when we had met them.
They had given us their contact details and asked us to catch up with them when we were next in town.....
not sure if they meant it - but we did!
They picked us up from our hotel, showed us some of the sights of Sydney usually reserved for locals,
took us to a beautiful beach for the afternoon and then really spoilt us with a scrumtious home cooked dinner at their lovely home in Forestville.
A real treat and indicative of the friendship and hospitality shown to us throughout our travels by the locals!
One of the places they showed us was a swimming pool alongside the harbour and somehow off the normal tourist map.
My brief attempts at losing weight and keeping fit came to a grinding stop in Sydney - and I actually went completely off the rails on our final night - 12 pieces of Kentucky Chicken and 2 portions of chips (I shared 2 pieces of chicken with Madam)! And a few cheap beers.
Australia has been great fun - It has been a terrific 3 months - staying with Rich & Christine for 8 days on
The Gold Coast, a month in a campervan travelling over 8000kms, 6 weeks in Perth and 8 days in Sydney -
we have loved every minute of it.
The people, the weather and the just about everything has been perfect and we will be sad to leave!
But, the next leg of
adventure beckons - we are off to the Cook Islands for 4 weeks!! .........& To de-tox!!
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