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Published: March 28th 2014
Chinese Garden of Friendship
200 Koi Carp, some of them 40 years oldWednesday 26th March - Arrived in Sydney after 3hr flight from Christchurch - then took 2hrs for the airport shuttle to negotiate Sydney traffic to our hotel by Darling Harbour. Dropped off our bags (but kept our underwear on!) and walked down to the Harbour. Weather a bit on the wet side but warm. Darling Harbour is in the process of regeneration so there are some lovely green spaces, water features and cafés/restaurants along the harbour front. Tried a Belgium restaurant for lunch then decided to walk to Circular Quay and the Opera House. Whilst there we jumped on one of the harbour tour ferries (concessionary prices only a third of standard price - it pays to be old sometimes) and had a very entertaining guide who gave us all the info on who lived where and how much they had paid for their properties!
Returned to our hotel by water taxi which was capable of carrying 50+ people but as he had finished for the day he agreed to take us back to Darling Harbour as his only 2 passengers, concessionary tickets again (only 4 dollars each).
Thursday 27th - again mild but damp.
Tony's favourite Geisha
Note the brolly - not a parasol! Due to check out today before collecting campervan but didn't need to vacate our room until 11.30am so we walked down to the harbour front for breakfast. On our way back noticed an advert for a production of Bizet's Carmen at the Sydney Opera House which only had 2 more days to run. Too good to miss so on impulse we booked another night at the hotel and got 2 tickets for that night's performance - very excited.
As we now had a day to spare we decided to explore the Chinese Garden of Friendship. This was designed and created in 1987 in a collaborative venture between the Chinese and New South Wales governments. This was absolutely beautiful and a real oasis of tranquility in a bustling vibrant city - spent a lovely couple of hours there although Lyn had to have her brolly up most of the time! Quick bite for lunch then explored Chinatown. Tony disappeared into a rather expensive looking jewellers (the sort where no prices are shown) not to buy Lyn some expensive trinket but to try and get a new watch strap for his Seiko watch which has been held together with electrical tape
for the past 10 years! No problem for the Chinese jeweller who said come back in half an hour sir. Collected it 30 minutes later all repaired with new pins and links and VERY clean - all for 20 dollars compared to the £80 which had been quoted in England!
A quick wash and brush up and off to the Harbour front for an early dinner then on to the ferry to the Opera House. WOW another matchbox moment - international cast, fantastic performance, extraordinary venue. During the interval it was drinks overlooking Sydney Harbour Bridge aglow with lights with all the pleasure boats and ferries also lit up - stunning. After the performance we jumped on a bus, no small change, driver said no worries and we were given a free ride back. Just as well because after this little impulse there will have to be a period of austerity in the Higgens campervan for the next few weeks - but well worth every dollar for such a wonderful experience. Yes, we can now do culture!!!!
Friday 28th - leisurely start, breakfast by the harbour then taxi to pick up our next Maui campervan and
by the way it's still raining! Into the Blue Mountains for our first night's stay. No fixed plan other than to head inland and then on to the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Adelaide where we must be by the 6th April for the next leg of our journey. We'll let you know how we get along.
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