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Published: January 13th 2009
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A title like 'slip, slop and slap in Sydney' sounds a bit saucy I know but believe me if you don't do the the three S's at this time of year in Australia (or any for that matter) then you're likely be in for a spot of bother. Rather than being something that might appear in an Angus Deaton headline the slip, slop and slap have very practical and possibly life saving connotations; first you slip your shirt on, then you slop on the sun screen and last but not least you slap your hat on - this is the mantra that all aussies now live by and for good reason, Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world. Knowing this we didn't take any chances while sightseeing around Sydney and folllowed the 3 S's at all times.
Sydney is quite an impressive place with plenty to see and do, the bridge and the opera house are the obvious draws but then outside of those everything else feels like it could be in most other major cities across the globe. There are several art galleries and tons of museums celebrating Sydneys maritime history as well as plenty
of parks and open spaces to relax. I think my favorite aspect of the city has to be how easy it is to travel around and just how friendly Sydney folk are, everytime we asked for information or directons the people in the know couldn't have been more helpful. It certainly contrasted with some of our experiences throughout Asia and I guess for obvious reasons but nonetheless it was very much appreciated.
We only had a 3 days or so in central Sydney which isn't a great deal of time but I reckon we did pretty well considering and managed to cram quite alot in. In that time we visited Darling harbour which is home to a replica of Cooks ship the Endevour, the opera house, the contemporary art museum, the Australia museum which was showing the wildlife photographer of the year award (amazing!!!!), hyde park, the botanical gardens, saw in the new year, visited the cinema which was very comfortable if not a bit pricey (we watched The Day The Earth Stood Still), visited the art gallery of new south wales and finally the Powerhouse which has to be my favourite, not because it offered a great insight
into Australian history but simply because I am a bit of a geek.
The Powerhouse is like Sydneys version of London's science museum only I thought it was better and it was holding a Star Wars exhibition. Tickets to the Star Wars exhibit were my Christmas present from my brilliant wife, I assume the exhibition has been doing the tours but I hadn't heard of it before so I was very excited. The premise was basically Science fiction vs. fact but it was really just an excuse for loads of overgrown kids to marvel at original models and costumes from the Star Wars movies, the science bit was just a rue to convince the wife its educational for the kids. Joking (and geekiness) aside the science was pretty interesting, we learnt all about Mr Bransons efforts for galactic tourism and maglev trains, fascinating stuff, honest. After Helen dragged me away from the original Yoda puppet (and I had calmed down from my tantrum - all the other kids were having them) we went and visited the ´real´science stuff which was also very interesting (I suppose). Helen was very excited about seeing moon rock (geek).
Seriously though, the Power house
was value for money and a great place for kids, big and small. Thinking about it I would say most of Sydney seemed ideal for families and children and much more so than say, London I reckon. We managed to fit one last museum in before we left Sydney thanks to Jules who took us into 'town' before we jumped on our plane to New Zealand which is where I am now writing this. So goodbye OZ, hello Kiwi.
It certainly makes a change starting a new year somewhere warm and dry, lets hope it stays that way.
Now all we need to do is find some jobs and somewhere to live.
We´ll keep you posted.
Oh, and if your wondering where the pictures of animals came from, (sadly Koalas and kangeroos don't just wonder around central Sydney) we also managed to fit in Featherdale zoo which was almost as good as meeting Darth. Looking back, we did loads in our short time in Sydney and I have no doubt we couldn't have done half of it without the help of Jules and Larry who looked after us while we were down under. Cheers guys xx
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Em
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Is it me or does the storm trooper look a bit "happy" to see Helen in her shorts? You've missed the smut I bet! xx