45. Sydney-Part one

On our approach to Sydney airport we flew over the city, giving us our first glimpse of the famous harbour and all its landmarks. So, as soon as we had checked in to our hotel and sorted ourselves out, we headed down to the Sydney Tower, the tallest building in the city, eager to get our bearings and some good pictures. Unfortunately, the view of Sydney Harbour Bridge was more or less hidden by high rise office blocks so it was all a bit disappointing.

Undeterred, we continued on down to the harbourfront just in time to see one of our "old" cruise ships, the Carnival Spirit, which we sailed on back in 2002, pulling away from its berth. We watched it for a while thinking of the fabulous views the lucky passengers were getting as it began its journey out of the harbour. We also managed to get some nice pictures of both the Bridge and the Opera House, so the walk down was not totally in vain.

Next morning, Wednesday, we walked back down to the harbour and to the Circular Quays in order to catch the ferry across to the suburb of Manley. Rather than pay for a tourist excursion, this is a much more cost effective way of seeing all the landmarks from the sea. We arrived in Manley 30 minutes later and spent some time walking around and checking out some of the famous surfing beaches. Surf was definitely up, but if you ask me, it looked pretty rough and not that many people were in the sea. However, a little further around the coast was Shelly Beach, a small cove that was sheltered from the Pacific swell and it was very busy indeed. A group of schoolchildren were being taught swimming and lifesaving skills....school was never like that in my day.

By the time we caught the ferry to return to Circular Quay the clouds were thickening and darkening and just as we stepped off, thunder was booming all around. The rain looked like it had set in for the rest of the afternoon so we made the most of things and got into the dry by having a look around the Australia museum. It was nothing special but at least we didn't get wet.

By the end of the afternoon the rain lifted so we took a stroll down to a lookout point known as Mrs Mcquarie's Chair. From here we could take in great views of the Bridge and Opera House and all the harbour traffic running to and fro. We continued meandering around the Botanical Gardens, eventually ending up back at Opera Quays in time for a well deserved alfresco steak, chips and beer before heading back to the hotel and the prospect of a good night's sleep after all our walking.