We loved Sydney -- it's one of the best cities in the world. It's a city built around a huge convoluted harbour with ferries to take you in every direction. I could ride those ferries all day and not get bored.
Sunday morning we walked through the city to the harbour bridge and over to north Sydney to grab some lunch there. It was a good decision -- the rain held off and the sun shone as we walked thru the city and up to the bridge. No we didn't climb the bridge (it's like climbing a ladder -- they hook you up for safety), but the walk was enough. It took us about an hour and a half to get to the other side. There was a Sunday morning market below the bridge on the north side with music from a live band -- very typical of the markets downunder.
We met the general manager of a restaurant called "Ripples" when we were at Hayman, and he recommended the restaurant. Eventually we found it on the shore side of the Olympic pool beside Luna Park -- it's right under the bridge with a great view of the harbour. Food was very good -- and if you go there, it's BYO, so take your own vino or beer for a small charge.
For our final dinner we took the ferry to Watson's Bay which is out by the harbour head and has a wonderful view of the lights of Sydney. Thank you to Chris and Toni who gave us a gift certificate to Doyles, a famous seafood restaurant right on the beach. We had glasses of Aussie bubbly with local oysters and jumbo shrimps and a huge fish with bottle of our favourite NZ pinot, Escarpement (see previous blog http://winedomaine.blogspot.com/) It was a fine finish to our three-month trip downunder!
Other Sydney stuff
John had ordered tickets for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert early in our trip, so we had good seats for this raunchy high energy play. It follows the movie very closely -- even has the bus and Ayers rock up there on stage -- and was well done. They even dragged me up on stage with a couple of other women at the beginning of the second act to dance with the cast to "Go West"!! It was good fun even tho they went so fast I thought I would end up on my face at any moment . . . !
We stayed at the Hilton (on John's points) in the downtown area, close to shopping and theatres. It was renovated recently in a very Asian style -- small rooms and glass walls in the bathroom, so if you get up in the night and turn on the bathroom light, the whole room lights up . . . not good for trying to be conscientious and reading in the bathroom during the night so you don't wake up the other person! We also had to pay room service just to get ice . . . so overall, not recommended for the price. The Hyatt has the best location -- in the harbour across from the famous Opera House. Have no idea of the price, but it would be the best location.
So, that's it. Now we have the long trip home to endure -- I think it's about 24 hours in the air plus airport downtime . . . but we have books and lots of Sudoku to drive us crazy! Looking forward to seeing you back in Toronto!
Cheers! and remember, "no worries"!
Lee and John
