The only thing we had planned for today was to spend time on the Hop On/Hop Off bus going to the attractions along the way. We started the day by walking toward the office of the HOHO bus to find out how to pick up the ticket that we had arranged for before leaving home. The office is on Circular Quay near the same place where we went for the walking tour yesterday, and we found it pretty easily. They were fine with accepting a copy of the email that I had as payment, but told us to present that to the driver at the first stop.

Seeing that the first stop was right outside, we decided to get breakfast first before getting on the bus. We walked across the street to the Ship Inn for coffee, tea, banana bread and a croissant. It was a perfect light breakfast after all the heavy food we have had on the ship. After eating, we went to get on the next available bus. The person checking tickets there took a little longer verifying that my email was acceptable as a valid ticket, but he did exchange it for tickets and earplugs for the day.

We had to wait about fifteen minutes for the bus to leave the stop, but when it finally left, we had good air conditioning. It was already hot this morning. The bus offers an outlet at each seat to plug the earplugs into to listen to the narration with choice of language and one channel specifically for kids. Listening to the kids' narration, I learned that woolloomooloo is a baby kangaroo. We were just passing the Woolloomooloo area of Sydney when the narrator told that story.

We went only part of the way around the hop on/hop off route, got off near the Archibald Fountain, and headed north on Macquarie Street passing the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, the Mint, the Sydney Hospital, Parliament House and the State Library of New South Wales. In front of the hospital, which is currently in use and was the first hospital in Australia, is the statue of the wild boar, Il Porcellino. We rubbed his snout for good luck before going on. We stopped at the state library and found wonderful exhibits on display inside.

We continued on down Macquarie Street past Bridge Street where we could turn to get back to the hotel, but we were looking for some place for lunch. We came to one of the side entrances to the InterContinental and had to take some photos of the door, because the barred gate made it look more like the InterContinental jail than a five-star hotel. Finding no restaurants, we went back around to the front of the hotel and decided to go to the Governor's Table right across from the main entrance of the hotel and in the same building with the Museum of Sydney. Lunch was fine--service was a bit slow, but the food and drinks were good.

After lunch, we visited the museum which must be one of the smaller and less well-known ones in the area. They have nice displays about the settlement of Sydney and the interactions of the Europeans with the Aboriginals. It wasn't very busy.

For dinner, we had what was probably the best meal of the entire trip at the Meat and Wine Co. It is in the hotel, but seems to be a separate business. Philip ordered the kangaroo skewer, and I had a Monte Black fillet. Monte beef is exclusive to the Meat and Wine Co., and the Black cut is one of their best. We were unsure of which sides and how much to order, and the waiter was very helpful so we did not order too much, but still got to taste several things. He also made some great wine suggestions even having Philip taste what he was recommending before telling him what it was. The waiter thought it was the best pairing for the kangaroo, but knew that many people would balk at trying the blend he suggested. He was right. The wines were perfect with our meals.

We are in for the night early and have packed most everything for our departure tomorrow.