Tuesday 26th October

6am start for Blue Mountains tour. Small coach with Marcell a very laid back, Dutch born guide on his first trip - well he got lost a couple of times but made light of it and we had a good day. The first stop was not to my taste, an animal sanctuary (Featherdale Park) originally set up as a petting park for local schools, which got a little ambitious. There were more koalas than I could count and the smell of the piss of that many koalas is a little overpowering. Wombats and Tasmanian Devils either ran round or backwards and forwards within their cramped enclosures and Kanagaroos, Wallabies and Emus begged food from the visitors. There were another 2 caged Cassowarys and the "breeding programme" was illustrated perfectly by the presence of 3 albino kangaroos - what are the chances of that happening outside of Wakering?

Enough of my rantings, The Blue Mountains were spectacular. We "lucked out" we were told with the weather with only a few clouds to "polish the blue, blue sky". We did the scenic cable way to the temperate forest, seeing the 3 sisters and ascended on the scenic railway (steepest railway in Oz) after a tour of the forest, the coal mine entrance and the ventilation system. On our return we visited the site of the Sydney Olympics and had a ferry/hydrofoil ride back to Circular Quay, passing under the bridge with a view of the Opera House from the sea.

Wednesday 27th October

The sun was shining again when we woke and we walked to Circular Quay after breakfast. We took the ferry to Manly in the sun. It's the only way to fully appreciate the "largest natural harbour in the world", it's quite enormous. The paintings of the ships arriving with the convicts and the Aboriginal boats meeting them just doesn't do it justice, however the entrance to Sydney Harbour is very small - Scott had the Gods on his side, could easily be missed. We ate and then walked the length of Manly beach as the sun disappeared behind the clouds. Amie had a restorative ice-cream and then we walked the path around the beach of Manly cove, where plaques in the path commemorate every Manly resident (86) that has participated in the Olympic Games.This country shows great pride in the achievements of its population, not only in the sporting world, but also in the arts and science. It is in great contrast to the attitude of the Brits who, these days, appear to take great delight in knocking the heroes and the achievements of their country. I will be very surprised, if in 2020, coach parties of tourists are being shown the London 2012 Olympic site with as much pride and positivity as Marcell exhibited yesterday.

We returned on the ferry as the rain started, which forced us to take shelter inside. It did stop shortly after we docked so we could take our final walk along George Street. We both love the urgency of the Australian pedestrian crossings and are currently devising a new sport, which we think will be called Pedestrian Olympics. The rules will be posted at a later date but it is based around sprint and bluff. It will be a do or die game, probably with much bloodshed in the true Olympian spirit. The green man lights synchronously with a sudden and alarming beeping. He stays lit for about 3seconds and then flashes red for a slightly longer period. You are fair game/road kill if you haven't reached the opposite sidewalk by the time the red man stops flashing. So the combination of trams, buses, cars and motorbikes with trained athletes impeded by pedestrians of all types, makes this a rather appealing sporting event - well to me anyway. Let me know your views!