Barry and Elaine returned our rental car at 11:00 am. Our total bill for the 16 day rental came to $865.00 Canadian, which was great value as far as we were concerned.

When they got back, we headed for the Olympic Park for a personalized tour by Elaine. She had been a volunteer in 2000 and been assigned to assist the Canadian team. She still gets Christmas letters from Diane Jones-Konihowski, a former world class pentathlete who stayed active in sports after retirement and led Canada's Olympic Team to the Sydney Olympics as a Chef de Mission!

Elaine took us on a great tour around the former Athlete's Village and the sport venues, including the Telstra Stadium. One of our favorite sites was called "Games Memories", which incorporates Olympic memorabilia, multi-media presentations, and a forest of nearly 300 poles that list the names of the 74,000 volunteers who contributed their time and services to the Olympics. Elaine's name was mistakenly listed twice - once as "Cater, Elaine" (correct), and the 2nd time as "Cater-Canada, Elaine". We thought the mistake was wonderful!

Finally, we got to the highlight for Barry - the Olympic Pool. Barry swam, despite his injuries (later diagnosed as bruised ribs and a type 1 separated shoulder), and Connor and Tessa explored the pool and tried to complete a huge floating and bouncing obstacle course. The experience was great and we were very proud that we'd gone to the Athens, Beijing and now Sydney Olympic sites to celebrate our love of sport.

As we were leaving the Sydney Olympic Park, Elaine noticed something new that she hadn't explored - the Brickpit Ring Walk. It is an 800-meter suspended walking bridge that looks down on the old Brickworks property, which is now protected to preserve the habitat of endangered Green and Golden Bell Frogs. It was cool looking down at the lagoon and reading the interpretive material about the area.

When we finished the walk (the kids ran it), we drove over to Bondi Beach, which is one of Australia's, and probably the world's, most famous beaches. Famous personalities, bodybuilders, and topless beauties can all be found there, and it has been the location for a few movies and TV series. The kids really enjoyed the waves and water here, coming out for brief rests before plunging back in for a total of three or four times. Next we headed to Watson's Bay. Watson's Bay is located on the southern head of the entrance to Sydney Harbour. To the east is the Tasman Sea and to the west is the harbour with a glorious view of the city of Sydney in the distance. Watsons Bay is where Governor Phillip first landed in Australia. It's also recognized as Australia's oldest fishing village, having been established in 1788. The Bay is famous for being the home of the first Doyle's Restaurant. The site on which the restaurant now stands is where Doyle originally sold his daily fish catch in 1845. We decided to buy a take-away lunch from Doyle's Fish And Chip Outlet, located on the wharf, and ate it in the park while watching the sun go down. After supper, we walked south to The Gap and climbed the stairs to the top of the cliff to take in yet another stunning view across the harbour to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We'd already been amazed at Elaine's great hospitality, but the day was not over yet. She next took us to Luna Park to get great night views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. It was lovely and we enjoyed exploring Sydney at night with Elaine's company and knowledge. We were home by 10:00 pm, exhausted but delighted with our amazing day in Sydney.