Catching a bus to Sydney Harbour proved wildly efficient. All buses required you to have an opal card which is prepaid and topped up easily using machines in the numerous bus stations. This meant that the bus barely paused at stops as people just hopped on and beeped their cards on pay points before and after their journey were the fee was automatically deducted.

Stepping out from the bus you couldn't fail to notice the incredible Sydney Opera house, perched on its plinth of red granite stone at the end of Bennelong Point. Approaching the $102 million Australian dollar building I was surprised to see that it's white 'sails' were covered in ceramic tiles, all intricately placed together bouncing the sunlight back into the air; I am not sure what I expected the building to be covered with but for some reason tiles surprised me. I later learnt that the building had been designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon and was opened by our very own Queen Elizabeth II! Another illuminating truth I learnt about the beautiful building was that it was finished in 1973, forty three years ago! For some reason I was convinced that the building had been built in my life time, probably due to the cleanliness and artistry of the place that was well ahead of its time when originally commissioned.

Across a short expanse of water was the sturdy looking Sydney Harbour Bridge, the largest steel arch bridge in the world. Supporting the four lanes of traffic and tram line are six million hand driven rivets which connect steel that is 79% imported from Britain - so it's basically our bridge. People could be seen scurrying over the top like moving toothpicks, I'm sure the views were phenomenal but for a hefty $60 each we decided not to bother.

After a swift Diet Coke in the Opera House Bar we boarded a ferry for Manly at the far eastern side of the harbour, incidentally Sydney Harbour is the largest naturally formed harbour in the world!

The water in Manly was crystal clear and you could see right to the bottom of the seven foot deep water where large shoals of fish warmed themselves in the shallower water. An army of paddle borders (a pursuit I have never been drawn to) weaved their way in and out of the moored boats, enjoying the calm after and sunshine.

We then caught and Uber taxi to the Burnt Orange for afternoon tea. The young gent serving us was incredibly dim and rather than evoke pity from us he instilled a viscous feeling of contempt, a feeling which quickly thickened as we found that it was him that told us our 35 minute Uber would be 5 minutes - philistine. The meal however was delicious with a black, charcoal baked brioche bread being the highlight along with an orange soaked sponge which makes me salivate even now.

On leaving the idyllically placed cafe we had an unplanned hours wait for our bus. This wasn't wasted time however as our bus stop was at the top of a hill which looked directly over the harbour opposite the gap in the rugged cliff face that allowed access to the harbour. Looking at this doorway whilst laughing and joking on our bench was a perfect way to kill an hour.

Three bus rides later and we were back in Coogee. After buying some cheese and biscuits we settled back down on our sofa to watch a series on Netflix, 'West World' which is ruthlessly addictive, causing us to all hit the pillow a lot later than we intended.