I started my day enjoying my coffee on the steps of the town hall....watching the bustle of city life happen before me. I am glad that I am just a visitor to this place and do not have to live it every day. I find being in the heart of the city a bit overwhelming at times, however drinking my coffee under a jacaranda tree in the courtyard at the town hall was quite enjoyable. I purchased myself a hop on hop off bus pass for the Sydney explorer. If you don't have a lot of time this is a great way to see the city. The bus is a double decker so I went straight to the top. It is supposed to rain so I wanted to be outside while I could! I am not much of a museum person and I really did not have time to spend hours wandering around them. Some of the stops I had explored yesterday, for example the Opera House and Hyde Park. I ventured off the bus at Kings crossing and made my way to the next stop on foot. Kings crossing seems like a typical strip of shops, cafes and restaurants......however.....once it gets dark it turns into somewhat of a red light district. Evidence of this can be seen when one looks up and reads the signs on the building above! The tour continued on through the botanical gardens, if I had more time I would of liked to have explored this as well. The bus made its way to the Opera House and back up past Hyde Park, we passed this area at 11am where I learned that every day there is a short memorial service for those lives lost in war. I got off the bus at the Sydney Fish Market, although it was nearing noon and I was getting hungry, I just could not bring myself to eat there!! I know.....very disappointing! There was so much going on and just didn't even know where to begin! It was very neat to see all the different seafood. I was slightly disappointed as for some reason in my mind I figured it would be a bustle of fisherman and fishing boats, fish being chucked around....rather it was a bunch of stores with lots of seafood! I had visited Darling Harbour the day before so I stayed on the bus. I got off at Dawes point and walked under the Sydney Harbour Bridge toward an area called the rocks. This area is urban and quite touristy and expensive so I meandered on through and got back on the bus a few stops later. I made my way to Bondi Beach for lunch. I grabbed a sandwich and headed down to the beach where I sat in the sand and had my lunch. I wished I had my swim suit with me, until I put my feet in the water....brrrrrrr!! I walked barefoot the whole length of the beach, watching the surfers along the way. The lifeguards seemed to be on high alert and yelling in their loud speakers to keep the tourists in the right area to avoid the surfers! The sand was so fine and so soft.....silky almost....I spent a lot of time digging my feet in the sand :) On the way back from Bondi there was some amazing view of the bridge and opera house in the distance. I decided to get off the bus in Chinatown and explore the area. I also found a chemist where I found some kind of vitamin c tablet as I feel as though I am fighting a bit of a cold.....I was able to walk to my hotel from there....I decided to grab a wrap for supper and head up to my room. Considering there was 60% chance of showers/storm I was very lucky that it only rained a bit a couple of times, nothing to scare me down from the top of the double decker bus or off the beach! One thing about Sydney that I noticed is they have many protected historic buildings squeezed between very urban modern buildings. There were buildings with grass growing up them and flowers, metal, wood, brick and it goes on. Loved it! I also enjoyed the amount of green space and trees in the city. I am looking forward to hitting the road tomorrow and getting out of the city. Tomorrow I get to start camping in my jucy crib! Am very excited about that!