Monday 21st and we return to Sydney, for the third time on this trip, and the rain from Katoomba seems to follow us all the way into town. The late night news remarked that this is the wettest March in 37 years. We're staying at the trendy and hip Blue Hotel, on a wharf in the waterfront suburb of Woolloomooloo, just along the harbour from the Opera House. It is extremely hip and fabulous to our eyes, and they have done a great job in restoring the massive former wool warehouse and jetty to create Blue (a Taj Hotel - travel reviewers, please note). Despite the torrential rain, we venture out to Billy Kwong, one of the top Asian restaurants in Sydney. (We had first heard about the renowned Sydney chef, Kylie Kwong, on a cooking show that we saw on tv somewhere on our travels.) It's difficult to get into as they don't take bookings, so it's first come, first serve. Our gamble paid off, as the rain was presumably just too much most Sydney folk (or those people who have more than one shot at going there) so we just sailed in. We were rewarded with some of the best Asian cooking we've had. Like many Sydney restaurants, it is BYO, so we were able to enjoy drinking our remaining bottle of pinot noir (42 Degrees South) that we had bought in Tasmania.

Tuesday, 22nd March we wake to an overcast day though it isn't actually raining. We had decided that today we would go to the Maritime Museum (I've lost track of how many maritime museums we've seen on this trip) and the Aquarium, conveniently located near each other. The Maritime Museum was enormous, so we concentrated on the Captain Cook era and tried to avoid the crowds of school kids climbing in and out of the submarine and destroyer moored alongside the building. We did tour around one interesting ship, the James Craig, a three-masted 19th Century barque, built in the UK, that traded around the world up to the 1920's when steam ships supplanted sail. It had then been left to rot in an inlet in Tasmania for 40 years, until some enthusiasts decided to rescue it, spending over A$20 million, and 20 years, restoring it to its original glory, using the same methods to rebuild it as had been originally used over a century ago. Not only is it an important attraction at the museum, but it also offers day trips to the public, as it sails every other weekend out into Sydney Harbour. Note for the next trip, this will be on our to-do list. The Aquarium is quite well presented, with plexiglass tunnels that enable visitors to walk under and "through" the enormous tanks filled with sharks, rays and other schools of fish, so you get to see them very close up, from below and the sides as well as from above. I've not been to an aquarium for probably 30 years, so maybe this is a standard feature these days, but we found it a fascinating experience.

We had been invited to dinner with Robin's cousin Lizzie d'Avigdor and family, so we took the ferry across the harbour to Manly, a beachfront suburb of Sydney's north shore. We enjoyed a wonderful, memorable evening with Lizzie, husband Michael, and children May and Alemayehu (daughter Adelaide is currently in London). Lizzie, May and Alemayehu had just returned from two months in Ethiopia, so we had lots to catch up on. Lizzie and Michael are wonderful hosts, and dinner was delicious, with salad and an enormous bowl of divine local prawns, accompanied by some of Michael's marvellous selection of Aussie wines (he gave Robin a few ideas for stocking up our cellar!) And Robin got a birthday cake complete with candles, to continue the celebrations.

Wed. 23 March. After last night, we needed to blow away the cobwebs, so I went for a run in Sydney's Botanical Gardens, while Robin enjoyed the hotel pool. He thinks he got up too early to bump into Russell Crowe (who lives in the penthouse) in the pool or gym. After a late breakfast, we walked up to Potts Point (and it really was up—a long steep flight of stairs was involved). Our goal was the Elizabeth Bay House, which is supposed to be one of the best restored historic homes in the country (note the superlative!). Sadly, our guidebook was badly misinformed, as we learned upon arrival that the house is only open for weekends. As it was a glorious day (sunny, not a cloud to be seen, about 78-80 degrees F), we decided to stroll over to the Sydney Antiques Centre, as our previous visit wasn't long enough to see it all. It was quite a distance, but we enjoyed a really relaxed amble and pitched up just before lunchtime. We checked out the stalls we'd missed last time, and then went back to the Georgian silver man, and did a deal on a couple of pieces of very well priced early 19th C English silver—a much better souvenir than a t-shirt! We then went over to Crown St., restaurant row, and found a Japanese restaurant. They were serving Moreton Bay Bug, which is related to the crayfish or lobster, and extremely ugly in appearance (we'd seen its cousin, Balmain Bug, at the Sydney Fish Markets weeks ago). Robin had been very keen to try it, but we'd never before seen it on a menu, so he gave it a go. Served as tempura, it was delicious (tastes similar to lobster), and I was wishing I'd ordered it as well. After lunch we both started to fade, so returned to the hotel for a restful afternoon--blogging, reading, watching the activity on the navy vessel that's docked across the wharf, and starting the packing process.

Dinner—our last evening on our sabbatical--was a welcome interruption. We headed into the CBD (central business district) to meet John and Caron Palmer, our hosts a few weeks back, and Louise Kiely, a former colleague of Robin's at Amlin, who had moved back home to Sydney 3 years ago. We met at Ryan's Bar, the kind of place you'd only find somewhere like Sydney, as it is a large open outdoor plaza, with several bars set up, tables and chairs, and serves as a massive after-work gathering place for the people who work in the office towers surrounding it. We were joined there by Piers Maunder (an expat Brit who Robin has known for many years) for a drink or two. We then went on to dinner (excepting Piers), at a place called Number One, owned by the celebrated Sydney chef, Tony Bilson. It wasn't very busy, but the food was terrific, and it was a wonderful way to end our sabbatical—good friends, good conversation, good food and good wine.

Thurs. 24 March. Today we leave Sydney for the last time (on this trip, anyway). Early breakfast, then we pack and check out. A final trip to the local bank to close down our account, and then we walk back through the Botanical Gardens. We visited the Tropical Greenhouse, which reminded us of Kew, and then went to see the Wollemi Pine, which was thought extinct (as of many millions of years ago) until it was found up in the Blue Mountains somewhere. They are keeping the exact location a secret from the public as they propagate it and make sure it remains viable in the wild. (Kew Gardens were given a Wollemi Pine so it can be seen there if you can't get to Sydney). We have a light lunch in town and then get ourselves to the airport in plenty of time. Next stop London.......