Borrowed Lucy's car today and put new wipers on it before going to North Heads which is the Northern end of the entrance into Sydney harbour. It provided pleasant breezes from the ocean in contrast to the sweaty city. There are lots of massive spiders around much to Sue's horror, there was a particularly large one on the car which scuttled away into an unknown corner ready to appear on another day. I was forced to wash the car as a precaution that it had gone!

We are back in Sydney staying in the same apartment as we were in before. The weather is hot and humid with the occasional thunderstorm. We are rapidly becoming Sydneysiders and today did Pilates followed by a swim at the North Sydney Olympic pool which is a short walk from us. There is a seniors swimming club and their ladies have recently broken the world 4 by 100 metres freestyle relay for the 100+ age group. There is hope for us all. In the evening we went ...

For a second day in a row we went to the Olympic pool, this time to do Pilates. It was a very enjoyable session with an excellent teacher. We then caught the ferry to Circular quays and went to the modern art museum. They had an excellent Chuck Close exhibition. His work is unique, he creates portraits using all types of medium including weaving, paper mâché, painting, silk screening and other approaches. It is very painstaking and can take many months to creat...

We walked up and down to the North Sydney Olympic pool today. It is hilly in North Sydney and because our apartment is by the water everything is uphill! The pool was built in 1936 and hosted the Empire Games in 1938. In those days distances were in yards. The pool reached its heyday in the fifties and early sixties with 13 world records set in 1959 at the pre Rome Olympics Australian trials. The whole pool is divided into lanes with different categories, fast,...

Today we caught the ferry to Circular Quays with Lucy and her friend Alice joined us for a tour of the Sydney Opera House. Our German tour guide was excellent and gave us an insight into the design and build which was a tortuous lengthy process. This was followed by an excellent taster menu lunch. The ladies went off shopping after lunch and I took a tour of the criminal and justice museum. This highlighted the police involvement in Aboriginal unfair treatment an...