Friday 27th March 2009

Really didn't do much of any note yesterday as was raaaather tired. Just mooched about Margaret's flat really, after getting up at about 11:30am! Didn't think I'd sleep that long but I guess after I'd faffed about going to bed, it must have been about 2am. Anyways, I obviously needed the sleep.

Today, I had a wander about in Central Sydney and had my first real life sighting of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge! I was so excited when I got off the bus and walked down to the quay....and there they were!!
I ended up going for a walk around The Rocks area, where there was a nice little market on. Also picked up 101 leaflets and brochures in the Visitor Centre for things to do and stuff to see! Also saw lots of signs for a 70s street party on Sunday in The Rocks area, which sounds like loads of fun. There are going to be vintage cars there, food, and a 70s band playing 70s tewns! They're also going to have a 'best dressed' competition, so I'm looking forward to seeing lots of people in afro wigs and flares! Shame I haven't any 70s clothes with me, but I'll go along for a laugh in any case.
I did want to go for the Opera House tour, but I was quite happy just having a wander about in Sydney to be honest! I was also still feeling a bit tired, so I ended up going back to the flat after a few hours.
Took the ferry back to Rose Bay as well - really nice ferry ride! Got to see the Opera House closer up, and the Harbour Bridge from further away so got some good photos of them :) Only takes 10 minutes on the ferry from Central Quay, and then about a 5 minute walk back to the flat - sweeeeeet!

Margaret took me for a walk along the harbour front near her flat in the evening, as it was still quite warm outside. That was nice as she really doesn't live that far from the harbour front at all. Rose Bay is a really nice area as well, and it's fairly easy to get around. There actually is public transport here too - it's almost amazing! Margaret seems to think it's not all that good but it is compared to other Ozzie towns and cities! I know there are still some bus services that only go every hour, and the ferry is more of a commuter one so it's not that frequent in the middle of the day, but it's actually the best public transport system I've been on in Oz so far. Considering that I can get to Margaret's flat by either ferry, train, or bus, I think that's a pretty good selection of public transport!
Actually, the system in Hobart wasn't that bad either though the buses to Lenah Valley did go down to one an hour after 6pm....but they still ran until quite late which I thought was good.

Plan for tomorrow is to go to Paddington markets and then probably have a look at Bondi Beach too. Hoping to have a laugh at some poseurs down on the beach so should be good fun!

Saturday 28th March 2009

Today is V Festival day in Sydney day but I'm glad I didn't get a ticket really as I thought it would be a) not so much fun on my own to go to, b) should really save the $140 for diving in Cairns, c) I woke up with a raspy throat and snotty nose, and d) I'd rather have an easy day going to a market and a beach! Probably a good thing I didn't get a ticket for the festival seeing as I've got a cold!
In the end, Margaret and I walked to Bondi Beach (it's only about half an hour's walk away which is great) and had a little stroll past the beach. It's actually quite a nice beach though my Rough Guide book says that it's not the best beach in Sydney by far, but you do have to go there because it's so iconic. Margaret says that Coogee beach is really lovely and you can walk there from Rose Bay too, so I'll be doing that one day soon I'm sure.

Got the bus to Paddington market and only spent money on food - yay! I did spot a few nice things....but I was a good girl and didn't buy them. Especially as I'd bought a couple of t-shirts in the souvenir place in The Rocks yesterday. Found a really cute Opera House t-shirt on sale, and the cutest koala t-shirt too. It's actually a kids t-shirt....age 6 years....it fits me....I am quite embarrased by that. I could even have fitted into the age 4 one as well which is even more embarrasing, but the age 4 was a little too tight. To justify the I-can-fit-into-an-age-6-years-t-shirt embarrasment, they do seem to size their kids t-shirts quite big over here. I picked up an age 12 t-shirt (I fit into those at home) and it was about twice as wide as I am. Yes, yes, I'm not that wide, but you know what I mean - it did look a LOT bigger than it needed to be. Ok, I'm going to stop going on about this now!

Then we took a bus to the North Head and had a walk around there, which was really nice. Lots of good views from the top and even better now most of the military buildings have been taken down (haven't been there for about 20 years or so) and nature is beginning to take over. Still lots of bare patches where the buildings used to be, but the greenery is beginning to get through!

Took another bus over to Watson's Bay as well, which is another nice beachy area. Had a bit ginger beer and a sit down before we got the ferry back to Rose Bay.

In the evening, we found some candles so we could turn out our lights for Earth Hour at 8:30pm. Went out for a bit of a walk during the hour too, to see if everyone else was being 'green' for that hour! Most people were quite good and the couple of restaurants we passed had brought out all their candles and so people were eating by candlelight - which was really good. Lots of lights seemed to be out on the other side of the harbour too, but obviously we didn't know if it was normally dark in those places or whether people had been really good and turned off most of their lights! I took some piccies, so I might go out another evening and compare the places to see whether it did make a difference or not. Obviously the main harbour lights and street lights and so on needed to be kept on, but it did seem to make a difference when you walked down the streets as you couldn't even really see some of the houses because they didn't have their lights on or had subdued candle light.
In any case, I felt better for doing it and it was quite nice using candles instead of leccy! I think that people should do it once a month - not once a year! I might even try it at home when I get back :)

Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow, but think I'll go for a wander into the city and see what I feel like. My cold doesn't seem to have completely floored me and obviously the fresh air has done me the world of good - yay! Better to be active with a cold sometimes, especially when you can get sea air into your lungs :D
However, if my cold tries to kill me off in the night, then I can just have a nice easy day tomorrow. Obviously tramping around Oz and New Zealand for the past 3 months has caught up with me even though I have had easy days!
Weather forecast for Sydney for the next week isn't so great though as lots of showers and rain is on the way - boooooo! I can get rain in abundance at home for goodness sake, I don't want anymore of it here!!