On Friday night I went to a classical concert in the Sydney Opera House concert hall. It was interesting to see the building from the inside. I was struck by the height of the hall and, unusually, my seat was behind the orchestra and directly facing the conductor.
The public transport system in Sydney is excellent and for about 20 pounds I have a week's pass to get around all the city and suburbs using buses, trains and ferries. I've spent some time just catching the ferries sight seeing around the extensive harbour area. I have also taken a few long scenic walks along the harbour from Manly, the sea front at North Bondi, passing through Bondi beach,
to Coogee bay, and also Watsons Bay, which all provided spectacular views over the sea shore and harbour.On Saturday night I met up with my snorkelling buddy from Hervey Bay, Steve, for a lively night's pub crawl on the Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney where we located the oldest pubs and the cheapest beer in town before staggering back to my hotel over the Harbour Bridge in the early hours of the morning.
Despite the after effects of the night before, on Sunday morning it was a beautiful clear sky and Steve took me up in a light aeroplane for a fantastic 75 minute sight seeing flight with two loops over Sydney Harbour and flying along the North and South Beaches (including Palm Beach the location of Home and Away - whatever that is) and some of the Royal National Park to the South of Sydney before landing back at the airfield in the Western suburbs. My pictures do not do justice to the scenery and views but it was an experience I will never forget.
On Monday evening I met up with Sally Mills my distant cousin and her husband, Bob. I don't think I've seen Sally for about 40 years but as my mum is in regular contact with her parents and she is my closest known relation in Australia it was only right to make some contact. Sally has been in Austrlia for 17 years and runs, with Bob, a successful recruitment agency for 'digital' executives. It was great to meet her and Bob and have a few drinks in one of their local pubs, the Welcome, in the suburb of Rozelles . We also entered the quiz but we didn't do too well.
Today I picked up another hire car and I've driven down to Canberra and visited the Australian parliament buildings. Its totally different to London as you can just drive straight into the underground car park, park for free and get a free tour around every half hour.
This evening I went to see a great little Swedish film called "As it is in heaven" which is must see for anyone who enjoys, or like me would like to be able, to sing.
