Mom/Anne’s Blogs from when she came over Christmas - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 (by Mom/Anne)
Well, I just finished my brekky, (more Au to add to my vocab!), and Linds is off selling secure storage, and David is in the US (Orlando, or maybe on his way to Japan by now) so I'm here in Manly planning my day of sun and relaxation.

Since I last reported in, we have hiked, beached, sight-seen, shopped, wined (not WHINED) and dined.

Linds & I went to Sydney on Sat and took advantage of the couple of markets in the city. On weekends the city shuts down, and the only people there are tourists. We went to an area called "The Rocks" which is one of the oldest parts of the city, and was once inhabited by convicts, thieves, prostitutes, and in general the worst of the worst... In a country that was originally used as a Penal Colony by England from its discovery in 1770 until the early 1800's, that's really bad! The buildings have been preserved, and the area is now full of shops, galleries, restaurants, wine stores. (this is where L & D's favorite enoteca is located). It's a perfect tourist spot, and on w/e's they have the Rocks Markets, which is like a high class flea market. Lots of crafts, indigenous art, clothing, food. We had a ball, and actually came home with only one $5 purchase between us. A record, I'm sure!

On Monday I went to the beach, which is a couple of blocks away. You can really see what a resort town this is when you look at the number of people on the beach on a Monday morning! I didn't go swimming, though, because of the announcement of sightings of blue jellyfish, who sting with burrs, and all you can do is remove as many as you can, and then endure the pain for 40 min to an hour! Not very inviting, I would say.

Lindsey and I took the Manly Scenic Walkway from Manly to the Spit Bridge, somewhere between 8.2 and 10 K depending on which sign you look at. (They're not very concerned about accuracy here!). It is a beautiful hike on paths around the harbour and then up into the cliffs, all along the water. It is, however, listed as "hard" on the signposts, which I would say means VERY STRENUOUS! It was fun, and Linds may choose to do it again but I've been there, done that. We did finish off with a bus ride back to the 4 Pines beer bar, and undid all our good work with a couple of beers and a bowl of Chunks and aioli dipping sauce (that would be french fries with mayo, Hellooooo!!!)

Yesterday, I did Cultural Sydney on foot! I took the ferry into the city, and started at the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain, followed by the Art Gallery of New S Wales (their classical museum), the Museum of Contemporary Art, a walking tour of The Rocks, and ended the day with Linds at the Sydney Tower overlooking all the buildings I saw during the day. It was a great, but tiring day.

The Botanic gardens are beautiful, and even more fun because it's right in the middle of the city. Water is ever-present in Sydney and the area. The city is on Sydney Harbour, but very near to the mouth of the harbour, which goes on for miles! Many, many of the workers in the city arrive to work by ferry at the Circular Quay (pronounced Key) from various parts of the suburbs. Sydney is like a big city on holiday! It is very relaxed. In fact, many of the people on the ferry from Manly go into the city in bathing suits and cover ups! Linds says the city is not busy at all, compared to usual, because this is Summer holiday for Sydney. The city shut down the week before Chrissy (more Australian) and many of her customers and business associates are off until Jan 11, or 18! The kids are on school holiday until the 18th we think.

After we went to the Sydney Tower, L took me to a Sushi Train. Unless you see it, it's hard to imagine, but the Sushi man makes his plates, and puts them on a conveyor that does a continuous loop around the seating area. You pick the plate you want, and at the end, they charge you for the number of plates, which are color coded for price point. The idea probably came from Japan, since there are a huge number of Far Easterners here, but it is uniquely Australian, as far as I know.