Friday, 8th February
Today we caught the ferry across to Taronga Zoo and spent several hours walking round looking at the animals. See the picture of Doreen looking across the harbour towards Sydney. The animals looked to be well treated and we had close encounters with crocodiles, kangaroos, snakes and even spiders, which were in the trees above the walkways, which Doreen certainly didn’t like. Note to Alison, the new aquatic centre was not yet open, as they are having problems with leaks???
We then returned to Circular Quay. Geoffrey walked around the quay area whilst Doreen investigated the shops on The Rocks.
Saturday, 9th February
Today it was raining heavily, and it rained all day long!!!! So Doreen persuaded Geoffrey that the only thing we could do was to go to the shops. So he reluctantly agreed and we went to the famous Queen Victoria Building, which looks more like a Museum than a shopping precinct, but contains five floors of retail therapy for Doreen. Geoffrey went round photographing the interesting architectural features whilst Doreen did the shops. After five hours of shopping we returned poorer and exhausted to the hotel. Let’s hope for a better day tomorrow.
To cheer us up we decided to have a “sumptuous buffet of seafood delights” which consisted of as much as you can eat buffet of all types of fish from King Prawns, lobster, crab, blue eyed cod (whatever that is), oysters, mussels, etc. etc. Needless to say we made a number of trips to the buffet before starting on the many deserts.
Sunday, 10th February
This turned out to be a fabulous day. We stumbled across a Chinese New Year Festival in Chinatown and watched the magnificent floats and many varied costumes (see photographs). In need of a restroom we came across a Chinese Walled Garden, which turned out to be a peaceful haven right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a very busy city, and we spent a relaxing two hours walking around the gardens. We then strolled along Darling Harbour for lunch at Nick’s Seafood Restaurant and had a delightful meal, watching the world go by.
As if this wasn’t enough, we decided to go to the Aquarium, where we had a close encounter with Jaws in the walkthrough tunnel (see photo), after which we strolled back to the hotel for some relaxation.
Monday, 11th February
UP AT 05.45am to meet our coach at 7.15 for a tour to the Blue Mountains. Although a very tiring trip it was well worth it for the 3-4 hours we spent in the Blue Mountains. We saw the Three Sisters, the blue mist over the forest and then a scenic skyway trip across the canyon, followed by a trip on the steepest railway in the world at 52 degrees, a walk through the rainforest and finally a cable car trip back up the mountain to pick up the coach again. (I must just add that I did the cable cars and railway trip on my own, Doreen saw it and said NO, NO, NO – I’m sorry I just can’t.) The coach then took us back down the mountains and to the site of the Olympic Games (19??), for a very quick look round before we caught the Sea Cat ferry fast back down the river to Sydney (45mins), with spectacular views of Sydney suburbs.
Today we caught the ferry across to Taronga Zoo and spent several hours walking round looking at the animals. See the picture of Doreen looking across the harbour towards Sydney. The animals looked to be well treated and we had close encounters with crocodiles, kangaroos, snakes and even spiders, which were in the trees above the walkways, which Doreen certainly didn’t like. Note to Alison, the new aquatic centre was not yet open, as they are having problems with leaks???
We then returned to Circular Quay. Geoffrey walked around the quay area whilst Doreen investigated the shops on The Rocks.
Saturday, 9th February
Today it was raining heavily, and it rained all day long!!!! So Doreen persuaded Geoffrey that the only thing we could do was to go to the shops. So he reluctantly agreed and we went to the famous Queen Victoria Building, which looks more like a Museum than a shopping precinct, but contains five floors of retail therapy for Doreen. Geoffrey went round photographing the interesting architectural features whilst Doreen did the shops. After five hours of shopping we returned poorer and exhausted to the hotel. Let’s hope for a better day tomorrow.
To cheer us up we decided to have a “sumptuous buffet of seafood delights” which consisted of as much as you can eat buffet of all types of fish from King Prawns, lobster, crab, blue eyed cod (whatever that is), oysters, mussels, etc. etc. Needless to say we made a number of trips to the buffet before starting on the many deserts.
Sunday, 10th February
This turned out to be a fabulous day. We stumbled across a Chinese New Year Festival in Chinatown and watched the magnificent floats and many varied costumes (see photographs). In need of a restroom we came across a Chinese Walled Garden, which turned out to be a peaceful haven right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a very busy city, and we spent a relaxing two hours walking around the gardens. We then strolled along Darling Harbour for lunch at Nick’s Seafood Restaurant and had a delightful meal, watching the world go by.
As if this wasn’t enough, we decided to go to the Aquarium, where we had a close encounter with Jaws in the walkthrough tunnel (see photo), after which we strolled back to the hotel for some relaxation.
Monday, 11th February
UP AT 05.45am to meet our coach at 7.15 for a tour to the Blue Mountains. Although a very tiring trip it was well worth it for the 3-4 hours we spent in the Blue Mountains. We saw the Three Sisters, the blue mist over the forest and then a scenic skyway trip across the canyon, followed by a trip on the steepest railway in the world at 52 degrees, a walk through the rainforest and finally a cable car trip back up the mountain to pick up the coach again. (I must just add that I did the cable cars and railway trip on my own, Doreen saw it and said NO, NO, NO – I’m sorry I just can’t.) The coach then took us back down the mountains and to the site of the Olympic Games (19??), for a very quick look round before we caught the Sea Cat ferry fast back down the river to Sydney (45mins), with spectacular views of Sydney suburbs.
1 comment:
Andrew and I have the exact same photos from the Blue Mountains. Looks like you're having a wonderful time.
P
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