Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Sydney Town

So Hi everyone, sorry but I have been off and about the country side for the last 5 days.  Adrian and I left on Saturday morning to go to Sydney, capital of New South Wales.  Adrian turned 52 omg he is getting on, on Sunday and since we figure it has been at least 10 years since we have been to Sydney we really ought to go.  It's only and hour and a half max to fly and with airfares as they are, cheap as chips to go.  So for a change we played tourist in ou own country.  We loooooved it!!!  Stayed at the Swissotel in Market Street, fantastic location.  And as an appetite whetter the above pic is the Opera House on the Sydney Harbour.  We took a ferry over to Manly on Sunday morning, beautiful weather and a beautiful way to spend Ade's birthday morning.  
This is beautiful Manly Harbour, what can I say just gorgeous, but then I am a sucker for the ocean, well mostly any water actually.  Nah take that back it has to be blue, not green and muddy and it has to smell like salt oh yeah I love the ocean.  So the day started off great.  We ate breakfast in the mall overlookng the ocean well nearly, and then we took the ferry back to the Rocks.  The oldest part of Sydney and Australia.  The Rocks is where the settlement of Australia took place, it is the oldest township we have in Australia.  So that isn't that old when I consider Roma, London etc. But hey we had to start somewhere.  And I am amazed at how English it is.  The whole of Sydney reminded me of London.  From the train stations, Museum, Green Park, Hyde Park, Oxford Street, on and on, I just wanted to high tail it back to the UK.  Anyway as I was saying, the day started out great, we roamed around the Rocks through the markets that literally went for miles and finally decided we needed to rest a bit and have something to drink.  So we chose a German themed restaurant come beer hall.  Now when we first sat down we weren't overly hungry, but after the first nice cold wine I started to get a bit peckish.  Ade had a big pint of full strength beer.  He usually drinks a lite beer, but hey when your on holidays loosen up.  So he has his drink and I get hungrier.  We order some garlic bread and a cheese platter.  We drink a little more wine and beer and I get hungrier.  Also my feet are the bane of my life.  I find it darn near impossible to find really good walking shoes, not sand shoes (sneakers) but shoes that look good and feel good.  Now I did get a pair that I traipsed all over Europe in earlier this year, but did I bring these with me on this trip......NO NO NO!!!! Why not you might ask, well right about this time in the afternoon as we were leaving the German Restaurant to find somewhere to eat, yep go figure we were at a restaurant and we left to go eat.    I don't get it either.  My feet were blistered and I was hungry.  Now the problem I have, well apart from my stupid feet, is that I see eating especially when we are away somewhere or out on a bit of a treat, I see eating as well an adventure.  You know not fuel for the body, even though I know that really that's what it is.  Well so they tell me at Weight Watchers and see that's my problem.  To me it is an event.  Eating I mean.  You know right from choosing what I want.  Reading every item on the menu, thinking about how it will look on the plate, how it will smell, how it will taste.  Oh my see I don't want fuel, I want an event.  Ade on the other hand, well he loves food, don't get me wrong, but hey if he is hungry Macdonalds will do.  Not me and not on holiday in Sydney with so many restaurants around it's almost impossible to choose.  So what happens next is,  I have sore feet, really sore feet, blisters actually, I am hungry, really hungry, I am tired and I have had 3 glasses of wine.  You can guess the rest.  I follow Adrian into Maccas yuk yuk yuk and I eat cold chicken nuggets, yuk yuk yuk.  We argue for a while and then we go back to our room to soak my feet.  Later that night we take the ferry to Darling Harbour and we eat fresh King Prawn Cocktails, so delish, sorry no pic, and Rib Eye Fillet with Sun dried tomato butter, so yum and some champers.  So the moral of the story is don't leave a restaurant to go find food, so silly, and take your darn walking shoes with you and spare band aids.
Monday we went to Taronga Park Zoo and well I don't know about you but seriously I am a sucker for baby animals.  I get so excited when I see these gorgeous little things playing round.  Look at this little guy, what a show off!!!.  He laid on his mums back for ages.  He rolled over and he jumped round, not a care in the world.  I'm sure he knew we were all clicking away and oohing and aahing, but hey he was so cute.
Then there was the baby elephant Luk Chai, which means son in Thai.  He was born to a female who was rescued from the streets in Thailand, what a romantic story.  He was only born a few months ago and he already is a show stopper.  He copies all the big elephants, of course he can't do what they do but he tries and he is sooooooo cute.
We also have a wonderful war memorial in the city and this picture is of the Reflection Pool.  Well I guess no war memorial is wonderful, you know what I mean, but it is good to reflect and think about the brave men and women who gave their lives for us.  Many of the young men who went to war from Australia were under age.  They lied so they could serve in the forces and without them and their bravery, sacrifice and determination to live in a free country, we would very possibly be living in a very different country today.  So we had a wonderful weekend away.  We ate, laughed, argued, walked, talked and just spent time together.  Thanks Adrian I love you and hopefully we have many more birthday, anniversaries and ordinary days to spend together.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for taking us along:) I love the wee animals..the reflection pool..and I do love the ocean..Have you tried the Ballerina Crocks? I saw France and Italy in mine..Like walking on air~

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  2. All these photos are fantastic, I always love seeing other countries and learning new things. I love this blog. Take care.

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  3. I missed your blog!!! Sounds like you had a wonderful time and really makes me want to visit Australia all the more!!! Happy BD to Adrian, you two are "children"! John just had his 67th BD and my #61 is coming up!!!

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  4. What fun! Thank you for taking us along on your vacation!

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  5. Been wondering why you havn't blogged,should have known you'd be off some where.....spoilt that's what you are...lol....We will catch up and have a cuppa soon, that's if you stay in town long enough!!!!!

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  6. Thanks girls,
    Monique I did buy a pair of crocs for the Europe trip earlier this yer they didn't work but they weren't the ballerina ones.
    Sharon, you guys are the youngest at heart 60 somethings I have ever known. And come to Australia anytime you are welcome!!!!!
    Mandy, now now spoilt me !!!! Well ok yeah I am and loving it. And coffee anytime ok!
    Stephanie you're welcome

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  7. Oh. Oh. I want to visit Sydney, too. Of course, it'd be a bit longer of a journey for me.

    Those elephant bums are cracking me up.

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