SYDNEY AGAIN

 It was hard to say goodbye to the family in Canberra and board the bus to Sydney, knowing we wouldn't be seeing them for several months.  However, we were off on the rest of our adventure, so there was lots to look forward to.
We have become very fond of Sydney and this time we stayed in the Adina Harbourfront Hotel.  Not so fancy as our hotel in the Rocks district, but it was close to Darling harbour which meant another area to explore.  It happened to be some Fiesta celebration, so there were all kinds of things going on from music to Flamenco dancing and people who looked like they should be on the stage in Las Vegas all glitter and feathers!  Lots of fun.  The weather was warm and sunny, just the day for a stroll around the harbour.

Lots of fountains and water to cool us down

Then we came across the King Street Brewhouse.  It was really close to the hotel, on the harbour, and you could sit out on the patio and watch the world go by.  I had a local cider which was so delicious I had a second one, which is unheard of for me.  It was a lemon yellow colour and cloudy, but boy was it good!  My better half enjoyed his local beer as well!

The next couple of days we used all the public transportation available to us, busses and ferries etc.  We went out to Manley Beach to watch the surfers.  You could hardly believe we were still in Sydney, it seemed like you were at a beach resort somewhere.  There was a commotion on the beach and very quickly a couple of ambulances came by.  A grim reminder how risky surfing can be.  We wandered around the small town a bit and stopped for a "Tika" a swedish word for a "break" and had another great coffee.  

We took the ferry back to Circular key and then took a bus to Bondi beach - wow! hordes of people packed on the beach and it wasn't even summer.  I can't imagine the crush of people then. Fortunately our bus driver had given us directions of where to catch the bus back as he said it could take you up to 3 hours wait to get on the bus back into town otherwise.  We left the beach fairly early, but already, people at the top of the hill had to wait for a few buses to be able to get on.

                                        

All to soon it was time to say goodbye to Sydney and to Australia.  We were quite sad to leave.  It had surpassed all my expectations and for all my fears about spiders and snakes - we hadn't even seen one!  Everyone we had met had been so welcoming and helpful.  I really hope we get a chance to go back some day.