Friday 29th February and Saturday 1st March

Friday still was not particularly good as far as weather went. We went out for a walk with Matt and Verity in the morning while Cheryl was at work – it was warm in the sun and quite chilly in the shade. It was another day of R&R for us and to be in a home environment instead of a motel room was much appreciated. In the evening, I had arranged to meet up with Lorna, my old school friend from Bridgnorth Grammar School, and her husband, Brian. We had a lovely dinner at the Silverwater Club about 10 minutes away from Matt and Cheryl’s house. Every club you go into, you have to show ID to get in as a visitor, although you don’t have to be a member of any affiliated club to sign in. But you do have to live more than 5 km away otherwise you must join as a member. UK address qualifies as being more than 5km away!! Food and drink at the clubs are cheaper than most other restaurants and the quality is very high. All of this is subsidised by the profits from the gaming machines, which is why you have to formally sign in as a visitor or member.

Saturday dawned bright and cloudless and, after breakfast, Matt drove us to the ferry at Meadowbank where we caught the Rivercat into Sydney city. It is a lovely trip with houses all along the riverbanks and loads of inlets, and we’ve never seen so many boats of all shapes and sizes, either moored or out on the water. There are marinas and private berths as far as you can see. The ferry takes 40 minutes to get to Circular Quay and from Darling Harbour, you pass under the Harbour Bridge and moor up almost beside the Opera House.

The sight of these two landmarks is as wonderful as any of the pictures we’ve seen. I had to pinch myself just to make sure I was awake and really there, not just dreaming. We met a sailor from bygone times on the quayside – he tried to persuade us to take a harbour tour on a sailing boat – but when we explained we had just arrived, he was very pleasant and didn’t try to pressure us.

We firstly found out which bus we would have to catch back to Ermington then tried to find Tourist Information for city maps, etc. No-one seemed to know where it was, but Tom did find a city map at the ferry booking office so off we went. First stop was to the Opera House. No tours were taking place and the front steps were cordoned off for a skateboard competition, so we walked round the gardens overlooking the steps and took piccies. The Botanic Gardens begin near the steps and that was on our “to do” list. It’s difficult to believe that you are virtually in the heart of the city as it is so quiet and peaceful there. Winding paths with beautiful trees and bushes take you from one lovely view to another and you are encouraged to walk on the grass. The harbour borders part of the gardens and you look across it to the north side of the city. The trees are all identified with a little bit of historical information as well and although there are not flower gardens as such, it’s a really well laid out park. As we were about to stop for a coffee, we noticed people looking up and, as you do when that happens, we also looked up – and gasped! There were bats by the hundred hanging in the trees. Big bats, and despite all the blurb that says bats prefer to stay in dark, quiet places during daylight and only fly at night, these bats had obviously not read the right books!! Many of them flew around making their funny squeaking noises before heading back to a perch and hanging upside down (that bit is certainly true) in the trees. After we’d had our coffee and stickies in the Gardens café, we saw even more of them. They seem to favour some of the trees over others as some trees had no bats at all.

We didn’t do the full tour of the Gardens but headed into the city, taking photos of the fantastic skyline on the way. Tom got an Australian sim card for the phone, so the new number for contacting us is – 0061 4 2434 1174, this includes the Oz dialling code. If any of you are already in Oz, just dial 0 instead of 0061.

The city is like any other busy city in that it has lots of traffic and lots of shops. Although there are quite a few lovely old buildings, the majority are quite modern especially in the business district. The skyline is amazing – we’ve seen it on postcards and on TV but it has a feel all of its own. Even without the fantastic Bridge and Opera House, when you see the buildings outlined against the blue sky, it almost feels unreal. Shopping malls are hidden, more so than in UK. You can easily walk past the entrance to a mall without realising it. One of the biggest is in the Queen Victoria building (QVB) which is typically ornate on the outside and a warren of shops inside. There aren’t the same big department stores as in UK but lots more smaller individual outlets. We found the Chinese area more by luck than planning, but I bought a floppy hat for 2/3 the price I had seen similar ones earlier, and Tom had a back and shoulder massage for the equivalent of £8. By the time that was finished, we were both feeling peckish, so went to the food court in QVB, which is the entire lower ground floor, and shared a hot pork roll – delicious!

We then hopped on the Monorail, which is a continuous loop around the central shopping area and harbour, and did one and a half time’s round, looking at the city from above. You can get on and off anywhere if you buy a daily ticket, but if you just buy a single, you can go round and round as much as you like as long as you don’t go through the turnstile. It’s not very good for taking photos though as the windows are meshed, but gives you a good overview. We decided to get off at Paddy’s Market and it is huge! We only had time to go once round the ground floor as the stands were starting to be packed away (4.45pm), but time enough for Tom to buy a sleeveless reversible jacket with cotton/fleece for Au$13 (the Au$ is roughly 2.2 = £1). He did see a programmable belt buckle he liked but by the time he’d decided to go back for it, the stall had been closed!! We may be going back!!

The transport system is very central with bus and train termini by Circular Quay so that the constant stream of ferries that arrive have instant connections to other areas. We wanted to catch a bus home in the evening so had checked which was the correct one, only later realising that we didn’t really want to go back to Circular Quay to get it. Then we found out that all the information booths around the central district were closed for the day! Eventually we found a very nice bus driver who told us which route our bus took.

Saturday evening was the start of Mardi Gras, a highlight of the gay community, and we’d read articles about what a spectacle it was, so we had to see it! We did see several groups of people dressed in colourful costume, as well as individuals, while we were wandering round so Tom found us a good vantage point for the parade, which started at 7.45pm – it was now 5.45pm, so 2 hours to wait – not too bad, or so we thought at first. The lookout he had chosen was on a corner looking right across where the floats would appear – brilliant! Except that as the sun started to go down, the wind got up, and it began to be very chilly. We had taken a light cover up with us, imagining that it might get cool as the evening progressed, so on that went, but it wasn’t really enough, but, being British and showing true British grit, we weren’t going to move and lose our vantage point just to get warm! Everyone around us was suffering the same so there was a good camaraderie. Let me tell you, 2 hours on a street corner, in a biting wind is no joke. We were being sporadically entertained by the Police, Fire and Ambulance Services as they set up their command posts, right beside us – and there were some very presentable firemen walking about, so there was something to look at! We then had the “Dykes on Bykes” lorry arrive – right in our line of sight! (We realised after a while that they were going to lead the parade so would be moving away). Then the motorcycles began to arrive – and there were hundreds of them, most dressed in some of the most outlandish gear you could imagine, but the bikes themselves were beautifully turned out and sounded great.

When the parade eventually began, the lead lorry set off followed by the motorbikes – then came the worst parade I think we’ve ever seen. Very few of the groups had made much of an effort to dress up and seemed totally disorganised. The ones that had dressed up were very good but were in the minority. By this time, the little camera I had wouldn’t focus because there wasn’t enough light so I couldn’t take pics, even if there had been something worthwhile to shoot, although Tom’s video camera was still able to take both video and stills. We stuck it for 45 minutes, which I think was pretty good, then we gave up. My knees felt as if they were locked in position and as we fought our way through the crowds, I must have looked very strange hobbling about! I was starving and just dying to get home and put my feet up. We found a street booth and had one of the best kebabs we’ve ever eaten, walked to our bus stop and, 30mins later caught our bus back to Ermington.

We got home about 10.30pm, having wasted the time from 5.45 when we could have been at the Aquarium or Wildlife World, both of which open late. Mardi Gras anywhere else has nothing to worry about – it’s said that the Sydney one is the third largest in the world but I don’t know how they can class it against our own Notting Hill Carnival far less Rio or New Orleans. It’s definitely more of a political statement than a festive occasion. The local parades we’ve seen in Spain would blow Sydney’s minds if they ever came here! But never mind, it has been another experience to add to our travels.