Thursday 6th March

Today was our last full day at Cheryl and Matt’s and we had arranged to pick up our hire car in the afternoon. I did the last lot of laundry and hung it out to dry then Matt took us to the ferry and off we went for our last trip on the Rivercat into Sydney. It was another roasting hot day. We walked from Circular Quay to the Opera House and this time, we could get access to the steps so walked all the way round, taking lots of photos. We didn’t have time to do a tour of the interior so had to satisfy ourselves with peering into the areas we couldn’t get to. We hadn’t realised until now that the entire opera house roof is covered in ceramic tiles. We don’t know how many, but there must be hundreds of thousands of them. We then walked around the bay to MacQuarie’s Point and Lady MacQuarie’s Chair where you can look back towards the Bridge and the Opera House together. Apparently, it’s THE view of the pair, and we had our pic taken by a nice lady who was sitting in the sun. There were so many people jogging round the gardens we felt quite exhausted just being passed by them! Not only were they jogging in the full heat of midday, but they were running UP the steps from the park too! Needless to say we didn’t join them.

Having taken the photos, we headed back into the city to find a thank you pressie for Cheryl and Matt, who have been marvellous hosts and a pleasure to be with. Tom did his usual navigating bit and we ended up at the Queen Victoria Building where the shops are wonderful. Firstly though, we had to have our coffee and sticky, and we also drank a couple of large glasses of water to rehydrate after our exertions – it’s a long way round the bay then back into town.

Suitably refreshed, we explored the QVB, where there are four storeys of shops, all very nice and some very expensive. Eventually, we found a lovely French shop where they had candles of all sizes and colours but no containers. However, the concierge of the building sent us to Myer’s department store where we found exactly what we wanted – lovely glass containers just right for the candles we had bought.
(The décor of the interior of QVB is fantastic – all the floors are beautifully tiled, in different patterns; there are stained glass windows at each side of the main staircases, and there are two huge, ornate clocks hanging in the centre atrium. It’s all airconditioned and a pleasure to be in after the heat of the street). That done, we then walked to William Street to Europcar to pick up the hire car. This was the only Hire company who had a vehicle available for the dates we needed and at a price we could afford. It’s worth booking these things in advance we realise – even in a city the size of Sydney, hire cars at this time of year can go quickly, and you also get better deals doing it on the internet. Anyway, we have a Hyundai Accent in silver, only 10,000km or so on the clock and perfect for our needs. My navigator wended his way through all the city traffic out to Ermington with no mishaps – he’s quite useful at times!

Having decided earlier with Cheryl and Matt that we would have a bbq at home for our last evening, we all went out to choose our meat and Tom and I also shopped for a few basic provisions for our journey. The evening was a mixture of laughter and a few tears as we were really sad to be leaving. We have had such a good time with them and feel we have known them for a lot longer than just over a week. I know we’ve met Cheryl before on several occasions but this is the first time we’ve got to know her – they were such great hosts. The candles and holders were a success and looked very good on the patio table.
And so to bed before the next stage of our great adventure……..