Strewth/Struth

Well, this was what it was all for. A seven hour flight from Singapore to Sydney with four hours across the GABA (Great Australian Bugger All). Lying ahead the daunting customs and quarantine of the Australian border ahead of us - we have all seen Nothing to Declare - God forgive me but while in the departure lounge in Singapore I did indulge in a little of guess who has the live chicken in their luggage. I am a bad person. But you would all be doing it. But anyway, luggage retrieval was shockingly slow on arrival and the queue for quarantine moved ominously slowly. Had I forgotten anything incriminatory? A slice of soda or potato bread. A bag of dulce. Some forgotten bag of Tayto Cheese and Onion. No fear. “No worries mate. Go on straight through.” A big sigh of relief. No-one comes out looking good in Nothing To Declare. So off to the taxi stand and before we knew and with fleeting glances of the bridge and big showy theatre we arrived at the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel. This is the oldest hotel in Sydney, nestled deep within the historic Rocks district and right beside Observatory Hill Lookout. Best of all we were just in time for last orders and to be greeted joyfully by Susan and Steven. We had arrived. A most pleasant meeting and then plans established for our first day in Sydney, Australia.

Our first day was to moderated by Steven as driver and Susan as navigator and motivator in chief. After the most enjoyable and informative of missed turns, fortuitously blocked roads and just too late directions we had seen around most of the Rocks area of Sydney and where heading towards North Sydney over the Harbour Bridge. We stopped off at Mosman Bay Marina for coffee before heading to Clovelly, Coogee and Bondi. We met up with Clovelly Surf Rescue and I managed to scrounge sun cream from them. It came in a litre sized pump dispenser, which is the future for us gingers in these climes. We had fish and chips in Coogee Beach. Lovely. The fish was New Zealand Hoki which is a type of Hake, very nice. One thing to note is that vinegar is not a thing here. Then we headed to the beach for a paddle in the Pacific Ocean. You have to. A drive though Bondi showed us the glory of the beach and the landscape of the recent tragedy. The whole trip through the city and its diverse boroughs was brilliant. All most ably narrated along the way by Steven and Susan. Absolutely priceless.

We returned to The Lord Nelson to prepare for our big fancy meal out and Holy god God the setting was quite unbelievable. I will leave the images to speak for themselves again but suffice to say that the meal was amazing and the setting was wow.

So no mishaps , just a brilliant day. Don’t worry, I am sure there will be something but today was nothing but flawless. Next stop Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. The misery goes on.