You can’t park there mate.

This was going to be a dander day as our plans to take the Manly ferry fell foul of the inclemency of the weather. It was overcast, windy and drizzly with heavy showers forecast. Sound familiar folks. Shorts were abandoned in favour of long trousers and a fleece was dragged out of the case. Our waterproof coats that would definitely not be needed would be needed a second time. Back to dander day and enough of our wardrobe. Breakfast was not included in this hotel so we had identified a likely spot the previous evening. Coffee Bros. I had the most wonderful fry type plate while Mrs Verno felt the need for healthy food and opted for what all the youngsters are having when the avocados run out. Açai. Look it up but it looked wonderful, like an artistic bomb went off in a fruit shop and a strawberry smoothie was used to put out the subsequent fire. It tasted good after I had polished off the last bit of halloumi on my plate. I have not mentioned before that the coffee here is to die for, really good and they take great pride in How it is prepared and presented.

Suitably fortified we set of for Darling Harbour and having recced the route previously we chose to head up the left side towards the Maritime Museum. The rain was trying its best and the waterproof had to be donned as we took in the replica of Captain Cook’s ship The Endeavour and assorted other warships including a fecking huge big black submarine.

We then crossed Darling Harbour in the wind via the Pyrmont Bridge. The contrast between this vestige of a bygone era and the Central Business District was stark. But that’s progress. We followed the path around the shore past the Zoo and Sealife building, Madame Tussaud’s and all the pleasure cruise boats. We cut across the Barangaroo Reserve (I just wanted to type that so much) and once more headed into the Rocks area and found ourselves outside the Lord Nelson Hotel and Brewery. It was a short walk under the Argyle Street Tunnel to the shore just shy of Circular Quay where all the ferries leave from. A busy place. One warning sign piqued my interest. Juvenile but irrestible.

It was another short walk to the Opera House where we decided to go in for a shifty to see if there was anything we could lift. Fortunately there wasn’t. But Mrs Verno, being a creative and musical type was inspired to look at the possibility of a tour of this famous landmark. Mrs Verno then played a blinder. She looked at what was on this very evening and discovered that there were seats available. The concert was by Anna Lapwood, a famous organist, playing Mac Richter’s latest work Cosmology. Well, seats were grabbed that were in my view perfect and “Dander Day” had morphed into “We are going to a concert in the Sydney Opera House Day.” We scheduled the rest of the day to ensure we made the most of this opportunity and then hastened back to base camp using the L2 light rail for a well earned doze. All this planning takes it out of you.

At the appointed hour having clad myself in the good shirt I had with me and still looking like a hobo beside Mrs Vernon we reversed our trip back to Circular Quay and thence to the Opera House. This was a pinch yourself moment as we headed up to the concert hall from the foyer. A wonderful bonus was that being inside the hall allowed you access to the verandas not available to the hoi polloi and gave one a wonderful view of the bridge and CBD - central business district.

Nothing is perfect and despite capturing a wonderful sunset and hoping for more, this cheeky bollocks decided he would park his boat across from us and block out the bridge during the best of the sunset. I had a mind to have a word but the concert was staring soon and I needed to find a toilet. Needs must.

The concert was fantastic and a highlight amongst so many highlights so far. Inside the Opera House is wonderful to behold and while I cannot convey the acoustics you can imagine that they are good as the Ulster Hall.

We made it back home in good time and while we are planning for Manly tomorrow our good friends S&S are keeping us up to date on possible weather conditions that might get in the way of that. As Ned Kelly once said, “Such is life.” Another great day was had today.