Random Projects

We went off on a little excursion to Bondi and Manly beaches. Get some lovely views on the ferry to Manly.

Manly has a lot of surf shops it would seem. I think I might have been taken there under false pretences as we spent all of 5 mins on the beach and then somewhat longer in the numerous surf shops, hmmmm?

Big fricking spiders here too

Then the next day it was a train to Bondi town and bus to the beach. Kath lived here for ages, years ago, so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane.

Well this is what you do on a beach isn’t it?

It happened when I went to Stone Henge and it’s happened here too. I thought it would be bigger!

Sydney is a lovely place

OK one more shot!

Lovely place, in the area called The Rocks by\under the harbor bridge which has most of the old buildings in it I believe. We got there before it was even set up which is unusual for us. By the time it was in full flow there were signs up saying their chocolate couldn’t be displayed due to the heat. Looks like a good place to go for craft and niknaks. Kath bought a had made photo album and I bought a rare coin. Next…..

There are at least a couple of open air cinemas in Sydney showing classic films on rotation and new films here and there. We went to the Moonlight Cinema, you can hire beanbags for a few dollars and bring your own food and drink.

You can also have quite a good time off the freebee wine tasting if you play it right! The event is sponsored by a wine producer and there are nice people to give you tasters in tiny plastic glasses. Limited by the day we could go we saw Top Gun. It would appear this weekly (possibly monthly – not sure) Top Gun event has a bit of a following, with a good portion of the crowd shouting out the more famous lines and not a small number of sailor and pilot outfits present.

Top gun – Oh YEH!

Gotta go here! Fresh fish with their beady eyes on you as far as you can see, behind the scenes there’s a huge commercial fish market you can peek at through windows if you’re a fan ridiculously early mornings.

The best bit for me though was, along with the fresh fish (and crabs and abalone and strange slithery things) they’ll pretty much cook anything up for you. I had a plate full of prawns, if I had a bigger budget I could have had anything the sea has to offer!

Up there in the back corner are the serious specimens, HUGE lobsters, crabs and abalone and all sorts. If you go up there you’re gonna get wet.

Yes apparently for a small\substantial fee (AU$3000-$7000) we too can voyage on the Endevour following in the footsteps of Captain Cook on an exact replica of his most famous boat. Pretty cool!

It’s permanent home is in Darling Harbor, Sydney but a few times a year it sets sail with a mottley collection of public. You can be either part of the crew and live like the original crew in hammocks minus the almost certain possibility of horrible disease ridden death or you can sign up to be an officer and live in one of the 6 (I think) officer cabins.

The officers were no less likely to die a horrible death and I think only one other except Cook made it back. (Did he?) It’s all kitted out with original\replica bits and bobs complete with officer belongings and it sails with most of that tucked away. Down below, modern toilets and showers are hidden from public view which is no bad thing if you take a look the original toilets. Called the “Seats of Ease” they are two wooden holes right at the front of the top deck basically giving you a slightly more comfortable seat than if you were popping your bottom over the side. The “toilet paper” doesn’t bare thinking about… the end of a frayed rope kept on a bucket of sea water and “cleaned” by leaving it over the side for a while. There’s a website you can go to sign up, I’ll be there one day, oh yes! http://www.anmm.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=457

The slightly more modern but equally cramped boat parked next door.

Apparently Spell Checker has been right all along. Not being one to accept what anyone or anything tells me, especially something programmed by someone usually… looks like I’ve found another thing I’ve been doing wrong all my life. Apparently “Australia” only has one “i”. Doh! Well now I know. And that’s good.

(seems a lot smaller in real life )

Take a look right at the top there. That’s us. Well not actually us but for sake of a picture…!

Yup, we climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge! Another spur of the moment thing and well worth it. Ridiculously well run and not cheep but worth every penny. A few scary moments on the ladders going up between the road which just made it better. You can’t take anything at all with you so pictures are a big no no. This is the view from one of the pylons though which you can go up from the road. Great stuff.

We’ve only got a few days here in OZ. We’ve been blazing around Sydney making the most of them. First day exploring Kings Cross, where we’re staying at the Jolly Swagman. Pretty much like the Kings Cross in London really. Everyone and everything all melted into a chaotic but infinately watchable war zone. Great restaurants, anything you could want, and swanky or seedy as you like, day or night.

We missed Chinese New Year in Chinatown by a few days but crammed in a load of Sydney, Manly and Bondi sights. We got a free drink coupon book from our hostel and mission “Use all Coupons” was very successul thank you. Just missed the shark attack in Bondi which is also good.

Sydney! (With the office of my accomodating employer beginning with “I” behind, transfer one day maybe?)