Sydney

I was met at Sydney airport on the Friday evening, by my best friend from my school days, Patrick, who I hadn't seen for about 20 years. It was quite late by the time we got back to his house in the North of Sydney, and even later by the time we got through some of the basic catching up!

On the Saturday I met his wife Pam, and sons, Max and Tom, and in-laws, Frank and Robin. In the morning I went out for a scenic drive with Pat, mainly along the coast line near their home. We started off at West Head Lookout in the Ku-ring-gai National Park, with great views of the inlets and waterways on the coast, then drove around to Palm Beach. That was somewhat nostalgic for me as it Palm Beach is the scene of the soap opera Far and Away, (known as Summer Bay in the show - I had got rather addicted to the show during my sabbatical in the UK when a daily escape to sunny Australian beaches made a pleasant contrast to the grey, damp UK weather!). From there we headed South along the coast, stopping off at a smaller beach for some lunch and a paddle in the sea.

On Sunday 14 May, Patrick had invited another school friend (Sean O'Shea) for a braai along with some other friends (as an aside, the boerewors in Australia is really good!). In the afternoon, we went for a walk in the Ku-ring-gai Reserve, which starts only a block or so from Patrick and Pam's home.

Patrick had taken two days off work to act as my personal tour-guide (and he did an excellent job!). On the Monday, we took the train into Sydney, visiting Hyde Park, St Mary's cathedral, the Botanic Gardens, and Mrs Macquarie's chair (a natural stone ledge with views of the Sydney harbour bay). We then enjoyed a guided tour of the iconic Sydney Opera House, including some behind-the-scenes insights and great views. We walked around Circular Quay, and through The Rocks, viewed the Big Dig (an archaeological site), and then visited the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout. The latter is housed in one of the concrete pylons at the South end of the iconic Harbour Bridge, with a fascinating display on the construction of the bridge, and an open viewing platform on the top of the pylon with excellent views of the harbour, Opera House, city centre, etc.

On Tuesday, Patrick and took the train into the city, then caught a bus down to Coogee beach, on the coast, South of the city. We then followed a coastal walk up to the famous Bondi beach. That took us along some beautiful views of various beaches, coves, etc. We then caught a bus up to Watson's Bay, then walked up to the South Head, via Camp Cove (where I found another geocache, and we saw a Maserati stranded on the beach, which featured in that evening's news!). Camp Cove was the site of the first landings by the British in the Sydney area. After walking back to Watson's Bay, we caught a ferry up through the harbour bay to Circular Quay, with great views of the Opera House and Bridge. After grabbing a late lunch we took the train and bus home.

On Wednesday, Frank and I took a drive up North to the Australian Reptile Park. While that did feature various reptiles (not my favourite creatures!), the main reason was to see the various forms of Australian wildlife, in which the park excelled. We saw and stroked kangaroos and koalas (softer fur than I had expected). They also had almost everything except emus: wallabies, quokkas, echidnaes, Tasmanian devils, a wombat, a duck-billed platypus (smaller than I expected), flying foxes (actually bats!), and dingoes (which had the cutest puppies!). They also had some beautiful birds (which Australia has in abundance, but their beauty seems to be in inverse proportion to their cries!), including a couple of cassowaries - beautiful, prehistoric-looking large birds. On the way back, we drove past Bobbin Head, a lovely waterway/inlet near the coast.