Sunny Sydney

While I've been here, taking in Sydney in all it's glory, I've been reflecting on what I've seen & done. Yesterday I spent time at the Powerhouse museum, which was within walking distance of my hotel, a friend of mine had recommended I go & have a look at it & I'm glad I did, because they currently have on a really interesting exhibit of the life & times of Diana, Princess of Wales. I walked through looking at all of her beautiful jewels & gowns & the outfits she used to wear - including her actual wedding dress! There were also lots of family pictures & a home movie shot by her father, as well as her old school reports, as well as lots of her childhood personal effects; it's amazing to me that they actually kept all of that stuff.

From there, I ended up down at the CBD, that is, the central business district, where the main shopping area is with all the big name designer stores & department stores & office buildings are located. It was a quick look, because I wanted to end up ultimately back down at Circular Quay, the latter half of that name that I keep mispronouncing, Sydneysiders call it "Key", while I've actually been pronouncing it "Qway". Tomato, tomato, that's what I say! Anyway, after a quick look around, I found myself back at the Quay, & I decided to take a ferry out to have a look at Luna Park, which was just across on the other side of the bay. Luna Park is an amusement park in Australia, admission is free but you have to pay for the rides, none of which I was interested in going on, so I had a quick wander around there, & then down around the walkway under the bridge & back on the ferry & over to the main side again.

By the time I got back, I decided that I wanted to still be on a ferry again, so this time, I found a 1 hour harbour cruise & immediately got on that, which I absolutely loved! It felt so great to sit down on the top deck at the front of the boat taking in the harbour; most people opted to stay on the inside of the boat, but outside, it was me & a half dozen Asians madly taking pictures from every angle, instead of sitting down & enjoying the view. While it was a bit breezy, the sun felt nice & warm against my skin again. I swear, I will do everything in my power to try & bring back some of this heat & warmth with me to Southern Ontario people! :-D

The harbour tour was quite informative, as the guide pointed out several areas of interest, including telling us about the million dollar homes where many people, including Russell Crowe, live. The also mentioned about their convict history, the beaches in the area, among other things. It was a great hour well spent. Once I got back again, it was time to meet up with Linda, Derek's girlfriend for dinner, so we went to a small place right within sight of the Opera house & watched as the sun was fading into night. Once we said our good byes, I once again hopped on a ferry back to Darling Harbour & took my time strolling back to the hotel; it's really beautiful at night & while I was on the boat, I looked up to see lots of stars in the sky. Along Darling harbour, there were lots of people strolling along & eating dinner at the many restauants along the wharf. There was also a hippie performance artist that I stopped to watch, he was a fire juggler/comedian, at least he seemed kind of funny with a few odd jokes.

With only one day left before I check out of the hotel & head off towards the Blue Mountains to stay with my friend Janine, I'll be making the most of this day. After that, I have four more days in this beautiful country, then it's off to home on Thursday, I'm still marvelling at how fast this time has gone by, but it's been a tremendous adventure. Tonight, we're going to see Ben Lee play, so I'm really looking forward to that.