Manly
After our disappointment with Bondi, we decided on a fast ferry trip to Manly and its beach.
The ferry ride itself was enjoyable as you speed past landmarks and bays to go past the main entrance to the harbour. We could just imagine the Ark Royal or similar sweeping into the entrance and causing quite a stir.
Manly itself we found far more charming than Bondi. It’s a short walk from the wharf to the beach, passing all sorts of bars, take aways and shops.
Being pensioners we rented a couple of chairs for the beach and had a very enjoyable couple of hours as we were finally able to soak up some rays (did we mention the weather has not been what we expected). Steve finally got to paddle in the Pacific, and made sure he was surrounded by hunky blokes and fit birds who he was sure would be far more attractive and tasty to a rogue shark.
On the way back to the wharf we found a cracking bar called Felons where we sat next to the sea drinking half price beers and cocktails, followed by the classic “day at the seaside” supper of fish and chips. We even enjoyed the tantrum thrown by a toddler that must have lasted half an hour and drew the attention of the bar, the beach and, probably, every ferry on the water. Bliss.
North Sydney and Harbour Bridge
We sort of planned our last day to be spent in the apartment getting ready for our departure on Wednesday. However, we were both up early and decided to seize the opportunity to tick one thing off our list that we hadn’t achieved – a walk over the bridge.
The day started down memory lane for Nikki as we travelled into North Sydney and the Pacific Highway area.
Nikki lived there for around nine months in 1984/1985, mainly working to get the money to travel around Oz. Long before the days of mobile phones, and aged just 18, she set off to Sydney to meet up with a group of lads from her local pub (she fancied one of them) with the address of where to go written on a scrap of paper. She remembers feeling very relieved when knocking on the door that someone she recognised opened it !
She remembers very little, just two bars – her local, Albert’s, on Mount Street, and another one, Sheila’s, which was close by. She also remembers AGL (Australian Gas Light) where she temped. AGL are still there, but of the two bars, long gone.
As for where she used to live, no clue 😎 and wandering around did not jog any memories except for another bar, The Union Hotel.
We came to 3 conclusions. 1. An area can change a lot in 40 years. 2. Nikki spent a lot of her time in Sydney in bars. 3. Nikki is to memory what Trump is to intelligence – not the full deck.
Then we came to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Although the “Bridge walk” was an option we didn’t undertake because a) we were at the wrong end b) our time was tight and c) we are a couple of wuss’s! Although Steve feels he would give it a go on another trip (as long as Lucy holds his hand as she did when parasailing).
Even the pedestrian walkway gave our tummies a few butterflies. To take a good picture you need to squeeze camera through the railings and for some reason this gave Steve a morbid fear of dropping his phone into the sea far below.
Although reviews said it took an hour, we actually crossed in about 30 minutes. All in all we are so glad we changed our plan, and took in this iconic site close up.
Hansel and Grettel
Neither of us have ever been to the opera, and have often talked about losing our virginity at Covent Garden. Sydney seemed the perfect next best, and we booked Hansel & Grettel with the wine and dine package.
We started with a 3-course dinner with wine pairing. We weren’t expecting much but enjoyed Ham Hock Terrine with pickled cauliflower and Rosalla jam; Cod with mustard sauce, puffed grains and broccolini; dulce with syrup pain. It was much better than we imagined and with perfect seats overlooking the bridge and harbour is highly recommended.
We took our places in the auditorium and unfortunately Nikki found herself next to an oriental who released a few silent but deadlies throughout the performance.
The place was packed, and the set design was amazing. Course you are not allowed to take photos, so we have no proof, just take our word for it! The show lasts about 2.5 hours, including an interval. Nikki loved it; Steve a bit underwhelmed. As he said, it wasn’t Gorillaz. Steve felt that it wasn’t a proper opera as he believed it was a story which had been adapted (by Humperdinck) for opera; where the traditional operas are probably written as such. So he thinks we still need to see a “proper” opera (say that quick) in London. Not sure Nikki agreed.
Anyway, we can now say we have seen an opera at the iconic Sydney Opera House and probably not many can.
Dinner at the Opera House
Hamish says
We were fortunate to choose an absolutely brilliant AirBNB for our Sydney stay, in a brilliant location and we were not put off or bothered by the reputation of Kings Cross. In fact we embraced it.
Sydney was everything we imagined it to be. Of course Nikki had spent a lot of time living here, but being with her soul mate just made it a new experience (Steve wrote that).
We had an absolute blast with memories locked away. We suspect we will be back.
What's next
We jump on our 4th plane journey for a hop up to Cairns. Here we pick up a hire car and start our journey down the east coast to Brisbane. Incredibly, weather is not looking too good …..
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Have a fabulous time in Queensland!