Tourists at last

Greetings all, doesn't seem like a week since we last left a message. Things here are ticking along ok, but the big news is it actually stopped raining for a day or so and we finally got out to see the things that Sydney is famous for - the Harbour, Opera House and Bridge. It's strange how the sun affects things but the main part of the harbour (Circular Quay) looked amazing in the sun. There was a slight haze during the morning but that made the shoreline and bridge look even more fantastic. Plus we worked out how to put the little camera into black & white mode, making it look more dramatic in some of the new photos on our Flickr pages.

The Opera House is quite special though. I guess as everyone has seen photos of it, you almost feel a sense of "ok, seen that, what's next?" but it looked so much more amazing than the first days we saw it, when it just looked a bit beige and not as grand as expected. The queues for tours were huge so we can't report on the interior yet but our quick scoot around the outside makes you appreciate just how amazing this building is. It's almost like an iceberg as most of the bulk of the auditoriums is all below the ground. Considering it was designed back in 1957 and then took 14 years to build, it seems surprisingly modern. We'll get back over there a take some more arty photos with the big camera at some point.



After that was a nice stroll round the harbour, where a tempting offer of Sunday Roast in one of the quayside restaurants was too hard to resist. Whilst the gentle harbour waves lapped the quayside mere yards from our feet, the midday sun danced across the waves and across our table as we lunched on mustard-glazed roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, wall complimented with a nice... cup of proper English breakfast tea. How could I resist?

After that we discovered a coffee festival at The Rocks. Loads of different stalls selling both classic and bizarre blends of coffees, it all smelt fantastic. Plus there was an ice cream stall giving out samples of some wicked macadamia nut & chocolate ice-cream - which sorted out a bit of dessert following our roast. Plus Tash found a shoe shop with 4 floors. Thank god we have limited luggage space.

We've also done a bit more investigation around our neighbourhood, there are loads of really cool little parks dotted about and some of the older buildings look amazing. Most of the city centre was flattened and then rebuilt during the late 70s & 80s but the housing just out from the centre but before you get to the suburbs (i.e. places like Elizabeth Bay) is a like a cross between 20s & 30s style, Manhattan tower blocks and small New Orleans type terraces. All punctuated with posh Victorian townhouses. But we keep forgetting to take the camera out, so you'll have to take our word for it.

Aside from that Tash now seems to be over the worst of the Sydney Flu and we're already planning some further stages of our journey round Oz.