Goodbye to all that - Hyde Park Barracks and Oxford Street

So what do you do when you have a holdiay romance and it cant go any futher?

You make the most of it. And that is what I did today. I only got a few hours with Milton Braga today as he had a presentation at the university of Sydney this evening. His life is moving between college, digs behind Darling Harbour and his job in a chemists down Oxford Street. Not to mention his second home down "Midnight Shift". Not a bad life. In fact we spent a bit of time playing pool at said venue this afternoon. And being there in the afternoon I got a real feel of the Sydney scene ie friendly but with that little bit of atitude.

According to Lonely Planet nearby Martin Place is Sydneys equivalent of Trafalgar Square. Lonely Planet is not reknowned for its sense of humour buit it has to be joking. Its a very pleasant pedestrianised area between heavy buildings and has a fountain and a small loggia.But an Italian piazza it is not.

Anyway, my last day in the Australian uber city and I was up and early off to Newtown station. I needed to catch up on emails so I spent time at the easyeverthing copycat down George Street. Then I just enjoyed myself down George Street. I had a couple of hours to kill before meeting Milton. I wandered around the Queen Victoria Building which is a superior mall but I dont think I have encountered such a narrow building. Literally yards separate between the east and west exits.

According to Lonely Planet nearby Martin Place is Sydneys equivalent of Trafalgar Square. Lonely Planet is not reknowned for its sense of humour buit it has to be joking. Its a very pleasant pedestrianised area between heavy buildings and has a fountain and a small loggia.But an Italian piazza it is not. But its a pleasant place in the sunshine with lots of people out enjoying their lunch.

So I spent the rest of the time in 'The Rocks' which I dont feel I gave my best attention in an earlier visit. Its a pleasant area of cafes and scrubbed brick buildings. The Info centre is worth a look with lots of free walking tours and if I ever came back I'd certainly check it out. Will I come back? Yes, Australia is a long way from home, expensive but there is a pull there. Once you have visited you want to return. Milton loves it here and is trying to stay on once his masters finishes. Being an accountant is one of the desirable occupatons. He'll apply for residency once his course ends and will probably not be going back to Stockholm.

Then a last walk around Circular Quay, the Opera house and the botanical gardens. The view across Sydney cove was a stunning as ever. Then through the Fernnery and up to the Domain which seems to be very popular with pilates groups. Not far away is Hyde Park Barracks. The compound of yellow buildings dates from 1819 from the early days of the colony. This is Australian history and I must admit it is a very good experience. It was built by Francis Greenway who studied under Nash. And there was a whiff of Bath about the buildings. But it was a secure facility for male and female convicts who were kept separately. It served as a female infirmary, a destitute asylum, courts and government offices. And since 1979 a museum.

To show me around was an example of enthusiastic amateurs which inhabit Natinal trust properties all around the globe. I had an old dear tell me of the an English lass who was sent to Australia for horse rustling. She ended up the most wealthy woman in the colony. The rest of the barracks and the reconstructions of the dorms and pictures of Sydney cove in 1830 was very interesting.

I walked Hyde Park to the ANZAC memorial to meet Milton. We spent the rest of the afternoon down Oxford Street at "Midnight Shift" in the daytime. We had a game of pool and at one point he hit the ball so hard it went spinning off the table - I had my head in my hands. We got on brilliantly and it was a sense of loss when we finally walked off in different directions.

But before we went our different ways we went to the chemists and got pictures made of us both on Lady Bay beach and both of us took a copy.