Sydney - a city of many cultures

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Saturday 18 November 2006 – Sydney on a late Saturday afternoon and it was absolutely heaving. We had to drive through two toll stations to get in and then couldn’t get to our accommodation for some time. We did not get lost – we just could not get there as there were so many one way streets, no left turns, no right turns and we were almost convinced that we were doomed to forever go around in circles. However, one u-turn and we were in the right street and facing the right way only to have to go around the block a couple more timers to get into the hotel’s car park. We have decided that we will leave it there until it is time to leave the city!!

We are situated right next to Darling Harbour and, being the weekend, it is really buzzing. We have spent the first evening and all the next day there – eating, drinking, walking around, eating, drinking …… you get the picture! Late afternoon we went back to the Outback shop as there was a 30 minute show given by an Aborigine explaining and playing the didgeridoo. It seems that the name is not aboriginal but Irish – hands up all those who knew that! It was fascinating and very entertaining – it is recommended to anyone visiting Sydney.

Monday 20 November 2006 – For the second day running we had a leisurely start to the day – something we have learned we need to do when away for any length of time. It is also important to get some “me” time occasionally as well. This morning, therefore, we separated for a couple of hours to go our own way shopping. During my expedition I came across Sven Goran Eriksson (the former England football manager) and his partner, Nancy Dell’Ollio, in Myers department store in George Street. Is he on holiday or is he looking for a job down under! The last I heard he was still unemployed.

Elizabeth did her shopping in the Queen Victoria Building which is very elegant and decked out for Christmas with a tree that is so tall that it stretches to three floors. We have seen much evidence of Christmas as we would at home in the UK, except it seems rather strange to be so hot.

Lunch was taken in Darling Harbour at The Meat and Wine which was excellent and came in at just under £20 for a main course with a drink each. This was followed by an expedition around the Sydney Wildlife World which is a fairly new attraction. It features many indigenous insects, reptiles and animals including Rock Wallabies, butterflies, all sorts of creepy crawlies (some of which are very dangerous), a koala bear and a cassorwary. The latter is like an ostrich to look at and very lively. It was moving around all the time and offered a real challenge to get a good photograph. This was a very enjoyable experience and there was no indication that any of the exhibits were in an environment that it found uncomfortable. Having said that, there is a part of me that does not like the thought that any creature is kept captive when it should be free. However, much was said in the displays about the organisation working towards helping the continued survival of all the creatures.

Today was the hottest day of our holiday so far with a temperature of about 29C – tomorrow it is forecast to be 33C!

Tuesday 21 November 2006 – Very hot! Today was an arty one with two visits to the Sydney Opera House. We took a ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay in the Rocks area of the city – an historic site as it is where the early settlement was in the 18th century. We had pre-booked a tour of the Opera House for 10am which was interesting. We visited and sat in three of the halls – the opera house, concert hall and the drama theatre. We also were able to stand underneath the famous “sails” and appreciate what a feat of engineering they are. During our stay here the House has been named as one of the 21 candidates for the Seven Wonders of the World. As part of a campaign to promote this there had been a free sausage breakfast on the forecourt. Unfortunately, we had got there too late to take part as it finished at 9am.

In the evening we attended a performance in the Drama Theatre of Alan Ayckbourn’s play “Woman in Mind” staring Noni Hazlehurst, who played the main character Susan. She was on stage for the whole performance and it was a tour de force. It was strange to be in Australia watching Australian actors in an English play using English accents and doing it very well. During the interval we stood outside on the harbour side looking at the Harbour Bridge and the lights all around – they were magical moments and will long stay in the memory.

Sydney to Brisbane

Wednesday 22 November 2006 – Reclaimed our car and made leisurely tracks for Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. It was a very hot day – Sydney was 38C and the Hunter Valley not much less. What made it more oppressive was the wind which, because of the temperatures and the fact that we were inland, was hot and very oppressive. The best place to be was inside the air conditioned car. We drove around a few wineries but did no go into any as we were not in the mood for wine tasting.

We had planned to start the day by visiting the Blue Mountains, just outside Sydney, but decided against it because of the heat but more because of the raging fires that were burning out of control. It was not clear where it was safe but importantly we felt that the emergency services could do without our presence. The Hunter Valley is not far from there as the crow flies and by late afternoon there was quite a lot of smoke in the air at Cessnock, which added to an impending thunder storm, made it dark at about 4pm. The colour of the sky had not been seen by locals before. It was much better after the storm.

We stayed in a brand new motel owned by the Cessnock Rugby League Supporters Club and to eat there you had become a temporary member and go to the club next door which was also very new looking. It had quite a large restaurant and we ate there alone – did others know something we did not? It would not win culinary awards but it was nice to eat plain straight forward food for a change after so many more exotic sounding concoctions we had encountered on our travels. When we left they decided to close for the night! We had a look around the club before retiring to our room and it was like a mini Las Vegas with dozens of one armed bandits.

Thursday 23 November 2006 – We continued on our long drive north towards Brisbane and it was the start of the 1st Ashes Cricket test which we listened to on the car radio. England is off to the predictable bad start with the Aussies piling on the runs against some poor England bowling.

Our first port of call is Hallidays Point – on the coast in mid New South Wales. It is a delightful little place with a gorgeous beach. Our reason for choosing to divert off our route was to visit Cheryl who is a 6th cousin (yes – 6th!) who I had met over the Internet. We share common ancestors in Cornwall and she had first contacted me in 2002. I had sent an email announcing our impending visit but had not received a response.

We decided that we would take a chance and call in as it would be such a shame to miss such an opportunity. Mark, Cheryl’s husband, answered the door and knew who we were once I had introduced us. Cheryl was at work but was nearby and a phone call by Mark brought her rushing home. We had a pleasant time with them for a little over an hour before she had to return to work. Mark is a policeman in Port Macquarie, our next overnight stop, and was able to give us some information on eating places.

Port Macquarie is a lovely place – one of the most attractive we have seen – that is away from its shopping area which is very much like so many other towns and cities. We parked outside the police station and as we returned to the car after a little walk we bumped into Mark. Little did we think earlier in the day when we saw him at his home that we would see him again! It is small world that is getting smaller it seems.

Friday 24th November 2006 – This was one of our longest drives as we continued north to Byron Bay. We had a great deal of difficulty in finding our accommodation for the night as it was in the middle of nowhere and we had not been given any instructions – something to take up with the booking agents! However, when we found it we were absolutely delighted and regretted that we had booked only one night. It was at Peppers Casuarina Eco Lodge situated in rainforest south west of Byron Bay. It was so peaceful and had balconies back and front overlooking lush scenery and there the sounds of many birds although we saw very few. If we had more time we would have been able to explore more. It did provide a wonderful haven for the night.

Saturday 25th November 2006 – England continues to struggle in the Test and we are beginning to wonder whether the match will still be going on Sunday – the day for which we have tickets. However, after dismissing England very cheaply the Aussies do not enforce the follow on, preferring to bat again. A cynic might think that the possibility of repaying the gate on Sunday if England had collapsed for a second time on this day might have influenced the decision. Added to this the cynic, once again, might take into consideration the fact that the Australian players get paid a cut of the receipts. As I said, a cynic may say this but I am not!!!

Before setting off for Brisbane we had a look at Byron Bay, and in particular, Cape Byron which is the most easterly point in Australia. It was an extremely hot day, about 29/30 degrees, and we really felt it by the sea. We walked out to the point and had views of dolphins in the sea but it was very difficult to be able to pinpoint them with our cameras.

The journey on to Brisbane was straight forward, as was the finding of our hotel. It is, again very comfortable and well placed – only a short distance from all the amenities including the cricket ground – “The Gabba”. Tomorrow we are off to the test match.