Sydney…

We took the train from East Gosford to Sydney, a nice 1 1/2 hour ride that brought us to the heart of Sydney. A short walk and we dropped our bags off at the hotel and went off to get some lunch and do a bit of exploring. After being in small towns for the most part the last 2 weeks, the hustle of a big city was actually a nice change. I find that to much of the same doesn’t allow you to experience the vast range of experiences available when travelling. Our hotel is in Chinatown, and the area around is busy with restaurants, kiosks, shopping, and people! Found a place for lunch, and turned once again to AI to sort out a walk for the afternoon. Ended up in Hyde Park, home of the ANZAC Memorial pictured above. We’ve seen the history of ANZAC from both the New Zealand and Australian points of view, and it’s obvious that it is one of the key ties between the two countries. The fountain in Hyde park is beautiful and worth a look.

We also decided to take a walk around St. Mary’s Cathedral. The original St. Marys started construction in 1821 and officially became a cathedral in 1835. In 1865, it burned down and architect William Wardell was commissioned to design the new Cathedral. Construction was done in 3 stages. Stage one was between 1865 and 1900, stage 2 was between 1912 and 1928, and stage 3 was finally completed in 2000. It’s considered one of Australias most significant buildings and visitors are welcome to explore inside and out.

We’re staying at a Meriton Suites in Sydney and our studio suite is fully equipped, including en-suite washer and dryer. When we got to the suite we threw a load in the washer. When we went to use the dryer, we had an entertaining 20 minutes or so pushing the same sequence of buttons over and over, getting the same result (the dryer didn’t start), then gave up and called maintenance who showed up in 5 minutes. The young guy, took one look at the dryer and went, no issues, walked over and pushed in the locking button on the dryer door. He did say this was the third time today he‘d had a call for this. It’s nice to know we’re not the only idiots travelling today who can’t read. There was the small sticker beside the button on the dryer door with VERY CLEAR instructions to push it in to start. A good lesson to remind ourselves to sometimes step back, relax, and RTFM (Read the F&&%ing Manual!). I highly recommend this place, and there are several around Sydney. Great value for money, and extraordinary service!

We found a Thai place just down from to hotel so got some takeout for dinner and enjoyed it back in the hotel with a nice bottle of one we picked up in the Hunter Valley. Off for a walk after dinner down to Darling Harbour. Lot‘s of people out, lots of busy restaurants, and lots to see. So far, we’re loving our time in Sydney. More exploring Monday and then we off to NZ for 5 months!