A week in Sydney

Writing on the plane to Hobart, excited
at the prospect of seeing Chris for the first time for a year.
The iPad continues to do its best to thwart my every move. We have a love-hate relationship which may become more loving if I ever get the better of it. I don't help myself by forgetting various work-arounds I laboriously search out and then forget I've sorted! Such as this app I downloaded at home in a frantic last-minute attempt to bypass the iPad's attempts to block me from blogging. We'll have to see if I manage to upload this text AND add photos when I connect to the Internet.
We've had a great time in Sydney. Wisest move was buying travel passes for bus, tram, ferry and train. It's been economical and fun hopping on and off all forms of transport.
We took the train to Leura in the Blue Mountains to visit a car friend of a car friend!! It was the day the heavens opened over Sydney and we were drenched before we even caught the ferry. The storm was so fierce it even soaked the postcards and maps inside my bag. We thought we'd dry out on the 2 hour train ride but it was damp and cold all the way. Not what we expected at all. However, Bill more than made up for it.

83 years old and as lively and interesting a tour guide as you could wish for. He plays clarinet, guitar and whistle, in a jazz band regularly; runs a 1923 supercharged Amilcar and a X15 modern mid engined Fiat sportscar; collects clocks and other memorabilia; is writing his eighth book - these are short factual books on a wide variety of subjects, and beautifully produced; he's a structural engineer and recently designed and built an annex to his house to house either visitors or a future live-in carer. I loved the pulley he has rigged up to hoist his groceries from his car on the drive up to the balcony. He ran us round all the main viewpoints of the Blue Mountains, regaling us with interesting facts and terrifying us with his sudden stop-start motoring. A great day out, despite the weather.
Other highlights of our stay in Sydney were seeing The Marriage of Figaro at the Opera House, a really amusing production, and really exciting to be there. It even included a dead stag on stage, which seemed to be present only as an obstacle to be stepped around by all the participants.
And of course the Bridge Climb. I met and befriended Doreen, a very brave lady my own age who was afraid of heights. She was doing the climb with her husband but seemed to value my support too so they insisted I was included in all their photos. Mine can be seen at until the end of the month.
Did it under cloudless skies with superb views, the day after the great storm, so a tremendous experience.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Parliament St,Sandy Bay,Australia