Surfing and the last of Sydney

March 21, 2010


Everyone slept in today, however I snuck out at 7:30 and went over to one of the many Sydney Markets – Paddy’s Market in Chinatown. I got all sorts of yummy food for a big Aussie Breakfast in our apartment and a packed lunch for the beach and off to Manly we went again. The surf was even larger today then yesterday and although we were all suffering from the day before back in we went. We all were suffering from surfers rash – you get a rash where you lie on the boogie board and the guys got a rash in there nether regions from the pounding of the surf and being drenched in sand and salt. You definitely walk funny after a bit of surfing. We ferried back to Sydney mid-afternoon as we were sun baked again and wanted to visit the Sydney Opera house before leaving. We walked through the Opera House just as a concert was getting out, you cannot go in without a ticket but we nosed around anyways. We then walked back through the botanical gardens past Parliament house, a huge gothic sandstone structure. We ambled through the streets to a couple of the famous arcades – the Strand and Queen Victoria. These are stunning shopping malls that were built turn of the century (streets they covered over with glass canopies) and are opulently Victorian with stained glass, dark wood, intricate mosaic floors, iron work grills and rails, ornate plaster work and 100 year old lifts that you can use. Fortunately the stores were closed so the arcades were virtually empty and we couldn’t spend any money.

Like the previous day we staggered home, dined on dumplings and hand pulled noodles in Chinatown, then packed for our 6:20 pickup in the morning. Tomorrow it is off to the South Island New Zealand!