An Adventure in Sydney, Australia

It is always a pleasure to visit Australia and other English speaking countries as one does not feel aboliged to speak slowly and clearly - but I had to stop myself at Paddy’s Market, near Darling Harbour, Sydney, as many of the stall holders were of European descent!

From our hotel room we could see the elegant chinese garden, and the hotel, squeezed in between Darling Habour, Chinatown and the Powerhouse Museum was ideal for satisfying a wide variety of holiday interests.

On the first day of our arrival in Sydney, it was extremely hot, ideal for strolling along the sculptued waterways along the beautiful Darling Harbour precinct and select a reasonably priced cafe to enjoy a light luncheon and a local beer.

Later in the day it was time to explore the stalls and factory shops of Paddy’s market before plunging, again, into the array of Darliing Harbour Restaurants to find a place for dinner. Often the places slightly off the main walkway are the ones to go for and we located an excellent place to enjoy a seafood meal.

When in Sydney a visit ot the Rocks area is a ‘must visit’ so next day, which was a little cooler we enjoyed devourig the delicious aromas from the food market before adjourning to our favourite Cafe at the Rocks for Lunch. Our other favourite place at the Rocks to visit, is a Nautical shop, full of a huge variety of maritime paraphahalia. Sadly, it was no longer there, so it was on to our favourite bookshop at the Rocks. Not big ebough to get lost in, the shop has an eclectic variety or Australian fiction, non fiction, classical, popular and books to satisfy most book lover’s tastes.

To live up to our reputation of going on ‘a busman’s holiday’ we embarked on a Coffee Cruise on the Sydney harbour in the afternoon. As we neared the heads, past the affluent home hill suburbs, the wind rose quite substantially and we were well entertained watching some drawn out and hairy spinnaker lowering from some of the yachts racing on the harbour. The wind was also enough to prevent our visiting the habours near the heads so we trundled under the bridge, to the extensive inland waterways, surrounded by homes, boat repair and naval years. And yes, like us in Auckland, there was a derelict steam driven ferry huddling the shore, waiting patiently for people (and funding) to restore her.

Later in the day we strolled back to our hotel after visiting the QVB Centre. The street level has gone upmarket since our last visit and the most interesting Acccories shop that I loved to visit, had gone. To reach our hotel we passed through Chinatown, with its specialist shops, restaurants and crowds of Friday night wanderers. The busy outdoor market offered a huge variety of oriental food, with deliscious flavours wafting into the night air.

It was very cold on Saturday morning. We walked quickly towards the Australian Classic Wooden Boat Show, stopping by a most impressive array of classic vehicles from the American Muscle Car Club. Its interesing how many of us love to admire and reminisque upon the era when Dodges, Fairlaines and similar cars were commonplace - I wonder if it is something to do with age??

Classic Boats in Sydney, according to what we saw at the show, appeared to be beamier than ones in New Zealand, and the launches seemed to be designed for boating in sheltered in waters. But no matter where a classic boat lover is, the boats look as if they have been lovingly maintined, and it is hard not to caress one’s hand across the varnished woodwork. And the talk is all the same.... Oh and does anyone wish to purchase classic racing yacht? Very reasonably priced, we thought, and the woodwork was sanded all ready for varnishing. And Gretel was on display too, looking very smart and ready to go racing. I remember seeing her when she was being refurbished in Auckland, New Zealand, The Square Riggers on display included the Soren Larsen and Endeavour the replica of Captain Cooks vessel.

After inspecting the antique wooden racing boats, marine models and art (not as interestng as in our Squadron Art Exhibition, I felt), we quickly made our way to a warm cafe for lunch before getting ready for our Big Train Adventure.

A flying visit and adventure to London and York, England

Hello everyone,

This was a very quick visit to London - the purpose of which was to attend a surprise stag do for Son in law to be, a girls night out for the gals, and to meet incoming family members.

it is always exciting landing in London - and especially so this time as we landed at daybreak - with the sky lightening up in the distance and the many planes landing and leaving the dark Heathrow with all lights flashing - it made us feel as if we were in a star wars movie!

A very busy week it was. We were pleased we that we booked a day trip York, by train which was very pleasant day. The 2 hour trip through green rural land under grey skies passed quickly and we arrived to a cool sometimes rainy day. Our research suggested we visit the York Minster (cathedral) which is the largest Gothic cathedral of its type in England. However you did have to pay to go to various areas which turned out to be rather expensive, so we opted to pay to negotiate the 275 narrow winding stairs to the top of the tower, which gave us an expansive view of York and its surrounds. The old city with its "Shambles" streets was pretty, quaint, and small. The area featured lots of shops, eating places and a market. Great to wander around, Unfortunately we missed the cat shop but we did not miss the Mulberry Lane Porcelain and Crystal shop. Some amazing displays by world renowned companies and artists were here. An ideal place to have a wedding registry if one was well heeled. Probably the most interesting place was the National Railway Museum which nobody told us about. it is so much more than rows of trains! One of the most interesting features was the 'working warehouse' - shelves and shelves of paraphanalia to do with trains (and boats) walls of signs, all either, being, or about to be restored. Furniture, signals, chamber pots, fabrics, photos and paintings, signal boards, significant pieces of timber and metal, model trains and boats, many items to oooh and ah about.

The other 'must visit' when visiting York, England is the JORVIK Viking Centre. As well as featuring an authentic recreated (including the smells) which one travels though gondola, the centre explores the migrations around England from the geneological point of view. This technology is still very new and confirms or refutes original beliefs about the travels and habits of the vikings and other races.

Mid September was an ideal time to visit London, I felt - the days were balmy to cold (if you are from New Zealand or that part of the world), there were not too many tourists around, so not many queues, and the leaves on the trees had not yet turned, so it was like a cool summer's week.

I did discover some 'do nots' while in London;
- don't eat baked beans with a British Big Breakfast
- don't get on the wrong bus
- dont dont dont mix jet lag with cold tablets and alcohol..................

it was awesome catching up with family members, as well as new and old friends! And to have a quick glimpse at the Victoria and Albert Musuem (must check out and book for any special exhibitions before we go, next time) and to duck into the most interesting shop at the Science Museum. Well - that 'quick' visit lasted over 2 hours.... We did enjoy seeing the steam engine in operation! The National Geographic Shop in Regent Street had some interesting displays on too. Pity they have gone into selling heaps of clothes. But the hot chocolate and coffees in their shop next door is well worth the visit.

So now we are back home and looking forward to our next adventure to Australia and to my son's wedding in a couple of weeks......