We were up and about reasonably early this morning, but not early enough to catch John before he went off to work at 07.00. Fortunately we had said our farewells last night and look forward to seeing him again next year. After breakfast Bev delivered us to our hotel in Darling Harbour and it has to be said that it was a godsend not to have to struggle with our bags on the public transport, so many thanks to Bev for braving the Sydney traffic.
Once at the hotel, we entered reception only to be confronted with a pile of suitcases and another pile of people, all of which appeared to be on our cruise. They must have come in on the early morning flight from Dubai and it was immediately obvious that we were the youngest by quite a margin!! The reception was obviously geared up for throngs of people as they managed to dispatch most of the queue in front of us with military precision. We soon had our key and were headed for the lifts. It was always going to be interesting because you had to waive your room key in front of a sensor before pressing a floor. For Mr Bungalow (nothing upstairs) this proved a massive problem. However, the cavalry was in the lift in the form of Mr & Mrs Know It - except they didn’t. Eventually we headed upwards and poor Mr Bungalow was almost evicted from the lift by Mr Know It and it was only the fact that Bungalow’s suitcase was almost as big as him that saved him from exiting at record speed.
Could we have just shared the lift with our table partners - here’s hoping not!!
Our room was ready for us and we were able to drop everything off and get out into the warm autumn sunshine that was now blazing down. We decided to walk a couple of blocks to George St and along to the Victoria building, which is, as it’s name implies, is a huge victorian shopping emporium with arcades lining the inside. Naturally all the shops are exclusive and expensive, but worth a look nevertheless. From here we walked further along George St to The Strand. Another exclusive arcade and even more boutique shops. On the top floor there was a shirtmaker, cobler and tailor, all making their wares in the windows of their shops.
From George St we continued along to Circular Quay and decided to head off on a ferry to Manly beach and enjoy some sunshine. We strolled along the prom and off to to the next little cove before returning to the main beach and a well earned Ben & Jerry’s. Back on the ferry to Circular Key, before braving the bus back along George St and a short walk to the hotel.
Having freshened up in the hotel it was back on the bus to get some dinner in one of the Rock’s many restaurants. After dinner, we walked down to Circular Quay for some night pictures of the Opera House and Bridge. Time for home, so back on the bus again and return to the hotel, hoping that Mr Bungalow wasn’t still struggling with the lift.
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