Day 5
Landed in Sydney at 08:10 where it was overcast and considerably cooler (it was the morning!). Immediately after going outside it was noticeably less humid and a lot more civilised! After a slight delay with our bags coming off the plane as they struggled to open the door. I thought to suggest that the Aussies should try pulling instead of pushing but didn’t know how that would go down with the locals! The quarantine is really strict for any meats, fruits or veg with people going around the arrivals hall asking people. The number of Malaysians and Chinese who had to open their bags was amusing. Instead of white powder, the contraband was that of dried seafood and more fruit than Sainsbury’s!
We got a taxi to our hotel in central Sydney just next to the central train station. The Medina Executive is to be home for the next 3 nights and our base whilst here in Sydney. The taxi was a lot more expensive than KL at around $40 for a journey of half the distance in KL! When we got to the hotel our room wasn’t ready but they were able to move us to an equivalent room that was ready. We really don’t function after night flights so was unsure of the time of day as it felt late afternoon but was really only late morning! The apartment is HUGE. There is a separate bedroom and bathroom with dryer and washer. The living area is also very large with a kitchenette and large fridge (full of beers, but they cost a small fortune).
Once we had settled in it became evident that we had brought more from KL than planned. The ‘one or two’ mosquito bites we thought we had were in fact a lot more! Deb probably has upwards of 100+++ over her legs and arms. She looks like an escapee from a Leper colony and you can see people stare as they walk past!
As we had no beers of our own a journey to find supplies was called for. We decided to go for a walk and see what we could find. The first was a market called Paddy’s (The locals appear to go mad for it but it reminded us of the Haymarket in Leicester and just happened to be located in a place called Haymarket Coincidence?!?) which we quickly left. We eventually found Darling Harbour which seemed to be a central hub for lots of fun and excitement and we planned to return and see it again. Scott found a tourist information centre and proceeded to load up on enough leaflets and maps to sink a ship. They very helpfully directed us to a supermarket (Woolworths) so we could stock up.
We got back to the apartment and made lunch to give us energy to plan the rest of the day. We decided to try and find an internet cafe so we could upload our photos and blog. We found one just down the street from us and used the WiFi on the laptop to upload for everyone! We continued a walk down the main street towards the Sydney harbour area. By this time it was starting to get dark (Around 5.30pm!!) so we decided just to have a look around The Rocks and Circular Quay areas which provided lots of photo opportunities with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the background. The setting sun combined with the lights of the landmarks provided some exciting scenery as we stood and watched. As we walked further round there was a couple having their wedding photographs taken with the Harbour Bridge in the background. Personally, we think the Harbour Bridge is a poor substitute for Dunchurch Park and they are unfortunate not to live near to Dunchurch!
The food choices were expensive and as we didn’t know what we wanted we decided to walk back and grab something on the way. After numerous ventures into 7-11s and convenience stores it became evident that nowhere sells alcohol apart from dedicated liquor stores! More of an inconvenience than anything else as we couldn’t find one of these ‘bottle stores’ as the locals call them. Luckily for us there was a golden arches across the road so we decided to venture for some fast food as we were both getting tired and slightly grumpy. A Grand Angus burger in hand we went back to the apartment and opened a bottle of white Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc from the room’s minibar.
Early night as we had a day full of walking tomorrow as we have planned to travel to Manly by the Ferry! By this stage the mosquito bites are driving Deb mad!
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