Well hello and greetings from Sydney, and I have been welcomed with yet another photo of the day thanks to Christ the Redeemer back in Rio !
So, got here in Sydney about 6 days ago to be met by Alan who I haven't seen for over a year and it was wonderful to see him again ... and the fact that I am now staying in a 5 star hotel courtesy of his generousity is also something pretty wonderful !!
So, Sydney ... well, seeing the 2 classic sights, the Harbour Bridge (all the way from Middlesbrough) and of course the Opera House in real life is pretty impressive. The Opera House is weird, so different from different angles. We booked on a backstage tour as Alan is a bit of a theatre lover and I tried to be enthusiastic about the thought of getting up at 6am for it however it was brilliant ! We got to stand in the orchestra pit and on the conductor's podium and we actually got to stand on the stage of the Sydney Opera House which is pretty cool !
We got a boat out to see the Olympic Park which was a bit of a disappointment really, I suppose a stadium is just a stadium anywhere in the world really isn't it ?!
I'm not sure about Sydney, after you've seen the bridge and the Opera House everywhere else just seem a bit .... well, Milton Keynes. Not that special. Apologies to any Milton Keynes lovers out there .....
Got a train out to the world famous Bondi beach and that was better, I had been warned that it was a dump but actually it was really clean, a lot smaller than I imagined though. The weather was very windy when we were there so we didn't actually go on the beach but I'm considering spending a few days down there later. There was a sculpture by the sea type exhibition on which had loads of weird sculptures dotted along the coast path - when I came face to face with a brand new cbr600RR dismantled in the name of sculpture that was enough for me !
Anyway, on Sunday we are taking a hire car up the coast heading up towards Brisbane - not sure if we'll get that far but, for me, it will be good to get out of the city and to see some of the country. It is weird being in a friend's company again, I've just been used to transient friendships over the past year and I think I need training to remember how to share my time with someone .... those who know me best will probably now be asking whether I ever knew how to share my time !!
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