The extended stay was all due to the hospitality of Ewan's friends Kathryn and Loz. These lovely Geordies put us up, fed us and directed us in all the right directions. We thoroughly took advantage of the free accomodation and wonderful company. Although Loz quickly latched onto ewans habit of pointing out every giant spider in the city, we somehow managed to become friends. This laid back Aussie attitude must be catching...
The Browns live in Manly Beach, which is a beautiful 25 min ferry ride away from the harbor and far enough away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but in a lively neighborhood of its own. Despite the masculine name, Manly Beach made much more of an impression on us for its feminine qualities... Mainly the 6' tanned modelesque women who overran the beaches. It only took us a day on the beach and a drink at the local pub that night to realize Sydney and Manly Beach could be in our near future. (80 degrees on a fall day? Yes, please!)
The next day we took in the tourist sights on the hop on/off sightseeing tour bus. Even though we knew how touristy we looked, we couldn't stop taking photos of the opera house.With the water glistening in the background on a sunny day, it's even more gorgeous than we expected.
We stopped off at the busy Chinatown district, and walked the rest of the way back to circular quay and the harbor to get our heads around the city's layout. Sydney's green spaces and public parks would put seattle to shame, and we spent most the afternoon wandering around and soaking up the sun.
That night we met up with Kathryn and Loz in town at British chef Jamie Olivers new restaurant in town and had the best meal out since leaving Seattle.
The next morning we hopped the tour bus again, this time to famous Bondi Beach. We did the tourist walk along the coast, and spent half our time checking out the natural scenery, and the other half gawking at the people on the beach. This guy taught his dog to head a soccer ball back to him... Which was how I lost ewan for a good 15 minutes!
Besides transport to bondi, the hop on bus gave us a few facts on the local history. Inbetween some horrendously corny jokes, We learned that this seaside pool had a very exclusive swim club membership. To become an "iceberg" you Have to swim there every sunday for four continuous years!
All in all we were pretty impressed with Sydney, and are seriously trying to remember the downfalls to an 80 degrees-in-fall climate. (i have to keep thinking of the spiders!) but London has all that... Right? :)
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Location:Sydney
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