We have set aside the budget somewhat over the last week or so to make the most of Sydney and the surrounding area. In fact, the whole principle of backpacking has been completely abandonned in favour of some civilised accommodation and decent food. This will of course make it all the more painful when we revert back to budget travel this week but for now we're enjoying all the benefits of a good hotel in central Sydney, within strolling distance of the harbour and Opera House.
As part of this disregard for the budget, we signed ourselves up for a sailing trip on the harbour on a yacht last week. Bob and the other 3 paying guests on the trip spent much of the time pulling at ropes and hoisting mainsails while I on the other hand sat back and enjoyed the view - I was just a little disappointed that there was no champagne on offer to complete the experience but it was fantastic nevertheless, even when Bob took the wheel...
We also spent a day exploring Sydney and trying to track down places I had lived/worked when I was here in 1994/5. However, my feeble memory and appalling sense of direction meant that we actually just spent most of the time wandering aimlessly and didn't actually locate most of the places we were looking for. Having said that we did come across some really nice spots in places like Balmain and Kirribilli, before bob's patience with me ran out completely!
We've been up in Kincumber, about an hour's drive north of Sydney, for the last couple of days visiting Bob's schoolfriend Leon and wife Kate and family. They have four extremely cute children, who we've enjoyed spending time with (even if they did accuse us of 'sleeping in til lunchtime' because we were still in bed at 8 am!)
It was incredibly hot while we were up there (45 degrees yesterday) so we didn't spend quite as much time on the beach as we might have done but the area around Kincumber is really beautiful.
Tomorrow is Australia Day, and our last day in Oz, so we're looking forward to the celebrations which seem to include loads of stuff right across the city (fireworks, tall ship races on the harbour, bands, bbqs, etc) before we head off to New Zealand on Tuesday.
