Today I woke up to rain. First time it has disrupted activities on this trip. It rained on the ship, but that didn’t bother us and a couple of times it misted. And we did get soaked in Fiji, but that was when we were coming back to the ship so that doesn’t count because it didn’t disrupt the day.
I got up around 8:30 and went down to a mediocre breakfast buffet. For 18.00 I would have thought it would have been better, but Oh Well. From there it was a slow morning until around 11:30 when I decided to go out. I was hoping that the rain would stop, but it was still drizzling. I waited by the hotel for about 20 minutes and it seemed to be just a slight mist so I headed towards the Hop on Hop off bus stop about 4 blocks away. It rained a bit, but not enough to get wet. I got to the bus stop, just as it was pulling away. I was annoyed because I thought it would be 45 minutes until the next one came. Much to my surprise, it came in about 20 minutes. I thought I would just ride in the lower level and look, but there were no seats available. After the first stop, I took a look upstairs. The rain had stopped, so I brushed off the water on a seat and sat down.
The tour was more fun than yesterday’s because the scenery was more diverse. It went through the city central area, but also went out to Bondi beach. This was a very nice area. It was just like in the pictures, imagine that. We also went by the old military area on the coast, which is now mostly expensive houses and upscale condos. The drive from Bondi Beach goes to the top of a high hill and from there we had impressive views of the city. It reminded me of the houses on Point Loma that overlook San Diego. They were the same size and looked just as expensive.
The tour ended at the Central Train Station at 1:30. I walked back to the hotel and rested for awhile before going out to forage dinner. I enjoyed the pub last night so I was hoping to find a similar one in the area. I walked a few blocks and saw some, but they were mostly empty. I headed back to Maloney’s and stopped in…and it was crowded and full of people having a good time. I decided to stay and have a beer, which I did, I only had 1 pitcher. I settled on a T-bone steak with chips and salad. That and the beer put dinner at 28.00 US, not bad. This seems to be the most popular pub in the area. If I come back, I am going to have another beer here and enjoy the atmosphere.
After drinking a pitcher of beer, I thought I should stay close to a rest room, so I went back to the hotel. I downloaded pictures and wrote this blog. Now I am feeling a bit tired.
Tomorrow I fly to Melbourne to join up with Kevin and Joe again. I hear that there is a picnic/BBQ in a park scheduled for Saturday.
