Manly to Sydney

Sunday promised to be the hottest day yet (more to come on that!).  It was the day we were to leave Avalon and head back to Deb and Alan’s city house as they had to go to work, poor things, the next day.

Alan drove us down to Manly to catch the ferry across the harbour into the city.

Manly is packed on a Sunday, we’ll come back on a weekday sometime.

We boarded the ferry and crossed the harbour enjoying the views on the way

We then took a stroll around Circular Quay to the Opera house

The bridge is a lot smaller than I thought it was – however, I’m still not tempted to climb it!  We may walk over it when we are back in Sydney in a few weeks time.

We stopped to rest for a couple of minutes by the Opera House, at which point a gust of wind snatched the very nice hat I was wearing and threw it into Sydney Harbour.  I was gutted, not only because it was a great hat and suited me, but also because I’d been debating with Deb about buying it from her!  Anyway, we loved the Opera House and it isn’t quite as white as you would expect, more a cream colour actually.

Famous landmark!

Nice hat, mate!

We then went to The Rocks, an area of old Sydney with lots of craft type shops and a weekend market.  Unfortunately it was already 5pm and things were beginning to close down (another one to add when we are back, perhaps).  So we wandered through and resisted the temptation to buy for now(!) and then went and found ourselves a cold tea and milkshake at The Rocks Cafe opposite the old Police Station.

'Allo, 'allo, 'allo - what's this 'ere then?

and then waited for Alan and Debs to come and pick us up so that we could take them out for supper.  We waited opposite ‘Sydney’s Oldest  Pub, where a jazz band was playing to entertain us for 10 minutes or so

We had supper at the most fantastic Thai Restaurant called Longrain – there are two branches, one in Melbourne and the other in Sydney.  Served ‘communal style’ at long tables, this is a very modern take on Thai cuisine.  We had eggnets with pork, prawns, peanuts and beanspouts and cucumber salad, followed by stir fried squid and smoked speck with ginger, snow peas, blackbean and chilli, and beef with snake beans with chilli jam and tamarind.  Three dishes between four of us, with a little rice, was more than plenty and the only niggle I had with the place was the waiter’s lack of knowledge about wine – ‘No, this wine isn’t oaked’.  Would he please check before he opened it? ‘Actually, this wine has had 14 months in French oak casks. ‘Do you have one that isn’t oaked?’ ‘Yes.  This one. … Oh, well, it does have some oak.’  ’OK, then I’ll have a Cotes du Rhone’.  ’Well that really will be oaked’.

A bog standard (if rather over priced, but then you have to factor in the airfare) Cotes du Rhone that I could buy for under €3 in France wouldn’t have had the luxury of being afforded a whiff of oak.  Never mind.  Weary of arguing, I settled for a very nice NZ rose instead.

Anyone visiting Sydney, I would certainly recommend this restaurant for the cheery ambiance, the most wonderful food and  (wine knowledge aside) excellent service.

All in all, an excellent day.

We’re taking a day off today, Monday, and cooking paella for the workers and their two lovely sons.  We collect the camper tomorrow and the fun will start up again!

 

The perfect supper

It sounds like to title of a schoolkid’s essay, doesn’t it?

On Saturday we spent most of the day at the beach house, leaving our hosts to do the things they needed to do.  We wandered into the local town for lunch, a round trip of 6 kilometers in baking sunshine.  Needless to say I did get a little pink on the shoulders, but nothing too serious.  We stopped for lunch in Avalon, Jon had the most perfect Thai chicken salad and I had a tandoori chicken wrap – but wished I’d had the salad!

 

After we had cooled down a little, Alan returned from his afternoon sailing and Deb from the beach.   We drove down to Palm Beach where Alan went off to order some fish and chips while Deb led us down to the bay to find a suitable place to sit while we at them watching the sun set across the bay.

 

Could there be any better setting for a fish and chip supper (and I have to say, they are probably the best fish and chips I have ever tasted!

 

 

Northern Beaches, Sydney

We were met by our good friends Alan and Debs at the airport.  They then took us for a drive by Sydney’s best sights and a stop for lunch at a Sydney institution in Woolloomooloo (I just love that name Woolloomooloo, Woolloomooloo – Just rolls off the tongue!)

Harry’s Cafe de Wheels has been a favourite for over 60 years.  Sitting by the naval dockyard it was used by sailors on shore leave and it’s reputation soon grew.  The speciality of the house is ‘The Tiger’ – a meat pie topped with a ring of mashed potatoes and mushy peas.  Well, we had to really, didn’t we?

A leisurely and picturesque drive brought us to our hosts house in Avalon in the area known as Northern Beaches.  We were blown away.  Alan and Debs bought this place a few years ago for their retirement (which hasn’t happened yet), it’s a gorgeous white beach house on three levels with decks on each level and a view of the bay  through some trees.

The most amazing thing for us poor Europeans is the array of bird life.  Cockatoos, parakeets and kookaburras are just out of hands reach squawking away all day.  We wake each morning to the sound of the kookaburras laughing loudly, it seems, just next to our ears but although they are loud and shrieking, I can’t help it but wake up laughing at this infectious giggle coming from a bird!

Yesterday afternoon, our friends hired a ‘tinny’, a little tin boat with a motor and took us out into the bays on the inland side of the peninsular.  The houses are just amazing from the shore side and each has a boathouse, most of which have been converted into guest rooms or dining rooms.  It was a wonderful couple of hours on the water.

The weather has been very warm but, fortunately for us pale skins, not too sunny so far.