We wandered around Katoomba in the cool air, browsing in bookshops and had breakfast in a cafe. The hot chocolate was much better than yesterdays affairs. Having bought a couple of cheap secondhand books we made our way back to the YHA to collect the car and drove to Echo Point where the Giant Staircase is. The thought of nine hundred steps in foggy weather wasn't terribly exciting so we drove out of Katoomba towards Sydney. Unfortunately the weather was still misty so we didn't see anything of the Blue Mountains.
Arriving in Sydney just after noon we went straight through the heart of the city and over the harbour bridge to Manly. There we dipped our toes in the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean and walked to Shelly Beach on North Head. There were some great sculptures along the sea wall, small pewter models of snails, octopi, fairy penguins, a groper, a snorkeller and a couple of scuba divers. A sea bird with a long neck was sat on the railings at Fairy Bower and was completely undisturbed by people walking past and stopping right next to him to take a look. You could have reached out to him and he probably wouldn't have moved. We had an ice-cream and walked along the beachfront before returning to the car.
We stopped at Sydney Harbour National Park at Balgowlah Heights and walked along a designated path, its entire length stretching from The Spit to Manly. A lizard took an ever present opportunity to startle me as I was looking out for snakes. The walk, for which we only covered about 500 metres each way, opened out to some good views of the CBD and city suburbs, if only the skies had been clear.
Back over Sydney Harbour Bridge we bypassed the Opera House and drove up William Street, from where we hired the car, and past Double Bay and Rose Bay to Vaucluse. An old school friend of mine lives here now so we drove passed her house to get a feel for where she lives. And what a stunning view she must get every day, either of the Tasman Sea or the city or both! Bondi beach was a little active in the way of surf and we dipped our toes in again. It wasn't any warmer than at Manly. There weren't any 'biceps out lifeguards' present anywhere, let alone half a dozen of them stood side by side sun tanned to the max! I think Australia could be pulled up for breach of the trade description act! It was too early to knock on Mark and Cronan's door, our hosts again for a few days, so we continued our beach quest south to Tamarama Bay, Bronte Bay, Coogee Bay, which all looked very nice, very quiet, and Maroubra Bay where Ian dipped his toes in again. There was much more surf at Maroubra Bay but a lot less people than at Bondi Beach.
It's only 20 something small degrees in Sydney and noticeably chilled, although what little of the sunlight you get through the windscreen is quite warming.
We arrived at the flat, dumped our bags in the spare room, and I received envelope after envelope from my family back home. It seems that I wasn't very clever when I sent a contact card from my address book in Yahoo! to my Mum as the primary address has been incorrectly flagged as Mark's work address, a default by Yahoo! Oops! Sorry Mark! So anyway, I understand that Mark and my Mum have been getting acquainted by e-mail regarding where things should be sent. Some family members have been super brilliant and sent me some birthday cards for a weeks time. I will hold on to them until the offical date!
We travelled 181 kilometres from Katoomba to Sydney.
The men cooked a nice WeightWatchers chicken meal for us and and we drank a couple of bottles of wine which Ian and I have been subjecting to an amazing range of temperatures this last week. They were fine 'though and survived the heat.
Copyright 2003 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.