Sydney/Coogee Bay.
Monday the 20th February and we were up at 6am in readiness for the drive to the airport. We said our goodbyes to Miryl, Josh and Livvy and set off at 6.30am hoping that the traffic into the city wasn't too bad. It seemed that we were lucky with the traffic and got to the airport at 8am. Rodger insisted on parking the car and helping us transfer our luggage into the airport.It was sad to say goodbye to him and to see him leave to make his way back home. We had checked in the night before and Miryl had printed off the boarding cards so all we had to do was to print off the luggage tags and send our bags off again. Through security and then we found a seat and had some breakfast as our flight wasn't until 10am. After an uneventful flight we landed in Sydney at 11.30am and retrieved our bags, it's always a relief when one sees one's bag arriving on the belt!!
After a short taxi drive we arrived at our accommodation in Coogee Beach. Both my sons, Rob and Steve had lived in Coogee, at different times, during their stays in Australia and I had stayed at the Coogee Beach Hotel 10 years ago on my first trip here. This time we were booked in b and b accommodation just over the road from the beach. We had a good sized room with a sitting area and a balcony overlooking the beach and cricket ground. http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/170509 The weather was hot and sunny and there were a lot of people on the beach and in the town. We had decided to spend the afternoon in Coogee and to leave visiting Sydney until the next day. In the evening we had a beer in the garden of the Coogee Beach Hotel and a meal at a Thai restaurant.
Scavenging Ibis
Our breakfast was left out for us each morning in the kitchen. With a choice of cereals, fresh fruit, croissants and toast we had a good start to the day.
Next day we caught the bus into the centre of Sydney, Circular Quay, and commenced our sightseeing. There was a huge cruise liner, the Costa Delicioza, moored in the harbour and we both agreed that we were happy not to be one of the people on board! There are lots of ferries coming and going from each of the 6 quays and it is a very busy area. A short walk took us to what must be one of the most famous views in the world with the Opera house in front of us and the harbour bridge to our left. When I was last in Sydney I had been impressed with the Botanic Gardens and I was eager to share them with N. We entered them by the gate near the Opera house and spent a couple of hours wandering around, marvelling at the many different plants and trees. The flying foxes that I remembered so well from my previous visit are still there making their distinctive screeching calls but are sadly becoming a problem as they are destroying many of the specimen trees.
It was getting pretty warm and we were becoming footsore and weary so we made our way to the oldest part of the city, The Rocks, for lunch. After lunch we explored the Rocks where there are still a few of the old, original buildings still standing in stark contrast to the skyscrapers of the CBD close by. Then we caught the bus back to Coogee, passing the famous Randwick racecourse, to rest our weary bones before a short walk to an Italian restaurant for our evening meal.
Next day N gave in and didn't feel like doing any more sightseeing so I left him, happily relaxed, in Coogee and took the bus into the city again. I caught the ferry over to Manly, a half hour trip that provides stunning views of the city from the water. After a wander around Manly, a look at the famous beach and lunch, it was back on the ferry to the city. To me it seemed that tourists far outnumber the residents but I suspect that the areas that I had been in were the most popular ones with the tourists. I was saddened to see, on the quay, a couple of Aborigines playing traditional music. They were accompanied by a man (non Aborigine) touting for them and encouraging tourists to put money in the hat and have their photo taken with them.
Back in Coogee for our last evening there, N was rested and we went for a walk along the beach and cliffs before having our evening meal. Our waitress was a very voluble Scottish girl who spent a long time chatting to us and telling us how much she was enjoying her stay there.
I had been for a walk each morning and evening sometimes walking in the surf at the waters edge and was beginning to wonder if I was the only person who wasn't jogging or power walking! The ones who were jogging in the sand appeared to be the ones who were suffering most, with a dogged expression on their faces as they struggled backwards and forwards along the beach. Quite a few mums were power walking and pushing a baby in its push chair . Other people were jogging with their dog alongside them. Although I love swimming in the sea I hadn't been tempted as it was very busy and there was a lot of surf.
Next morning we packed our bags once again and left them at our accommodation whilst we took a short walk along the cliffs and then sat and watched the world go by until it was time to return to pick up our bags and take a taxi to the airport.
Sounds wonderful Dee and your photographs are stunning !
ReplyDeleteI'd love some sun right now. ;-)