Foggy this morning and we could not even see the Harbour Bridge or Opera House when we woke. This gave the LLW the perfect excuse to turn over and have an extended sleep. We did make it down to breakfast by 08:30 and the restaurant was heaving. I'm not sure where they all came from but it could be related to the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race which starts at 13:00 today from Sydney Harbour.
By the time we returned to our room the fog was lifting and the sun was appearing. Within an hour the sky was blue, temperatures were in the mid 20Cs and normal service was resumed. Weather is quite extraordinary at times, from zero visibility to totally clear within 90 mins.
We walked around the Rocks area which is the first part of Sydney we explored on out first visit in 2010. Some Oligarch (?) has parked their little boat in a position which spoiled the view of the Harbour Bridge!
It was forecast that huge crowds would be watching the start of the race from various vantage point around the harbour and given the excellent view of the harbour from our bedroom, the LLW decreed that we would watch from there. This proved to be an inspired decision since we should also watch the start live on Ray's iPad. The four Super Maxi Yachts which will almost certainly be the first to reach Hobart, are 100 feet long, and watching these tack and jockey for position after the start was fascinating and very alarming.
Having seen them leave the harbour, it was time to explore the botanic gardens which are a short walk from our hotel. Apart from anything else the botanic gardens offer great views of the harbour and iconic buildings.
The LLW was very disappointed to discover that there were no lotus flowers in the oriental garden pond and a formal compliant to Anthony Albanese may be forthcoming.
Back to Circular Quay and we had planned to take the ferry (now back in service after the yachts had left the harbour) to Watsons Bay. However, the next ferry was some 40 minutes away and the LLW spotted a ferry about to depart to Darling Point and Double Bay so off we went to these destinations.
This proved to be an inspired decision and the beach at Double Bay provided an excellent beach where Ray enjoyed a swim in the very warm water.
The view of the Opera House on the way back to circular Quay was quite spectacular in the late afternoon sunshine.
We had decided upon an early supper since our routine has been a good breakfast at the hotels and then fruit or some other small snack at lunchtime and then a good dinner.
Ray had identified a Thai restaurant close to Circular Quay called Chat Thai and we decided to give it a try. We were immediately encouraged to find several Thai families eating there and we were quickly served with what transpired to be an excellent meal. We have definitely decided that good food, at reasonable prices, in expensive cities is usually provided by Asian restaurants.
We leave for New Zealand tomorrow but our flight was changed to one which leaves at 19:00 and arrives at midnight in Christchurch. We were pleased to discover that our check out time is 12:00 pm so we will have plenty of time to pack and to have another walk around Sydney before we leave. No worries then!
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