Towers Galore

One thing Duncan really wanted to do while we were in Sydney was go up the Sydney Tower (formerly Centrepoint Tower).

The views were spectacular, but the admittance price was a bit of a rip off.  It costs $25 per person to go up the tower and look through the binoculars.  Oh well, they need to pay their staff, I guess.

They take a photo of you before you go up the elevator and on your way back down they try to flog you a photo set which costs $35.  No way were we paying $35 for some bad pictures of ourselves.  I suppose there will always be international tourists with lots of money though.

We had a bit of a look around Pitts Street Mall and the Westfield complex there.  It's a far cry from the Westfield Shopping Centres in Perth - I couldn't afford even a button from those designer boutiques.

That night was our last in Sydney so we went out for dessert with Jane and Tim in Leichhardt to celebrate Duncan's 30th.  I enjoyed some gelato while the others shared a dessert pizza.

We bought Jane and Tim a game as a thank you present for having us stay with them.  They love board games, but can't buy big ones because of the limited space in their tiny apartment.  In the end we bought them Uno Stacko which is like a combination of Uno and Jenga.  It is so much fun and a nice size.  Here are Jane and Tim with the most impressive tower we made all night before it came crashing down.

My thoughts on Sydney:

• I don't think I could live there.  It's all bit too big and bustling for me.  The traffic and lack of parking...oh my!  You can't just run down the street to the shops like you can in Perth.  But I like to think I'm adaptable and that I could live there if I felt God was leading me there.  One thing I always feel about cities is that I'm overwhelmed by how many people there are in the world, and how many don't know Jesus.
• I was surprised how old and rundown the city looks in parts - it's more like Melbourne than I expected with the old grungy, graffitied look in many areas.  We were in the inner west so I didn't get to see the outer suburbs much.
• One of the reasons for going (apart from seeing Jane and Tim) was so Duncan could have a chance to experience a little bit of what it's like to study at Bible college.  We went to the chapel service which all students attend and Duncan went to a lecture on preaching.  He's not sure if he can live in the city again (and I'm not sure I'd want to live in student housing), but he is keen to do some form of theological study one day.

Overall, I loved our trip and I'm finding myself pining for Sydney.  It was a memorable time.



Manly and More

Jane and Tim started their new semester at Bible college on our third full day in Sydney, so Duncan and I ventured out alone for the first time (oooh scary!).  After a number of friends recommended taking the ferry to Manly, that's exactly what we did!

There are some fantastic walks around the coast.



View of the city from the ferry on the way back.





Kirribilli House.  We wanted to drop in on Julia Gillard, but she was probably out.





Duncan was OBSESSED with the Opera House.



And the jolly bridge! :)



He made me climb many stairs for this picture.



Government House.  It opens for tours, but unfortunately it was closed when we were there.

Four People, Three Sisters and a Lot of Fog

On Day 2, we went to church with Jane and Tim before heading out to Katoomba to see the Three Sisters and have a picnic lunch.

As soon as we got into Katoomba, we realised we might be disappointed.  The fog was thick and we could barely see more than 20 metres ahead while driving.  After trying in vain to see the Three Sisters from the lookout, we gave up and had lunch before Duncan and Tim decided they wanted to go down the Giant Stairway.  Jane and I went back into Katoomba and hung around the shops for a while.

After coffee in town, we headed back to the lookout and had success....sort of.

I can't see a thing



One of the sisters



Amazing view







Aha there they are





All right, Duncan, you may take a photo

Day 1 in Sydneytown

Well.....we're back!

Sydney is fantastic!  I had such a great time.  I think I have post-holiday depression actually.  While it's all a bit too loud and scary for country bumpkins like us, it was a great adventure. When we flew into Australia's biggest city, I saw the bright lights and immediately thought, I don't think we're in Kojonup anymore.

We crammed so much into four days and I drank so much coffee that I'm just starting to get 'with it' again.  I've been over east quite a few times and have never had a problem with the two hour time difference before.  It's funny, we were in JB Hi-Fi in Perth before heading home when Duncan came up next to me with a handful of DVDs, asking which ones I wanted.  I was so out of it that I thought he was someone who worked there!

Anyway, I digress.  Back to Sydney....

I must thank our friends, Jane and Tim, who were so hospitable.  They took us around for the first two days until they had to start their new semester at Bible college, and they even gave up their bed for us while they slept on an air mattress in their lounge room.



The boys were too shy, but Jane and I just had to have a photo with CAPTAIN COOK! (What do you mean he's not the real Captain Cook?)



Typical tourist shot!





For some reason, Duncan wanted to take a photo underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge





The Rocks Markets.




View from The Rocks





A picnic lunch on the North Shore (ooo posh!)



Luna Park!  There was free entry.





Hehe Tim the bearded granny!  Funniest pic ever!




Duncan was a bit obsessed with the Opera House.



An out of focus pic of us showing the end result of a visit to Max Brenner :)