Day 73 Sydney

After a marathon journal writing session last night, and squeezing in a meagre 4 hours sleep, it was back in the car this morning to get to the ferry on time.  The temper was much shorter today though...go figure.  Even though we woke earlier, and got ourselves organised, we still had to wait for lagging children and managed to miss the ferry by two minutes.

It was a brief wait for the next one, so we sat in the sunshine, trying to warm our chilled bones.  The ferry ride in was a lot more crowded, but the sun was out, so the views of Sydney were awesome coming into Circular Quay.

Lisa and I had taken the time to plan out our adventures for today, so we could be a bit more organised.  Our first stop was a walk up through the rocks.  Although there has been a lot of development through the area, and several times they have tried to demolish the old buildings, the community has rallied around and preserved this very historic site.  In a couple of places they are excavating the original buildings from beneath the newer ones.

We went to The Rocks Discovery Centre which was full of interactive displays and information on the settlement, and early life at Sydney Harbour.

We continued on from the Discovery Centre down the Nurse's Walk, and up through the historical sites.  The photos are foundations and original walls of dwellings from the turn of last century.  It was quite sobering to sit at a table next to a hearth that would have been used over 100 years ago. 

We meandered our way up and down stairs, in and out of doorways and all over place in general terms.  I think we knew we were in for a long day when Lisa snapped this gem of the kids.  The time was 11:00am. 
It is a pity that they only seem to find their energy when there are treats or theme parks involved.

We continued our walk, up to the Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout, and then made our way back to Circular Quay in time to catch the Manly Ferry.

The Manly Ferry is a lovely old vessel, and afforded us fantastic views of the Harbour Bridge, and the Sydney Opera House from the Eastern side, as well as tracking very close to Fort Dennison which is happily sat in the middle of the harbour like a wart on a frogs butt.

As we tracked down the harbour towards open water, we were warned that there was an unusually large swell, and that we were likely to get wet if we stayed up on the upper deck in the open air.  They weren't kidding either.

We exited the safety of the harbour, and encountered huge swells that made the ferry pitch and roll quite wildly.  Ashley went an instant shade of light green, which he blamed on reflection from the green seat cushions. 

There were amazing views to the South Head of waves crashing over the rocks and sending surf and spray metres into the air.  The views of the Cliffs on North Head were much the same with the swell coming in at 3-5m.

We did manage to arrive in Manly eventually, and took a walk up the mall towards the beach.  A quick stop at the Manly Bakery saw us all fed and string of sea gulls following Rowan up the mall in hope of him leaving morsels behind.

I know that Bondi Beach isn't much more than a big name beach, and doesn't have the WOW appeal of some beaches, so I was hopeful to get that sense of awe from Manly Beach. 

The sand was very yellow, and the swell was so bad that the lifeguards had shut the beach for swimming.  There were huge waves, coming in which made for great surfing, but didn't make being on the beach much fun.

Lisa and I decided that we should get back on the ferry and return to Sydney, but it took us ages to call the kids off the beach.  One or two more delays with thirst and shoelaces undone, saw us watching the ferry pull away as we entered the terminal.  **SIGH**

Whilst we waited for the next ferry, we found a very delectable Gellato purveyor, and got ourselves a treat...and one for the kids as well.  The trip back was uneventful, and we went straight across to the train station to head back to Darling Harbour. 

The kids had a bit of a play in the huge playground before we trekked around to the Maritime Museum.  It was just after 3:30pm when we arrived there, and we decided that we just didn't have enough time to go in as they close the ship gangways at 4:10pm.  Unfortunately for us we are not going to be able to find time to get back with all of the other things that we want to do, so we have to just let that one go.

Walking back around Darling Harbour we took in the sights of all of the artworks and fountains.  There are some amazing works of art, which have interesting effects in the space that they are in.

This fountain when it is moving looks like a galaxy of stars swirling around the ball in the middle.  We all really liked this one.  The water is no more than a centimetre deep, but the effect is fantastic. 


Our final stop today was to be Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum.  By this time we had pretty much had enough of whinging, arguing and hitting, so mum and dad were more inclined to go to the pub, but we put on brave faces and went in anyway.

Here's a picture of the family in the oval office telling Obama how to fix the deficit.  We offered him our PM, but you can see his response to that.  Oh well, I tried.


It took Lisa and I a little while to get into the spirit of Madame Tussaud's, but we ignored the munchkins and had some fun.

SANDY!

Can you pick the famous people in this photo?  Never mind Barnesy and Farnsy, I'm talking about the psycho drummer with the mullet down the back.

Don't know who this guy was, but I had to post it...It was just the VIBE of it!





I don't know if Lisa was trying to mimic old Albert here, or just staring at the kids.



Any guesses who Lisa's favourite actor is?  Watch out...It's pointy.  Check out the way she's fondling those biceps.  I'm not envious at all...much...really.





It didn't matter though, because I was busy being interviewed by Rove.  I was entertaining him with witty repertoire about Rowan's accidents. 

I believe you will be able to catch this interview on your local network.  It went to air last night...let me know if you saw it.



Of all of the photos we took whilst on the Priscilla Queen of the Desert set, this is the one that Lisa insists I use.  I don't know why. Maybe she has dark fettishes of me dressing in drag and singing show tunes. 

At first I was afraid, I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
without you by my side.
But then I spent so many nights
thinking how you did me wrong
And I grew strong,
And I learned how to get along.




On the way out, we came across some A-listers including Cate Blanchett, Brad and Angelina, Miranda Kerr, Lady Gaga and the Body herself.  Now guys, we have all thought it, but it takes the innocence of a child to bring out our desires.  Good on ya Rowan.  You almost needed a step ladder to get at those.

It was back to the ferry after Madame Tussaud's, and we hopped on after the sun had set.  The temperature had dropped to almost freezing, which was awesome, as there were no seats left inside, so we herded our kids to the roof deck to sit in the wind.  That only lasted for two stops, and we retreated to the warmth inside the cabin when there was room for us to sit. 

We didn't get back home until 9:00pm, so the kids ate a very late dinner.  I fell asleep trying to look at the photo's.  So it was an early / late night for me.  Going to need my energy tomorrow...