thewills\’wanderings

Yes that’s what it’s called , the Family Funday Sunday Pass for unlimited travel on trains, buses and ferries in Sydney for the day. Guess how much for?………..$2.50 each! What a bargain! A big surprise in an expensive city like Sydney.

We spent the day exploring Sydney starting at the Rocks , wandering over to the Opera House and then catching the ferry over to Manly where we battled the crowds to check out the beach. It was good to have a day on foot using public transport and get the feel for being real tourists. I loved the hustle and bustle but Tim doesn’t like cities and was a bit……well……grumpy. He perked up later on when we got the bus to China Town and got the Asia feel at Paddy’s Market. The girls really enjoyed it too, and asked us, “Is this what Asia will be like?”

By the end of the day we were all exhausted and actually cold, yes cold! It had started raining at Manly and by the time we got to China Town it was pouring. We were all in shorts, t-shirts and jandals and were slipping and sliding all over the place. We were relieved to actually find the right bus and train to get us to our station where our car was parked. On Monday we decided to head to Bondi. The girls have been watching Bondi rescue here, (not sure if they have it in NZ??) so we thought we really need to get there and check it out. The shark attack a couple of weeks ago where a surfer got his hand munched , only added to the intrigue. Because it was a Monday, it was really quiet, no Paris Hilton sunning herself, but still quite a cool beach. It was a bit cool and only the girls swam, the male of the group felt a bit chilly and didn’t swim.

There was a bit of a drama involving road tolls in Sydney. What a nightmare! Off we went on our day out on Monday which involved driving over the Harbour Bridge. We knew it was a toll road and were all ready with cash to pay the toll. But no, from January 27^th there is no cash toll booth, you have to get an e-pass. So as we drove through what once was a toll booth we read the sign YOU HAVE 48 HOURS TO PAY, PLEASE PHONE 13500. We thought that would be fine, we’d phone and all would be good, but after phoning on our mobile and not getting through and spending $5 on cell phone charges we were not impressed. We asked at our caravan park who were also perplexed about the system but eventually got through on the phone to them and told us we had to register on-line to get an e-pass so that we could pay. What a hassle! We were quite relieved to head out of Sydney on Tuesday. I enjoyed Sydney but driving in any big city that you don’t know, especially with a caravan is definitely stressful! Tim couldn’t get out of Sydney fast enough.

So, here we are now in Katoomba, the heart of the Blue Mountains! Ahhhhh!(that is, deep sigh of relief) It is nice to be out of the city. photos coming soon.