Return to Sydney

After ditching the car we managed to get a room in Formula 1 (a bit like a Travelodge) in the Kings Cross area. That evening we met up with Elizabeth and went for another Thai meal this time in Neutral Bay just up the road from her house. We were all sat down comfortably having a glass of wine and catching up with what we’d all been up to when the owner (we think he was the owner anyway) pulled out a mike and started smooth talking about his place and if we needed anything just to let him know……this was just the build up as he started to sing the Lionel Richie song ‘Hello’ crooning gently - we thought after one song that would be it but unfortunately the cheesy love songs kept on coming. So much so that he didn’t stop singing when opening the door for a couple of customers nor when they had sat down and he casually flicked the menus to them in time with the music. It was difficult trying not to laugh until we had left the building, which was almost impossible.

We met up with Matt, Nick and a couple of their friends in Oxford Street (where all the gay bars are in Sydney) and went into a couple of busy bars. The first bar was called “Columbian” and was quite trendy with some good music, the second bar had a jukebox and was really busy, it wasn't long before Elizabeth was organising the community singing. Matt as we’ve explained already had a problem understanding our Scottish accent and as the night wore on and he had a few more drinks he turned to me and said…..”I really don’t care if I don’t understand you anymore” and fell about laughing. We tried to get in a few other bars but I was knocked back for having my sandals on, so we managed one more drink and started heading home about 3am and stopped off for a kebab on the way back to the hotel.


We had to be up early on the Sunday as we had booked another hotel for the remainder of our stay in Sydney, so after dragging ourselves out of bed and finished packing we started to climb the hill towards our next hotel. I had absolutely no energy whatsoever and was scared that the weight of my bag would topple me over back down the hill. It took me 10 minutes to get to the top which I would normally have done in about 2. After we emptied our bags and getting a huge cooked breakfast we arranged to meet Elizabeth so that three of us could cross harbour bridge together. We met at Milsons Point on the north side of the harbour across from the Opera House before we started our walk across the Harbour Bridge. It was another lovely day but it was extremely windy on the bridge so we decided not to climb the viewing tower. After Chris not buying me anything in Tiffany’s or letting me even look at the rest of the shops in the Rocks shopping centre we decided to go to McQuarries seat and took the archetypal Sydney tourist photo with both the Opera House with the Harbour Bridge in the background.


We then headed to Doyles in Watson Bay by ferry for their world renowned ‘in Australia’ fish and chips. After the 45 minute ferry trip we were all hungry and ready for some food…..we were all also desperate for the loo. By the time we went to the loo and got to the chippie it had closed it’s doors….so we had to head back on the boat to Sydney without even a single chip. So you could imagine how hungry we were by the time we returned to Circular Quay and almost ran into the Italian restaurant across from the platform. Elizabeth and Chris were in deep conversation when the waiter came up he looked quizzically at me then asked “I’m sorry but can you tell me what language you are speaking”. I replied “English” and told him we are from Scotland…..he left the table not believing us. We were all nearly on the floor laughing. When he came back he told us he was from Turkey and that he had never heard English spoken like that before. This kept our minds from the thought of food long enough for it to arrive and had us all laughing all the way back to the hotel/home. Elizabeth informed us that Sunday nights traditionally have a good movie on ….imagine our disappointment when we started to watch one of the worst movies we have ever seen called "Strange Bedfellows", the movie which starred our favourite Oz actor - Paul Hogan.

On Monday we walked back over to Camperdown to pick up our Chinese visas and for lunch had another $5 steak in Scruffy Murphy’s a rather grotty Irish bar just off George Street but the food was fine. We had arranged to meet Elizabeth for dinner at Govinda’s in Kings Cross for Dinner and a Movie. Elizabeth had us a link to Govinda’s website about six months ago and it was somewhere both Chris and I definitely fancied going to once we got to Sydney. The Hare Krishna ran Buffet Restaurant also had a small movie theatre upstairs showing the current Art House movies doing the rounds. So after some great Vegetarian food we climbed upstairs to the movies theatre, it wasn’t just your ordinary movie theatre with uncomfortable nylon covered seats but loads of huge bed’s with pillows where you lie back and let all the food slowly digest but only once you‘ve take your shoes off. The movie that night was "The Assassination of Richard Nixon" starring Sean Penn based on a real story of a man on the edge slowly uncoiling into tragic consequences which Chris said reminded him of some people back home (you know who you are) and reminiscent of “Taxi Driver” starring Robert De Niro. Once again another great night in Sydney with another great meal was coming to end, it was getting more and more difficult thinking about leaving Sydney.


On Tuesday we decided to walk down to the Opera House via Woolloomooloo past all the fancy yachts (some guy called Russell Crowe has an apartment on the harbour here apparently) and fight our way through the bus loads of Japanese tourist at Macquaries seat. After lunch we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art where we really impressed by some of the artists in the Primavera Exhibition showcasing some of Australia's up and coming young artists, Chris really liked the work of Monika Behrens. We then wandered around the shops for a while before heading back out to meet Jonathon (one of the guys from the Peru tour). We met Elizabeth, Jonathan and one if his friends at the Town Hall steps and headed across the road for a couple of drinks. After that Elizabeth went to look at a new flat and the rest of us headed to China town for some food, once in China town we had to fight our way down the street with staff from all the different restaurants trying to pull us into their places. We were suddenly swayed by the one offering a free bottle of wine, which we eventually got after a bit of haggling over the brand. The food once again was good and it was great to catch up with Jonathon who had to head off just before 10 to catch his train back to the Blue Mountains an hour and forty five minutes from Sydney.

The following day we walked the same way as the day before and decided to climb the Pylon Lookout on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Inside the lookout they gave you lots of information and statistics on the bridge and at the top you got a chance to see a higher view of the harbour.


Some interesting facts about the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

1) Completed in 1932
2) Cost $20 AUS million
3) Weighs 52,800 tonnes
4) World's largest (but not longest) steel arch bridge
5) Widest Longspan Bridge in the world
6) 16 people where killed in the construction

You also got to see the folk who had decided to climb the bridge….now up to a point it is ok but you also have to cross over the middle of the bridge to get back down…..you are clipped on of course but that might not stop me being pushed by a certain Mr Reilly so I definitely decided that this was a no go area.


That afternoon we headed out to Homebush on the train to a large discount shopping mall just like the McArthurglen in Livingston to see if we could pick up some new clothes and things for the rest of the trip, surprisingly there were quite a few British shops. After buying a couple of items we also tried a Pied which is Turkish bread filled with whatever topping you want….we had chicken and a spinach and cheese topping which were both lovely.

At night we headed to Luna Park a fairground which has been opened and closed many times over the years. Several people have bought expensive flats overlooking the bridge thinking that this place would be closed down for good, but now all they hear at the weekend are the shrieks and yells from the people on the rides. We took several pictures but as it was closed we headed back to Kings Cross and went to Global Burgers where we both had great burgers.



Thursday was our last day in Sydney so after having a wander round China Town and Paddy’s Market (a bit like the Barras) we went back to pick up some things from Elizabeth’s in Neutral Bay. We met up with Elizabeth after she finished work and we all headed out to Leichhardt which is the Italian quarter of Sydney. After wandering about the shops we went into Luna Blue where I had lamb shank which was officially declared the largest in the civilized world (well that’s if you consider Australia to be civilised) while both Chris and Elizabeth had pasta. As soon as I had finished my main course (well my fork had hardly hit the plate) when the two vultures I was sitting next to started to fight over the bones for any scraps of lamb and were disappointed to find that most of what was left was the fat. Since it was our last night we even went for the desert, Chris went for some Sorbet nonsense while Elizabeth had the Crème Caramel and I managed to clean my plate of Tiramisu in world record time. We then jumped a bus back into central Sydney and headed to the Opera Bar for one last look at the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House before we said our sad farewells to another great friend and Sydney.