I REALLY don’t mind having to spend a weekend in Redmond when it’s during ski season!

No detailed write up, just some good action video footage – including one of me wiping out (I am going to deny responsibility and blame the guy who (kinda) cut across me)…

I love this city! I love this city!

It was a cloudy start to the day, but it brightened up by midday to provide us with some beautiful sunshine for some jogging, relaxing and a little bit of sunbathing.  It’s now 20:30 and I just about made it down to the Opera House bar before the sky opened up!  There wasn’t much cover on the 20 minute walk down here, so I was pleased to get under the covered sections of Circular Quai before the drizzle turned in to a torrential down pour.

The great thing about being in a city which is designed around outdoor living is that everyone still comes outside in the rain.  Granted 50% of the seating is unusable due to dripping from the edge of umbrellas or rain being blown inside by the strong winds, but everyone is more than happy to huddle under umbrellas clutching their wine and squeeze in to the limited indoor seating offered by the bars running along the edge of the quay.

The Opera house has it’s own set of bars and cafes which sit sunken below on the main walkway and right next to the beautiful Sydney harbour.  The main Opera Bar has live music and an interior cocktail bar, so that is currently (and usually in fact) more popular than the sushi bar and Opera Kitchen further down the strip.  I wanted to get some space to blog and sort out photos so I opted for the Opera kitchen, which is nice, however I also had lunch here today so I feel a bit like I am letting myself down by going to the same place twice…it is raining though, so I won’t give myself too much of a hard time.

The manager of the bar was looking over at me as I sat down, I had the feeling that she was checking to see whether I was simply freeloading and using their internet without buying anything.  Perhaps that was just my recently discovered problem with paranoia showing it’s face again, but either way the metal stand with a big ‘68’on it, indicating the number for the food delivery I had ordered would have reassured her that I was in fact a paying customer.  She came over and said hi (can’t remember the exact conversation), and then later on came back again to ask if I was writing a book.  I told her that I was simply blogging and she asked why I was here, which lead in to Microsoft, etc… I was kind of keen to get some time to myself to concentrate on blogging, so I deliberately let the conversation fizzle out so that she would leave me alone.  I did however appreciate her friendliness and seeming interest in my ‘work’.

I bought a new hoody whilst we were travelling from Melbourne to Adelaide.  Despite the fact that it was not raining when I left the hotel, I felt the urge to pack it in my bag before I left…good decision! It’s not exactly freezing, but it still feels nice and cosy to wear whilst it’s raining   This hoody will always remind me of good times in Australia now

It’s still chucking it down and it looks like most of the people I know/have met in Sydney are staying in apartments/hostels for the evening.  I am going to sit here and continue to capture some of the amazing memories I have gained since arriving in this beautiful country.  That’s it for this post, here is my view looking back at the lights of Sydney in the dark…

Whilst it’s fun to try and capture moments by describing in intricate detail, visualizing colours with clever analogies, smells, feelings and other details to put whoever is reading the text in another place within their head…I am not going to do that about the Zoo.  It’s a zoo! There are a lots of zoos around the world, most people have been to one, and seen animals of all shapes and sizes.  You know what it’s all about!

HOWEVER, there is one thing which is unique to Taronga, the beautiful view of Sydney harbour which can be seen as you meander down the hill on which the zoo is set. 

When I arrived I felt a little like I was arriving in Jurassic Park, because despite the fact that it’s actually connected to the mainland, you can arrive via a boat on to the private zoo jetty which feels like arriving on to it’s own private island…

The zoo is extremely well maintained and has a huge selection of animals from around the world.  Of course, something which is quintessentially Australia is Koala bears! So I was very excited this cute little ‘critter’ resting in the trees …

The meerkats were bizarrely more exciting to see than some of the other animals.  I say bizarrely because the main reasons I was excited to see them in real life was because of the ‘Compare the Meercats’ adverts back in the UK.  I couldn’t stand there watching them with out “We did not go through all of this to give you keep deals on your car insurance!” constantly going through my head.  

The giraffes had one of the best locations in the Zoo, due to the amazing view of the Opera house above their towering heads…

Of course there were also plenty of tank based exhibits from lizards to seals, and from frogs to penguins…

OK, that’s it.  No attempt at creative language or detailed explanations of how wonderfully cute the animals were.  Great zoo though

The time we spent together was short, but i will remember it forever.

You woke me up early every morning, and kept me awake long in to the night.

You were SO hot that I couldn’t keep my clothes on whilst you were here. 

Why do you do this to me EVERY year?  You keep coming back, teasing me with attention and then leaving me for some Mediterranean guy!

Now that you have gone, I have only a dark cloud over my head. 

Goodbye British summer time, I will miss you.