We're in the last stretch of our stay in Sydney, but there is still lots to see. We head up to Palm Beach on the bus, about an hour away, which is also known as Summer Bay - the location of Home & Away! Vaguely familiar from growing up watching the Aussie soap, its an odd sensation to be there in familiar surroundings, sat outside Alf's surfshack with an ice cream! We head back to Sydney, but are too late to join Polly at the cinema, but have a great dusky walk past the Opera House through the Botanical Gardens where the cockatiels and bats are out in force making a right racket.
Its Saturday once again, and we've hired a car with Trish for a road trip down to Jervis Bay, a beautiful beachy bay a couple of hours drive south. There are loads of rock pools to explore in Huskisson, and we have a good walk along the beach where we meet some resident Husky dogs and watch the kite surfers before the drive back via a couple of lookouts which have great views all the way up to Sydney. The rain's started by the time we get back to Bondi, so instead of heading down to the beach bars, we pop next door to the Flying Squirrel, another immaculate tapas place. Trish has it made on Bondi Road - the beach 5 mins walk away, the city half an hour away, but top notch restaurants, bars and takeaways right on the doorstep. And they are pretty cheap too - its easy to understand why the girls rarely cook at home.
Sunday, and after we return the car, we head into the city to see the St Patrick's Day parade. Its odd being 1000s of miles from Ireland, but the Irish contingent in Sydney still really go to town to celebrate, even though most of the procession is a bit budget - people marching along waving, looking forward to the Guiness tent in Hyde Park. Its blazing sunshine too, and those pale Irish complexions are in for a battering today! Meanwhile we're headed off to the Thai festival in Darling Harbour for lunch. There is so much going on outside in Sydney for free, that there is absolutely no excuse for staying at home. Next stop is over to Manly for some birthday beers is a very-buzzy-for-a-Sunday-night bar, where we gather with all Trish and Polly's ex pat buddies for some afternoon drinks. Once again it turns out to be a small world as the birthday boy shares mutual London friends with us. Its a great lifestyle here, much better than the UK, but we cant get over how much we miss our mates back home, and that if everyone lived down under or London had this climate it would be awesome!
Monday is our last full day in Sydney, and as we approach the Southern Hemisphere Autumn, we are well aware that this might be the last good bit of sun that we see for a while. Bearing that in mind, we decide to head to the beach for a morning swim in the pool at Bronte. Its firmly sealed as our favourite beach along the coast. Not nearly as poser-filled as Bondi, but still with enough beautiful people preening themselves. We take an afternoon walk north of Bondi, past dozens of sunkissed beauties priming themselves in the open air workout areas (its hilarious) to Dover Heights which gives us our final view across the harbour. Such a stunning iconic view along the harbour, we've really loved our time here, and make a firm decision that we will come back one day, this time with a bit more cash behind us so that we can enjoy all the fineries that Sydney has to offer. Its a fantastic place, but we cant get over just how far away from home it actually is. Would be great to come here if it was all presented to us on a plate, with a fantastic job that includes ex-pat deal, and relocation money, but until that unlikely event happens, it will remain our no.1 holiday location.
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