When I arrived in Sydney on November 4, Jan Armstrong was waiting for me at the airport. Jan is a second cousin of the wife of my brother-in-law, so we decided I’d be a ‘cousin’ also since our relationship was too complicated to explain easily. She took me on a quick rainy tour of Bondi Beach before returning to her home in Beecroft, northwest of the city. Jan explained the train system so I could go into the city on my own. I headed into Sydney the next morning, to join a free walking tour of the city.
Before the tour I visited a cafe and had a mocha with a Japanese crepe cake – 12 melt-in-your-mouth layers of alternating crepe and chocolate mousse. The tour passed through QVB (Queen Victoria Building), ANZAC monument from WWII, several gorgeous fountains, The Rocks. I also learned the history of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge where we ended the tour on Circular Quay. Afterwards I visited the Museum Contemporary Art (Echidna below made of clay and wood) and watched the action on Circular Quay (see Sydney Opera House and cruise ship below).
Monday I met with Fiona Papps for a Greek lunch near Town Hall. Over the next 1.5 hours we did our best to catch up on the last 6 years, the last time we saw each other on PEI. Later I had tea at the Paradise Tea Room in the QVB (Queen Victoria Building). I also discovered Haigh’s Chocolates in the QVB, in particular the cardamom dark chocolate. Yummm!
Sydney adventures will resume after my visit to Gold Coast with host, ‘cousin’ Sue. Stay tuned.
Orysia Dawydiak 