We arrive in Sydney

As there was no rush to get to Sydney, we had all the morning, in fact most of the day, to drive the 60 miles to this great town. So we had a long walk around the place where we stayed called strangely ‘The Entrance’

It’s a very new area where we were staying with a Resort Hotel plus a lot of new apartments with great views over where the river meets the sea. There were quite a few sandbanks where children could play safely and with lots of play areas for the older children and also it had not been spoiled by graffiti.

After taking a few photos we headed south and left on the old Pacific Highway but after about 10 miles it stopped and we had to revert to the new motorway. Actually this was good as the views from this new motorway, which is built up high through the mountains, provided spectacular views of the sea and forests and eventually Sydney.

Sydney is a very large town and so we had planned to arrive over the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge as that is also close to our Hotel which is on George Street. We followed the signs to the motorway we needed and then came across a new road signposted City and Bridge and so we followed it through miles of underground tunnels with signs talking about E Pay and No booths to pay any money on what was obviously a toll road. We finally arrived at the famous bridge, crossed it and found the Hilton Hotel almost immediately. We checked in and then two hours later took the car back to Hertz where we asked about this Toll road, they said if you do not pay within 24 hours they hit you with a big fine to which Hertz would add their bit. So a phone call later we were clear. I did complain that as tourists we are unaware of this system and they should surely put up some signs, to which she said ‘it would be a good idea but it’s not up to her’, Great.

We walked back from the Hertz office and came to a cathedral where there was a wedding taking place with three white Rolls Royce cars, an expensive Ferrari and Porsche, a pony and trap and two very expensive US made special motor bikes. We waited around for a while to see the bride but we left when she did not appear. We think it was a Mid-Eastern family wedding.

We walked around China Town and also visited the Station to check on travel details for our visit to the Caravan, RV, Camping and 4x4 Show. We went for a quick trip on the monorail down to Darling Harbour for a few photos and a bowl of noodles. This place was really buzzing with talent with so many Ladies nights out and Hen parties. I tried to get Jennifer to leave but she would not.

At the other end of the harbour was a Greek Community festival. Just too much excitement for us oldies.

And so we headed back to the Hotel for a quiet drink and bed