The Purple Penguin

Joe is back to work, poor Joe. So back to up and out for breakfast. Found a new place toward the office which is really nice and may well become our breakfast place this week. Crisp hot toast, yay! After breakfast, waved Joe off to the office and headed out. Well, back to the hotel to sort some admin stuff before really heading out.

Got the train to Circular Quay, which is becoming a standard trip! Went to check the whale watching tours, but they really are just whale watching tours, not wildlife tours, so they stop at the beginning of November when the whales move on. The woman at the desk said the staff have tried to get the owners to do a wildlife tour outside of whale season as the coast is lovely and there are seals and dolphins and birds to be seen. Which is what we wanted to go out and see! Oh well, we have a marine tour booked off Kangaroo Island.

Then headed to the Opera House and the ticket office for tours. The place was packed solid! But managed to get to the desk and got a backstage tour for Wednesday morning. So have to get up at stupid o’clock on Wednesday to get there in time for the tour, but really looking forward to seeing it all.

Then headed up to the Justice museum which is only open on weekends, so carried on to the Sydney Museum. The museum is tiny. Very tiny with few permanent exhibits. But they have a really good film, Yura Nura, with contemporary Aboriginal views on the colonization of Sydney. The other interesting display was the model ships along with a computer description of the ship and information about the first fleet. And there was a visiting exhibition on John Gollings architecture photography which was very good. As small as the museum is, I managed to spend several hours there.

Going to Manly Beach – there be dragons!

So Sunday we went over to Manly via the ferry, to save walking we got the train up to Circular Quay, where the ferries leave from. So we’ll get a coffee while we wait for the train – no, there’s one in one minute; ok we’ll get a coffee while we wait for the ferry, oh one’s just about to leave; we’ll get one on board, nope the cafe was shut for refurbishment. So arrive in Manly minus breakfast and coffee. 

Followed the stream of people out of the Manly ferry terminal to the beach, saw a little market on the way and ducked into a side street to get coffee and breakfast before getting to the beach. Finally breakfast! (K: and more importantly, coffee.) 

We then walked along Manly Beach to Shelley Beach which would lead us up to the headland and then around back to town. The walk along the beaches was quite easy and we managed to see a few birds, and crabs and some water dragons (a type of lizard, protected). Then we started to climb up and into the trees and bushes, following a well kept path to the headland and lookouts. Took quite a while before we got to the signs pointing the way and though several types of terrain, from rocky coastline and cliff top to tree heathland and sandy scrub to ferns and sand. 

We found the sign and it led to us an old army barracks along a metal boardwalk. We couldn’t work out if it was old decommissioned barracks or still in use. It seemed quite empty, but then again could just be the time of day! We got several views of the coast and of Sydney. At the visitors centre we were informed that at the cafe a bus came about once an hour back down to Manly, so we decided to take that back to the ferry terminal. As the next bus was in about 30 minutes we decided we had time for a cold drink; however, it was very busy, so once again we did the ‘we will’ game, ending back at Circular Quay where we finally got our drink along with a crepe. 

As I hadn’t been around much of Sydney (just to work and back) we walked back up Macquarie Street along the Botanic Gardens, Parliament building, The Mint, and Hyde Park Barracks. Then went into Hyde Park and saw the fountains and Anzac Memorial. Also saw several other really nice buildings, including Mark Foy which looks like a huge old department store. Back to the hotel and a well earned rest!

Didn’t go to work! Looking for somewhere to have breakfast, so walked to Darling Harbour. Kathleen found the water park, a play area for kids of all ages. (K: it’s nifty – you get to direct the water with switches and dams and spin a water wheel. Connected to a really wonderful play area with a great slide and climbing frames.) Walked around the harbour and found a place to have breakfast. Had a largish breakfast. 

Then we walked around the tour operators and decided to do any of the tours or the aquarium. So we went across the bridge that crosses the harbour to the National Maritime Museum. Spent most of the day at the Maritime museum looking at the ships and two exhibitions (prehistoric sea monsters and Captain Bligh). 

We left the museum via the ferry to Circular Quay and then walked up to The Rocks. Had a wander through the Rocks before crossing Sydney Harbour Bridge. Walked across the bridge pausing to take photos. At the other end we stopped and had dinner at a fire oven place. Really good slow-cooked food. Then we got the train back to Central station and the short walk to the hotel where we soaked our feet.

And we have some photos finally up (yes, I actually took some. Joe made me.) You can find them here!

Didn’t get to update last night because Joe went out drinking. Until gone midnight. He claims it was work, but it was drinking. The last day of his conference was yesterday; today he was in the office.

So yesterday we had breakfast and then I headed down to Circular Quay to figure out the ferries. Got on the ferry to Parramatta and had a lovely trip up the Parramatta River. Saw loads of water birds. As you go up the river narrows until it ends in Parramatta in a weir. The river isn’t navigatable from that point. The places I wanted to see were opposite ways along the river and as I’d left a bit late I could only do one direction. I went to Elizabeth Farm and Experimental Farm.

It’s a lovely walk along the river. Not sure about the town as I didn’t really go in, just along the river to the historical homes. It was a bit hotter up there and had to climb up to the houses. Both are really lovely. I spent time at Elizabeth Farm wandering about on my own. It’s a living museum with all replicas, so you can sit in the chairs, read the books, touch and look at everything. It’s quite a nice place. As an added bonus there was a bushy tail possum hanging out in the oak tree in the courtyard, nomming on oak leaves. 

I then walked over to Experimental Farm and they do tours there. I wasn’t really given the option not to have the tour and I got the impression I may have been the only visitor that day! The volunteers are very nice and chatty and the home is interesting. It was called Experimental Farm because it was a social experiment to see if the convicts could sustain themselves, not because they were experimenting to see if crops would grow. 

From the farmhouse you could see the smoke plume from the bush fires. The city has been smoky all week and tonight it’s all yellowy orange light and dim. Very overcast heavy humid sort of day. Yesterday was bright sunshine! So the ferry trip was lovely in the sunshine.

Up a little later this morning, but still early. Took our time getting ready, then had breakfast, then Joe headed off to the office. I went off to figure out a bus route to Elizabeth Bay House. That’s the 311 which does a bit of a loop around Sydney – I got off and got back on the bus at the exact same stop and the return trip was quite different from the trip out! 

Elizabeth Bay is lovely and the house is beautiful. The oval saloon with the sweeping staircase is wonderful and I really enjoyed looking around. There weren’t loads of people there either, but they did start coming in as I was leaving. Looked like they may have been doing a lunch in the dining room.

Decided to have a shorter quieter day today and sort out stuff. So back at the room updating the blog and sorting! Will try to get photos up later!

J: Got up, had breakfast, went to work. Left work, met up with Kathleen then headed out to have an Egyptian meal with friends in Newtown. 

K: Got up and had breakfast with Joe, then we headed opposite directions along Liverpool Street. He went to work and I went to the Australian Museum. On the way, stopped to watch some rainbow lorikeets and take some photos in Hyde Park. Met up with my friend at the museum and got a tour of the galleries that are available. The lights aren’t on and some of the exhibit space is being used as office or storage space due to the building work, but it was all interesting. It was also just good to see the work that a museum does, rather than just the exhibits.

I then headed down to the Botanical Gardens. I had planned to spend most of the day sitting and resting my sore feet, but I walked all over the gardens, as well as out to Mrs Macquarie’s Point and chair. Got some photos, but most of are birds that I wanted to ID. 

Then out to Newton for dinner. We also saw bats flitting about and while driving back to the hotel stopped to listen to them in the trees. Now to decide what to do tomorrow . . . 

Joe was at work. Well a meeting. All day. With dinner.

I wasn’t. I had breakfast with Joe then headed over to see where his meeting was. It’s a nifty building, in Darling Square. Once I dropped him off I headed off into town. Got a call from a friend asking if I could get to the Australian Museum. She works there and they were doing a tour for a new starter and agreed that I could tag along. So I got a backstage tour of the museum where all the work is done! Really interesting getting to see parts of the collection and how they are stored. Also got tips on where to drive to see the most wildlife! 

I then headed out and walked up to Kings Cross. I had thought I might go to the Elizabeth Bay house, but when I stopped for lunch I realised it wasn’t open – just open on weekends. So looped around on Darlinghurst and Macleay Streets along the water and back up to the Art Gallery of NSW. Enjoyed walking around seeing the art, but could have done with more Australian, including Aboriginal, art and fewer old Europeans. Especially Victorians! There were so many Victorian paintings. I left just a bit before the museum closed and headed for the hotel. Joe brought me dinner on his way back from the meeting.

Tomorrow I may get to tag along with the new starter tour of the Australian Museum Galleries (yay). My main plan is to go to the Botanical gardens and just find a place to sit and watch the birds and the people as I’ve done a lot of walking over the past three days! Joe has charged the camera and told me I need to take some photos please. So I’ll try to do that as well.

Yesterday we arrived 6am at Sydney Airport. Let’s be more specific, Sunday 1 December, cause we’re now in the future! We left the UK on Friday night and skipped Saturday (though we were in Doha for Saturday morning). Most of Sunday was spent staying awake. This involved walking out to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, and meeting a work colleague who was out for his morning run. It’s a small world sometimes. Then meeting up with a friend for brunch and, later, dinner. Then finally falling into bed and sleeping.

One other thing we did was to buy some local sim cards so we could stay in contact. You can get pay as go for a one-off cost that last about a month with unlimited calls and texts in Australia and some international countries and 35gb of mobile data. So that was a deal. If you want to do this, be warned that you have to register the sim and it won’t take a foreign address; but it did take the hotel address! It will also require your passport number and full name as on the passport.

Today, Monday, I went to work in the Sydney office. Kathleen did holiday stuff, because she’s not working.

K: That’s cause Joe’s here to do a meeting thing for the first week, then work with the Sydney office for the second week. I’m not. But it’s ok, because of the meeting we get to be in Australia for a few weeks. 

Joe left out that yesterday we walked around The Rocks and the market there (it’s there at weekends). Don’t really remember what we saw as we were very tired, but do remember some porcelain pins and jewelry that were very nice. Then we went to the MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) to meet our friend. We ate in the cafe there – it’s on the top floor with an excellent view over the harbour. Except there was a huge cruise ship in port, so the view was blocked by that. Still a nice view. Then we walked back toward the hotel – we had checked in when we arrived but couldn’t get keys until 2pm. So we rested and unpacked and showered before dinner, then out to China Town for dinner and the best sweet dumplings. The dumpling place was a tiny hole in the wall, with a really nifty dumpling machine. Go up to the window, say how many you want, hand over very little money for wonderful dumplings. 

Today I went to the office with Joe, mainly because we were up early so we headed out to get breakfast. Once he was safely at the office I went out to Hyde Park and the ANZAC memorial – a large Art Deco monument. Walked down to the fountain, but skipped the Australian Museum because it’s closed. Instead I headed for the bookshop – Dymocks, which is associated with a Children’s literacy charity. So I’m looking for the section I need (the shop is very large) when I hear someone say my name. Turn around and there’s another friend – we’d been meaning to try to meet up but hadn’t managed to arrange anything. But that’s ok because we just randomly ran into each other. Hooray! So planning for dinner next week and a catch-up.

I then headed back to the Rocks and had a look around some of the small alleyways and older buildings. Went to the Tourist info and then into the tourist shopping area, before heading to The Rocks Discovery Centre which is a lovely tiny little museum. As it was getting to be later afternoon, headed back to the hotel to meet up with Joe when he finished work. Now trying to decide where to go for dinner – I know where to get great dumplings!

Though we’ve been on holiday, we’ve mainly just been hanging out in London. Off to the Banqueting House which I hadn’t seen (and how long have I lived here?!) And getting stuff done around the house. But I’ve been wanting to go to Arundel for years now, so we decided Tuesday afternoon to just go. Booked a B&B, got up Wednesday morning early and headed out.

It’s close enough to be a day trip but I wanted to see everything so we stayed a night. Got to Arundel Wednesday lunchtime, dropped the bags at the B&B (Arden House, recommended!), and went out for lunch. Found a really nice little tea room (Belinda’s Tearooms) and had a light lunch. Joe says you know it’s a posh tea room as the brown sauce came in it’s own little bowl on the side. We walked around the town, including the Victorian Cathedral, and the steep roads!

Then off to the Castle! I got the ‘see everything’ ticket. We ended up sandwiched between two very large German school groups who were headed for the castle, so we went the other direction to the gardens. We went into the Fitzalan chapel (but missed the Anglican church) and then wandered the gardens. We had beautiful weather and the gardens are lovely.

Then off to the castle. First up the many many steps to the Norman keep – tiny twisty narrow steps up to the keep! That’s the oldest bit of the castle as the rest is mainly Victorian. We then went through the bits of the house that are open taking our time to see everything.

Then headed for the Arundel Museum which is tiny! Which is good because we only had about 45 minutes before it closed! It’s an interesting little place and if you have a castle ticket you can get in for £1 (though they take your castle ticket). Behind the museum is the Waterside Cafe and we stopped for a well needed drink and sit down.

Once showered and freshened up, we headed out to find a place for dinner. Most of the places are on Tarrant Street so we walked along looking at menus. Found The Parsons Table which is tucked off the street and luckily they had a table because the food was wonderful! Joe tried the local beer, very local – Arundel Brewery and called Tarrant Street! Also luckily our B&B was downhill from the restaurant so we could just drift back down!

Up early the next morning to head out to the wetlands, which was the main reason I wanted to go to Arundel! You’re suppose to be able to see water voles there, but of course I didn’t! After a lovely breakfast, we headed out along the river to walk to the wetlands. The river walk is lovely – should have taken about 40 minutes to the wetlands (about 20 by the road) but we took just over an hour because we kept stopping to look at things! Into the wetlands – we headed for the boat safari but then saw that the wildflower spotlight session was starting so headed for that. I thought we’d get to walk around the site looking at what was in bloom, but instead you sit in a hut and she talks about various plants and their uses. You can see the dried plants, but that’s not as helpful as getting to see them on the site! A bit disappointing though interesting.

We then walked all over the site popping into the hides for a sit and look. We were in the sand martin hide – on the path leading to the hide is a large sign telling people to be quiet. So of course a staff member doing a tour came tromping up the path speaking in a huge loud voice and carried on in the hide, voice bouncing off the walls as he showed off. I wouldn’t have been as miffed if the sign hadn’t been there!

We did the boat tour in the afternoon and it’s lovely. We saw loads of dragonflies, damselflies, minnows, pike, roach/rudd, and all sorts of birds flitting past too fast to identify. But don’t expect to see anything on the banks because the people in the boat talk quiet a bit! It’s more a ride than a wildlife spotting trip, but still fun! (At least there weren’t any hippos and the boat driver didn’t have to have a toy gun.)

We finally found the reed walk and that was lovely! It loops through the reed beds and there are all sorts of things to see. And that leads to the woodland hide which has bird feeders. So we spend time there watching the birds flit in and out.  Definitely worth going to see!

After the wetlands we walked back into town and stopped at the Norfolk Arms pub for very late lunch. Had a really good meal (the food around Arundel is excellent) and then off to the train station to head home. Got to the tube at a good time as it wasn’t very crowded and home in  the evening! Could easily do Arundel WWT in a day, but to see both the castle and the WWT we did need the two days!