Day fifteen

The last day for Helen and Steve, Immie and Jack. So we went in to Sydney to do the Opera House and Bridge photos that all tourists have to take before they are allowed to leave. 

Immie posed beautifully.

Then we went on a train, but please don’t tell anyone at Llandovery Model Railway Club!

This took us all round the Botanical Gardens without us having to move - it was 35 degrees so sitting still was the wise thing to do. 

Then back to Bronte for lunch and an afternoon swim before packing. 

This is the park behind Bronte Beach which is always full of people exercising or having picnics. 

Day fourteen

Today we went all manly. No, that’s not right. Today we all went to Manly! That involved two buses and a ferry and a lot of hot air. Today was probably the hottest yet. 

Sydney harbour

Manly Beach

Shelly Beach, where they snorkelled.

The woodland path where Kate and I walked. 

Day thirteen

The morning chorus this morning included the Grey Butcher Bird, singing his regular song from the tree by the terrace.

We headed in to the city to visit the Art Gallery of New South Wales. We went last year and were wowed by the Aboriginal gallery. So we headed straight to that section and were not disappointed. We love the fact that each painting has an explanation so you are not just looking at pretty patterns. They also had a large number of works by younger artists and you can see how they have developed the styles of their parents. 

Then back home, through the park, where we saw this wonderful fountain. 

The waves on Bronte Beach are very high today - you can just make out two surfers on the left facing an enormous wave.

Day twelve

A cooler day today. 

Today was Taronga Zoo day. A bus, a train, another bus and a ferry got us there. Here are some of the animals. 

We returned to Bondi Beach to meet up with James and Grace for a meal at a cheap restaurant overlooking the beach. Before we got to the restaurant we discovered that Ben and Jerry we having a free cone day, giving a cone to anyone who wanted one. There was a fairly long queue but they wanted one so they queued up. When we went home after our meal there was still a very long queue there. 

We had a splendid ( and very cheap ) meal and walked back the cars and took one last photo. 

Day eleven

I took a long walk today, on what was probably the hottest day so far. I walked the coast path to Bondi, where the family were surfing, then continued up to the headland above Bondi where there are Aboriginal carvings. Then back through North Bondi, Bondi and finally Bronte photographing as I went. There are fewer old buildings out here near the coast, the small, old dwellings have been replaced with new architecture. These are some of the photos. 

Day ten

After a breakfast of enormous bagels from the local bakery....

And a cloudy sunrise....

we headed out in two cars to travel up the coast to visit a very large Farmers Market.

We then headed further up the coast to Palm Beach, a favourite beach for James and Grace. It is on a peninsula opposite an area where we went walking last year. This was the beach we settled on.

There were kayaks for hire so the others set off to paddle across to a lovely beach we went to last year, where we saw a three foot long goanna. 

When they got back we headed to the local supermarket to pick up a picnic lunch and found a quiet beach to sit and eat. 

We left Helen Steve and the children to swim while we went with James and Grace to a furniture warehouse that specialises in Indonesian furniture. We helped them choose a very nice carved mirror and a side table made from a carved tree root.