Last few days in Oz...

After having a nice relaxing week in Byron Bay it was back to Sydney for a couple of nights before flying North to Singapore to begin the Asian leg of the tour.  After a few easy nights I was still in the mood to keep it simple so once back in Sydney I had a wander around taking a few photos and seeing some of the sights that I had had missed out on last time before heading into Chinatown for some cheap and easy food.  One of the more unusual monuments I found was of a dog called ‘Iris’; who just so happened to be Queen Victoria’s favourite dog... therefore outside of the Queen Victoria Building, next to the large statue of Queen Victoria, is a monument just for the loveable pooch.  It’s not completely redundant though, as there is a small fountain where passers by chuck their spare coins which goes to a charity.  The place I found was a little unusual and all of ordering was done via a touch screen computer and there were a few little treats on the menu too... the main one being Spicy Beef Stomach.  I stuck to the Chicken.

I also ventured back around to Darling Harbour to do the geeky tourist thing and went to the maritime museum; which was actually pretty good as it also included going onto the HMAS Vampire warship and also on the HMAS Oslo; a retired Submarine used during the Cold War.  The Sub was the highlight as you got to really experience the cramped and claustrophobic conditions that they had to deal and also saw the defence methods used which included several sonar and radar devices as well as storing approx. 100 torpedoes and missiles onboard.

On the evening I wandered back down to Darling Harbour and whilst having a beer on the front noticed that it was all of a sudden getting very crowded and when 9 o'clock hit a huge 15 minute firework display started, lighting up the whole marina.
 
After a long sleep and lazy morning I had sorted a basic plan for the day; Art gallery to see the Picasso exhibition, walking your of The Rocks at 6.30, back to the hostel for a few hours sleep then at Midnight to watch the Spurs game.

The Picasso exhibition was pretty decent; there were other 10 rooms of drawings, paintings and letters and many of his most famous pieces had been lent to the gallery.  Unfortunately there were very strict on pictures and I kept getting caught and being made to delete them...  Outside of the Gallery on the edge of the Botanical Gardens is a small patch of grass where people go to openly talk about their opinions and generally just rant about whatever they want.  So I lingered for about half an hour listening to a few; with the highlight being from one old boy; ‘Why Australia is better than America’.  I didn’t need much convincing, but listened anyway.

I also took a final trip down to the harbour to have some lunch with a cold beer and watch the world go by for a bit; and managed to find a street performer – that dragged her show out for quite some time... – but did eventually manage to squeeze herself into a small damn small box!!

The plan was going smoothly up until the tour where I met a German girl (so many Germans!!) and we went for a quick drink afterwards which turned into a few, which then turned into getting completely plastered... watching only the first half of the game (and actually glad I didn't watch the rest) and then going to watch a the band that was playing the bar, getting back to the hostel well gone 3am and having to check out in a few hours at 9am.  Lovely!

The next morning was a bit of a sluggish one; involving a lot of ‘Kick My Ass’ coffee - from my new favourite place; Pie Face -, huge full English breakfast and I nice easy tube ride to the airport to begin the next stage of the tour: Asia...

The adventure continues...

x

The morning after the night before...