Manly before we left Sydney

This is Manly just a way from Sydney, great bay and lovely for holidays.

Canberra

We had a good drive to Canberra and found the city centre,  It isn't really a tourist spot but we were keen to see what the capital state was really like.  The weather has certainly been kind to us and we have seen it in blue skies and sunshine.  We passed an area called George Lake on the way here.  It isn't really a lake as it is fed from inland waters.  But at the moment because of all the floods there is actually a lake here and all the locals are taking photos as it is a sight they haven't seen for decades.  Just shows you how much rain has fallen here.  We walked to Capital Hill (a bit on the American side really).  We are going to take the car around tomorrow to see what we can see in the area.  Just relaxing here before our last couple of hotels before Melbourne.Couldn't down load the photos of Manly because the network is too slow so will catch up tomorrow.

Manley

After the mornings fun we took the ferry to Manly across the bay from Sydney and recommended by the concierge.  It was a beautiful afternoon and we walked to Shelly Bay, a lovely quiet area when there are little coves and bays dotted along the coastline.  One resident told us that it was hell at the weekends, I bet it is, its so lovely.  Photos tomorrow.  Now for a relaxing last evening in Sydney having thoroughly enjoyed the experience of a lovely hotel, brilliant cafe attached.to it and having a few drinks (one or two anyway!)

Bridge Walk over Sydney Harbour (David only!)

Not for the faint hearted (me).  I went on a tour of the Opera House which was much more grounded!  Very good tour,but I liked the outside rather than the inside, which was designed to show all the concrete.  We have some good photos to show when we get home.

Wildlife

I want one! and the bottom one is the face of Willy the Wombat.  He wouldn't come out of his burrow!

It was really an experience to walk through all the animals, kangaroos, wallabys and peacocks.  We also saw the little penguin, being fed.  they are so tiny and lovely to watch.  This park is not government run so relies on public donations.  Most of the animals are brought in by the public having found them injured.  Modernisation has taken away their habitat and they now wander in front of the cars and get knocked down.  The Australians are very good about getting them help.  We ended the day by travelling on a boat along the river to Darling Harbour.  Super day.

Sydney day 2 and 3

A day in the Blue Mountains.  Weren't we lucky with the weather!  The skies were really blue and the mountains were indeed Blue.  Our coach driver Mel was excellent and gave us many opportunities to take good photos.  We stopped at Leura for coffee on the way and then drove via many stops on route to get the exact pictures showing the best of the area.  We went down into the rainforest floor by cable car, just as well we got in early as the thing broke down abut half an hour after our ride!  We then walked through the rainforest on a broadwalk and took a miners train up to the top again.  Great fun.  We then went to an eco restaurant where we had a good lunch followed by the feeding of very tame parrots. We then went on to the wildlife centre to see all the lovely kangaroos and koalas.

Sydney day 1

 The famous bridge

 The opera house in lovely sunshine

 The skyline of Sydney

 View from Mrs Macquarie's point

 Bondi Beach...a bit smaller than we thought it would be, but great to see.

 View from Darling Harbour

Darling Harbour

What a lovely day it has been, we started early after a good breakfast and took the Citibus tour (same as London Bus) and went around the whole of Sydney taking in all the lovely sights.  The city is a complete mixture of old and new.  They have kept their Heritage sites and they are surrounded by skyscrapers.  There is so much Colonial history here and the streets are so different.  There are a lot of London and Scottish names here and a lot of the convicts came into Sydney (and their generations have done really well!).

We changed over the route and went to the famous Bondi beach. It was one of those 'to do' things and I am glad that we did, but it was really a lot smaller than we thought and was extremely crowded.  But glad we came to look.  The bus then took us into the heart of Sydney and we then went to Darling Harbour.  What a great place to hang out.  Lots of lovely people all dressed well (there was us in our shorts and t's) and lots and lots of hen and bucks parties.  There was even a wedding party walking along the bay, bride and all...We sat and took in all the views and watched the world go by.  We are now back and looking forward to tomorrow when we go to the Blue Mountains (another 'to do').