Mantra Parramatta Sydney

... the beach.<br>The water is bitterly cold when we get in, and we have to swim fast to warm up. We notice the upper level of the water is very fresh and cold and you have to dive down to get into clearer, warmer water. However, you can only do so much of this, so it was a pretty cold swim. The further left we went, the better the coral looked, but overall, it was pretty ...

... begleitet waere. Trotzdem ist immerhin ein bisschen was los, obwohl uns auf der Pyrmontbridge fast unser Mini-Schirm wegfliegt.<br><br>Wir kommen ein bisschen zu spaet am Fischmarkt an, um noch das wilde Treiben mitzubekommen, aber man sieht immerhin noch die Reste... ;-)<br>Wir essen noch zusammen eine Seafoodplatte und bewundern zwei riesengrosse Pelikane, die sich gerade ihren Nachtisch suchen.<br><br>Auf dem Rueckweg machen wir nochmal einen Stopp am Darling ...

... Nah, nice and easy by train to the airport, shuttle to the hotel and then just chill, followed by a meal at the local club. Very nice indeed. A good thing about it too, it forces you to stop. When you are at home, you don't stop, as much as you try to it just does not happen. Yes indeedy, perfect. Just perfect

... let down by some poor organization and logistic skills but we would do it again. Some of the nicest, most appreciative people were the guys and girls who had just completed the full Marathon they would say how grateful they were and they couldn't do the run without the help of the volunteers which was nice of them, most of the people doing the shortest distances were the rudest but guess they were the most unfit. <br>After our shift and the last ...

... Hunter Valley for two days of fabulous wine and cheese tasting, and onto the Blue Mountains for yet more amazing scenery before reaching Sydney where we dropped off the car.<br><br>After a couple of weeks of some VERY cold camping (winter in Australia is beautiful, but what the brochures don't mention is that it does get absolutely freeeeezing in the evenings!), we decided to finish off the trip with some proper luxury, staying for ...

... from Tony, Siobhan and little Grady - so nice to see you guys before we go!<br> <br>Mark is currently in front of his laptop, trying to work out what we'll be doing for the last week of our trip when we travel between Troon and London. And I'm busy, busy, busy on mine trying to get through a last-minute avalanche of work.<br><br>And tomorrow we pack!<br><br><br ...

... s not much to do oth** than sit outside a cafe shelt**ed from the rain and watching the world go by - the odd bum stagg**ing fromshop front to shop front, the kids getting out of the Sydney High School of p**forming arts (not dancing out LeRoy from Fame style), and of course the people watching is great. It's a fantastic little enclave as far removed from the Sydney I've seen to date. Nearby Erskineville is famous for being the home to the Imp**ial Hotel ...

... night lay ahead full of ice packs and moaning, right? <br><br>Wrong.<br><br>Right following the match we headed up to the home team's (Hunter Hill)  local pub to make speeches and award players for their hard work with points that mean as much as the points do on "Who's Line". Only that in the end the winner has to "skull" (see: chug) a beer while the teams sing this little jig about being a true blue ******* going to hell...or ...

... tea and biscuits. We then headed up into the mountains and stopped of about amazing lookout spot called Subline Point before having lunch in a small town. We then went to another lookout called Govetts Leap, which had a tiny waterfall before dropping of the people, doing the long walk. I stayed on the bus and went too more amazing scenery called ...