Sydney
Trip Start
Jan 2003
1
121
200
Trip End
Dec 2003
Sydney,
Australia
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
The lure of seeing the Opera House and Harbour Bridge up close proved irresistible and we've had a peek. Personally, while the Harbour Bridge is bigger than I expeted, it's a bit too reminiscent of the Tyne bridge in newcastle to be that impressive. the Opera House however, is better up close than i ever imagined and while we avoided the temptation of going inside, it is an interesting and mesmeric building on what has got to be one of the most prestigious and perfect locations anywhere in the world. Barring seeing these two famous landmarks, our only other activities have concerned shopping. And lots of it. Before arriving here, I caught my subconscious not wanting to like Sydney because of the rave reviews so readily dished out by everyone else but it is indeed a gorgeous city. For the opportunities it offes as a different place to London, it would have to come into consideration if we ever decided to move abroad.
Emigrating here is something a few of our friends have done and we re-met up with Bart for a night out (which i thoroughly enjoyed despite the close attention I was paid by a forty plus year old divorcee who had a fascination with licking my neck and practically met Colette and Rich (Kirsty's friends from way back) off their plane. They've had the fortune to be provided with a serviced apartment until they find somewhere to live permanently. Having seen one of these close up, I'd like to say that if there's anyone else living in such a place somewhere else we're visiting this year who fancies a couple of house guests, please let us know.
Day 195 - Sydney
Kirsty and I are both now Advanced Open Water divers but unfortunately I'm an advanced level diver currently undergoing a course of root canal therapy.
Opera House 1
We had three dives to complete and after ascending from the first I started getting toothache. This got progressively worse (except underwater when the pain subsided) and by the end of the third my whole mouth was numb. It transpires that some air was trapped inside one of my back teeth and every time I ascended, the air expanded, trying to blast my tooth to pieces. Fortunately the air contracts again when you descend and as well as being comortable, we both thought the dives were vastly superior to the previous two. There were only us in the class, the visibility was better and there were some interesting things to see. the highlights were the Port Jackson sharks (amusingly toothless), Blue Gropers (large, ugly fish that are unfazed by divers and come very close) some sort of fish that actually smiles and our first seahorse. The tasks we had to complete were a mixed bag, ranging from those which went better than we ever could of expected to those in which we were nothing short of useless. However, with five more dives in addition to the advanced certification under our belts, we both feel more confident about doing Vanuatu's allegedly spectacular dive sites ustice. Hope springs eternal....... 
