Rest of the Sydney holiday
Trip Start
Aug 13, 2007
1
83
91
Trip End
Dec 31, 2008
Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Sunday, October 19, 2008
We then caught the bus to the mall and had a wander around. I was after a rash vest for my Run Swim series I had entered (to take place later in the year) and managed to find one in the first sports shop we looked at. We met up with everyone after an hour and then caught the bus back to Marie's.
We had some lunch and then after saying goodbye to Marie & Andy's parents, Marion & Mick, as they were leaving later that day, we went to Sydney via the bus and the ferry, as there was a car show that Graham wanted to look round and we had tickets to see Simple Plan in the evening. A band no one seems to have heard of, but we first saw them in Brisbane when they supported Green Day in 2005. They are a Canadian band but seem to be big in Australia, at least they were when we lived there.
The car show was by Darling Harbour so we walked from Circular Quay, which took around 30 mins, but it was a lovely sunny day so we didn't mind. We spent quite a while looking round the car show, which I must admit isn't really my thing, so I was a bit bored. However, the 4wd track was good. We were able to go in a 4wd and get driven round an obstacle course - good fun, and free, which is always a bonus.
After the show, we grabbed something to eat at the Edinburgh Castle Hotel - a pub on Pitt Street. Upstairs is quieter and the food was tasty, a good portion size and reasonably priced.
We then headed to Hordern Pavillion where the gig was. Unfortunately we didn't know exactly how to get there so we spent longer than we should have done, wandering around. We knew it was in Moore Park, but just not which end of the park it was. Anyway, we managed to get there in time - luckily they had 3 support bands so when we got there there was still 1 more support band to go.
It was general admission so we could sit or stand anywhere - but we managed to find some good seats just to the side of the stage to sit and enjoy the band. They were as good as the first time we saw them, if not better, and we thoroughly enjoyed the show.
The only downside was we had to leave a little early, to make sure we got the bus back to Circular Quay to get the last ferry over to Manly, and then the bus. We only missed the last encore song so wasn't too bad, and we managed to make it home, so no dramas there.
Sunday we packed up and checked out of the house, then went to Marie's flat. Marie and Neil had already left for their honeymoon but Neil's parents were staying there so we were able to leave our cases in the garage and spent a bit of time in the flat before going out for a wander along the beach. We'd arranged an airport shuttle for early afternoon, so after a bite to eat it was time to go.
We said our goodbyes and headed to the airport. There was still time for more drama though. As we were checking in, the computer screen was showing that I needed an onward flight out of New Zealand. I did point out that I had my residency visa and returning resident's visa in my passport, but the lady still had to go and phone New Zealand immigration to make sure. Luckily all was ok, and I was allowed through to departures, and we managed to get back to Wellington with no more problems. On the way out of Wellington airport, we stopped by duty free to stock up on spirits, as the allowance from Oz is a generous 3 bottles each! A marvellous way to end the holiday!
