Sydney 2024--Early Days

 We arrived in Sydney on Saturday morning, January 13, after a long-drawn-out journey--5 hours from DC to LA, and then 14 hours from LA to Sydney. In addition, starting in Washington Dulles, we spent quite a lot of additional time in airport lounges.

The apartment, which we have rented twice before, has a wonderful view out over a cricket field, a marina with dozens of sail-boats, and on to the open water of Sydney harbor, which is usually busy with power boats and the white sails of yachts of various sizes, and where we often see huge cruise ships moving to and from the inner harbour.

Altogether, a very attractive place to be, even though the walk to the nearest grocery shops is farther than we would like. But then, it's all exercise, and we both have our pedometers and check our daily mileage. I try to get in a minimum of 4 miles a day--and I usually meet, and often exceed that target.

The balcony of the apartment is spacious, and below is the cricket field, where there is often a game in progress. A really pleasant place to sit and just contemplate the foot and bicycle traffic below, which includes--especially in the evenings--a parade of dogs of all sorts of breeds, colours, and excitability. Lots of runners--many of whom like to circle the cricket ground, the circumference of which must be about 800 yards. 

This morning--Monday January 15th--the rain came down in torrents. The small pipe that drains the balcony was blocked and a puddle accumulated. Later in the day, I cleared the blockage and the puddle disappeared as the water drained away.

On Sunday we made one of our traditional walks. Took the bus halfway to Watsons Bay, walked the rest of the way through streets of wonderful houses, across the suspension bridge over Parsley Bay, and along by the water into the area around where the ferry docks, and then out along the coast to the lighthouse that stands at the entrance to Sydney Harbor from the Pacific Ocean. 

And back to tradition--lunch at Doyles, where we had seafood chowder and a couple of beers, followed by the bus back home.