Sydney, 2nd Day

Today we met with Peter and Lynn. We got to know them on the boat trip, ate together several times, and became friends. They arranged a beautiful day trip around Sydney for us. First, we took the ferry to their home in Drummoyne, a suburb of Sydney. Just the ferry ride shows you that Sydney is a beautiful city. With their car, we then drove to the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in the north of Sydney. This is an original bushland along the coast, with rivers flowing into the sea and deep bays that extend far inland. In these bays, there are also small, very popular, and expensive places. A conference was held on a ship in one of these bays, which was meant to unite the present states into a federation. From a viewpoint, we also saw whales passing by.

The national park also features rock engravings from the First Nations. We had not seen such rock drawings before, but there are several other locations around Sydney with similar engravings. They are likely relatively young, as they remain visible for only about 1,000 years.

Afterward, we went to Peter and Lynn's sailing club, where they have their sailboat. They are both enthusiastic sailors. We were impressed by how many boats there are in the various harbors, numbering in the thousands. We then had lunch at the Basin Dining Room in Mona Vale.

Next, we drove on to Manly. Manly is, among other things, Sydney's most popular swimming bay, whereas Bondi is the most famous. Above Manly, there is the Fairfax lookout, which offers a fantastic view of the city and various bays. We then said goodbye to Peter and Lynn and took the ferry back to Circular Quay. Upon entering Circular Quay, the cruise ship Carnival Adventure was blocking the way. At first, we thought it was an optical illusion that the ship was blocking everything, but it was indeed the case. The ship blocked the entire passage under the Harbour Bridge.

In Sydney, we then saw some interesting posters and enjoyed the evening atmosphere.