Sydney, Day 3

We have continued to circle the city. After being on the bay side of Manly yesterday, today we took the ferry to Watson Bay, located on the opposite side of the bay near Bondi.

The ferry ride also provided beautiful views of the different neighborhoods. Watson Bay is situated within the bay and has a sandy beach overlooking the city center. It is a lovely place with charming little houses and lush greenery. There are walking trails around the area, and you can quickly reach the rocky Pacific side.

After our morning program, Maria went to the hairdresser in the afternoon while Tommy went shopping a little outside the city. Globally distributed items are a third to half cheaper in Australia. We noticed this with our two rental cars, which would have cost nearly double in Switzerland compared to Australia. A Samsung phone or an iPhone is also cheaper in that range. However, it is advised against buying a phone because certain frequencies and transmission protocols might be slightly different from Europe, which could lead to slower or weaker connections. This is not the case with other items, like cameras.

On the way to the shopping center, there were nice residential neighborhoods with very small, modest houses. A striking contrast to the various towers over 240m high in the center and two to three kilometers away, two-story small houses.

Sydney is a very open-minded city. The last time we were here, it was Pride Week, and yesterday we saw the posters saying 'Refugees are welcome'; today there was a demonstration against the mullah regime in Iran, and a small square is dedicated to free speech and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The city has also awarded him the Gold Peace Medal.