Last Full Day in Australia and Sydney

We had to get up early today to drive to “Budget Rental Agency” and give back our trusted black Mitsubishi monster that had stood us well over the last 3 weeks and given us no trouble at all. Sigi found the agency on Crown Street without problems, without our “Oscar” GPS, even though we had to negotiate a few one-way streets and lanes. The temps were still OK, hot but not blazing. It was told on TV that the heat would be blown in around 11 am. We still had an hour and a half to do something in town.

Therefore we WALKED from Budget to the # 555 green bus stop on Elizabeth Street, hopped on the cool almost empty bus with a/c and got driven to Circular Quay. We hopped off and decided on the spur of the moment to take a round trip on the Taronga Zoo Ferry. We were told by friends that you hadn’t really seen Sydney if you hadn't taken a ferry and seen the city from the water. They were right. What a great sight!! We LOVED the trip and the vistas, as well as the cool breeze. Back at Circular Quay we walked over to the Contemporary Arts Gallery for more pictures with a different angle. Another huge cruise ship was moored at the pier, and the Opera House peeked through every photo we took. Quite suddenly the temps seemed to soar, as if one had turned on an oven on “broil”, and we needed to retreat into the Arts Gallery for some cool-down before heading back to the green bus stop. On our way back to the hotel we felt the full brunt of this record breaking heat wave of 43 degrees. The asphalt under our feet was burning and seemed to melt. In the hotel we took a cool shower and rested for an hour before daring to go out again in the heat around the corner to “Caffetini’s” for lunch and some much needed free wireless and computing time. We ate and e-mailed and went back for an afternoon siesta at the ‘Aspire’. The a/c had some trouble keeping up with the demand but at least the fan gave us some relief. Luckily the temps are supposed to come down to a chilly 25 degrees tomorrow which would make our trip to the airport not hazardous, as the Sydney taxi drivers never turn on the a/c in order to save on gas.

This is almost the end of our blog. We are leaving Australia tomorrow at 12.15 pm local time and will be flight bound for 15 hours, arriving in Vancouver at 8.15 am local time to really cold weather of 6 degrees and rain…