For our last few days in Sydney we made the most of having a place to ourselves in a fantastic location. Just down the road and under the Harbour Bridge is the North Sydney Olympic Pool and so we decided to spend a good half day there enjoying it’s facilities. For $18 we could use the gym and pool for as long as wanted to, so we spent the first part of the morning in the gym and the second part enjoying the 50m pool. It’s in an amazing location right under the bridge and next to Luna Park, pretty surreal to have so much of interest built around this historic pool and with a famous restaurant overlooking us. We enjoyed the location and the workout. The pool still has much of it’s original art deco styling around the site and large windows line one side so you can people watch as passers-by walk past on their way to and from the ferry.

Later that afternoon we enjoyed a trip back to The Opera House, this time armed with the Leica so that we could get some better shots than our ones from a few days ago. We also walked around the Botanical Gardens home to many tropical parrots and birds and the Flying Foxes or Fruit Bats hanging from the trees above. The parrots are very tame and create quite a raucous sound as they come back to nest or feed from people gathering around.

Around the corner we could see an event taking place where the Open Air Cinema is located, it was actually the opening night for start of the summer season and the Australian Premier of Marilyn was being screened. So there was quite a buzz about the place with media and red carpets all around. What a location though if you have the money, some tickets are available each night on a first come first serve basis but you would have to queue early as they sell out pretty quick and all of the pre-booked tickets were already sold out for the entire month. We weren’t sure whether you’d spend more time looking at the city lit up than the film on screen. Luna Park greeted us as we made our way back to Kirribilli on the ferry, along with moody skies over the Opera House. The Diamond Princess Cruise liner still dominated the Sydney Harbour, impressive but ugly at the same time. Not quite seen one that big before!

We managed to fit in a beach day on the 12th and jetted off using the ferries to Manly Beach, described by many as being the nicest beach in the area. It is certainly a nice spot but it does get so busy during the holidays so perhaps on a quiter day you might find see a little more sand! The sea is good to swim in though and we were getting a bit of a beach day on the go!

On the 13th we enjoyed a pretty low key day which involved washing, shopping for food, planning and cooking some cookies and chocolate brownies. Helen wanted to bake something for the picnic later on and to take to her friends place where we would be driving to the next day. We also got a phone call to say that the Leica was now back so we planned to collect it on Saturday. We also enjoyed a pleasant walk around the Neighborhood and to Milson’s Park taking in the architecture around us. It is a very Art Deco area, perhaps more so than anywhere else in the city (well as far as we’ve seen!) and it has also been maintained to a very high standard. We could tell it wasn’t cheap to live in this part of the city, and so looked on in admiration to our surroundings. We had been very spoilt – BIG thanks to Rob, Monica and Lottie for letting us stay at their lovely flat.

On our final evening in Sydney we finally managed to catch up with friends Amy and Amit who moved here after a stint of travelling last year. They actually left the UK on the same day as us in 2010 and are now settled and expecting their first child! We had a lovely picnic in Glebe Park and an all round fab night catching up with them. Best of luck to them and wish we could have had more time with them whilst we were there!

On the 14th we were ready to make tracks and leave our little home for the past 7 days. We picked up a hire car in the city and packed ourselves in tightly into the little 3 door Hyundai Getz. Happily back together with the Leica we bought ourselves a 3 man tent and a new stove before making our way to Helen’s Uni friend’s family home close to the Blue Mountains.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We decided to head over to Newtown, an area Helen had visited before and is built up to be a more artsy district with vintage clothing and second hand book shops lining the streets along with eateries, café’s and bars. It’s definitely a more eclectic place especially if you’re looking to escape the city vibe. We started our day at The University of Sydney, there was an exhibition taking place there as part of the Sydney Festival 2012 which was free involving the architecture and space of certain buildings and galleries on campus. It was a modernist walk across the campus involving contemporary installations by artist Narelle Jubelin.

The exhibition titled Vision in Motion was inspired by some of the distinctive, modernist buildings including The Chemistry Lecture Theatres, The University Art Gallery and in the windows from Sci-Tech Library. We really enjoyed taking it all in and gave us an alternative take on the space around us. Walking back through Newtown we enjoyed drinks at the popular Café Newtown and a spot of window shopping.

Back in the City we enjoyed a trip into the Sydney MCA which currently under construction only has one floor open to the public but it’s not about quantity. The interactive exhibition ‘Recorders’ by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer was fantastic, full of fun and intrigue. God only knows what happens with those recordings but they now have our thumb prints, eye scans, heart beats, shadows and voices recorded as part of a human documentation, this is more than an art exhibition.

The next morning we sorted out a repair job for our Leica camera which thanks to Foto Riesel was organised and sent to Melbourne for repair. We only had to pay $22 for the postage in the end and the repair was done under warranty so we were pretty relieved about that. I guess there should be some bonuses for being Leica owners! We were told we may even get it back by the end of the week which was way more than we expected AND to top it all off they lent us one of their loan cameras which mean’t we would be able to take at least a few lovely shots from our time in Sydney.

Later on we took the metro to Bondi Junction and a bus to Bondi Beach where with packed and weighted backpacks we walked to Bronte Bay and back. It’s one of those must-do things when people come to Sydney and so we joined all the hundred or so other runners, speed-walkers and general sight seers on this famous coastline. It is a pretty part of Sydney with smooth rock formations, accessible beaches, swimming pools and big, expensive houses to keep us entertained. This was part of our training for our hike, got to get in the walks when we can! When we got back to Kirribilli later on we decided to eat at our local Thai ‘Stir-Crazy’. Lovely food of which there was more than enough for us to take home for the next day and a great atmosphere. This place is packed nearly every night of the week.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

After our 1hr flight from Christchurch to Auckland, a 4hr airport lounge wait proceeded by a 3.5hr flight to Sydney we finally arrived in Australia and proceeded to follow our instructions to get to our new home for the next 7 days. Dave’s good friend Rob offered his flat for us both to stay in as he and his family were back in the UK whilst we were dropping by, unfortunate as we would have loved to have met up with them properly. He suggested we purchase a week long travel pass which allows the use of trains, underground metro, buses and boats at a very good price of $43 AUS.

A few train stops later and we arrived at the flat, received the keys and settled in to our home for the next week. The view from the kitchen was spectacular and with the sun setting over the Harbour bridge we made our way to the Sydney Festival 2012 First Night which included several free performances in Hyde Park and around the city. The streets were packed with people in the centre of the city and the music was pumping from Norman Jay’s 8hr big red bus.  Other performers included Washington and an energetic performance from rising World Music star Manu Chao, we were amazed by the fusion of sounds, genres and crazy dancing that was going on and the crowd absolutely loved him. This was all taking place in The Domain whilst Norman Jaye was pleasing the hard core fans.

As a free event to kick off a month long festival in the heart of Sydney it was great to see thousands of people turn out and enjoy the music and atmosphere. The queues for food and drinks were huge however we finally managed to find a smaller line for a plateful of Dim Sum which raised our energy levels ready for the journey back to the flat and a king sized double bed, its has been a long time indeed, luxury.

The next morning we enjoyed a well deserved lie in followed by an equally well deserved breakfast out at the local Kirribilli Cafe welcoming us nicely to our new city life. After travelling around New Zealand for two months in and out of the wilderness it was strangely comforting to be back in-between all the hustle and bustle that a city has to offer. Although it’s clear to see that people just aren’t as friendly as their rural neighbours.

Food shopping was required to fill the cupboards as we cannot afford to eat out all the time and we found a local Aldi as well as a deli to help us stock up. Items are cheaper to purchase here than in New Zealand. The Kirribilli Sunday market was also underway nearby so we had a look through what was on offer, no mens clothes unfortunately to help replace Dave’s ripped jeans!

We jumped straight into sightseeing mode and made our way across the Harbour Bridge en-route to Helen’s Uni friend James who just so happened to be getting married at the Rocks. We had a drink with the newlyweds and caught up on the Loughborough gossip. This was followed with a stroll around the Opera House followed by an impressive storm taking place later on and documented patiently by Dave. This was also the night we started watching The Killing (Danish Version), with 19 episodes to follow we were hooked instantly and knew it would have to be included into our daily schedule from now on!

(Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)