Jamie Oliver in Sydney

Feb 1, 2012. So how did a chef's name get into the title of this post? Well....... it all started at home before we left for Australia. I was looking for recipes on line, and checked Jamie Oliver's website. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the restaurants, and found that there is one of his restaurants in Sydney.

Yesterday, Walter and I took the bus into Sydney CBD (that's city business district). The bus route ends at Circular Quay, from which we could get to just about anywhere. From Circular Quay, it's only a 10 minute walk to the restaurant. I thought we were just going to check out prices, but Walter, unbeknownst to me, had other plans. He had decided that if it was open, and if we could get in (they don't take reservations), we would have lunch. Lucky us - we got there just before the lunch time crowd and got a table on the second level, where we could see much of the activity below. The food was great - we had a small antipasto platter, and salad, and Walter had a risotto - all washed down with a glass of really good pinot grigio. What a treat! And for what we got, quite reasonable. We will definitely go back to the restaurant while we're here.

After lunch we headed down to The Rocks and wandered around the harbour. The weather was a bit overcast and breezy, and a little cooler than the previous days, so that made walking about comfortable. Ended up at the Cruise Bar for another glass of pinot grigio for me and a beer for Walter. More walk about the harbour and photo taking.

A few pics. Me in a moment of fun. Walter's panoramic shot of Sydney Harbour. He also did the video clip, and a picture of 'Mr. Man'.

Sydney on Sunday

We arrived in Sydney yesterday, after 26 hours of travelling. The trip itself was uneventful - so there isn't much to write about. This time, we went American Airlines to Dallas - Fort Worth, and connected to Quantas to Brisbane, then on to Sydney.

In Brisbane, everyone had to deplane and go through the first part of customs and immigration - that is the screening. It took us about an hour to have our carry-on bags screened, go through the metal detectors, and then get back on the plane. In Sydney, we got through the customs portion in about half an hour. Not bad - the last time, I think, it took us over an hour.

We spent some time in the afternoon, in the park with Lex, Jaime, Jon and Jaime's aunt Lynne, who was here for the day before going on to Melbourne. The time difference took its toll, and after a supper of take-out Thai food, we were in bed by 9 pm. I was so tired, I know Walter came to bed a few minutes after me, but I didn't even hear him.

This morning, we were up and out of the house by 7:30 - Walter wanted a swim, and I walked the beach. It's turned out to be a lovely day - about 27 Celsius and sunny. Jon took us all to Watson's Bay, where we did the cliff walk up to the old lighthouse. Along the way, we passed a nudist beach - not a single woman in sight, but the men were enjoying the sun and warm water.

There is an old lighthouse, built in 1858, that is now an historical site. The lighthouse keeper's cottage is still standing as well, although not open to the public as far as I could tell. Too bad, it would have been great to see the inside.

We walked to the top of the cliffs, and go a spectacular view, on one side, of the bay and Sydney in the background. On the other side, the ocean and rocks. Beautiful!

After walking back down, we had lunch on the terrace of a local restaurant, Doyle's, overlooking the bay. Really good fish and chips, and ginger beer.

Now about ginger beer. Anyone who knows me, knows I don't like beer. When I was in England in the summer, I discovered an alcoholic ginger beer that I quite enjoyed. I found another one in Australia. Stone's Ginger Beer - really good. I had one yesterday, and am looking forward to another later on today (right now it's too early for anything alcoholic). The ginger beer at lunch though, while nice and cold, was a non-alcoholic version. Still, it made me think of what I have waiting for me later on tonight!

Four more sleeps

A new adventure is about to begin! I've retired and we're off to Australia this week to visit our kids and see the sights. I'll be posting pictures and summaries of the trip on the blog, as we travel around. This trip promises to be exiciting, as we'll be visiting the Gold Coast and going out to Perth in Western Australia (something we didn't have time to do in our last visit). Stay tuned. It will be fun!