Sydney

Today we played tourists in our own town. We have visited every capital city except for Darwin- top of our list now!

We have visited the Botanical Gardens in Adelaide 3 years in a row, but not in our own city. Crazy huh! Sydney really is the most beautiful city. I am still so impressed when Circular Quay appears through the buildings. The glimmer of the water always brightens up the end of George St. There is always something special going on around the Opera House and it is just stunning...always so pretty. We just take it for granted and we admire so much about the other cities we visit. We always appreciate the slightly slower pace and easy parking when we are far from home, but Sydney is amazing. The buzz and the hustle and bustle is exciting. There is just so much to see too- never a city to be done in one day.

When we told the boys that we were going into the city today (it was a bit of a whim with no preparation) they asked "which city?" So accustomed they are to leaving one city one day and appearing in another a few days later!!!

So here is our day:

China Town for lunch.

Always fun to get a table outside and watch the world go by.

After lunch Eric had to get to a meeting in Pitt St so I set off with the boys to explore. First stop Circular Quay for ice-cream- perfect!

After a rather unfortunate experience with a street performer who counted to three!! Cams hates it when they count (especially when they demand super enthusiastic audience participation) and we always stand at the back ready to run so the other boys can enjoy as much of the show as possible. This one ended in a MAJOR meltdown. I had no idea his swear word vocabulary was so impressive!! As you can see he was still not happy by the time we got to the Opera House (he also knew he was in very big trouble for swearing so impressively). There was a great deal of remorse and very sincere apologies to everyone by the time we got to the Gardens.

I really don't think that we have seen anything as lovely as this in any other capital city.

yes Campbell is reading.....

meanwhile......

Naturally!

Eric's meeting finished and we rejoined in Hyde Park to explore the Festival- my boys were more interested in admiring the Archibald Fountain. Joe declared loudly "put some pants on" as he inspected the Minotaur under attack. Bahhhh my children have no culture!

Maybe this is why???? I promise you this was not the reason for Eric's meeting!! Looks a bit suspect though doesn't it :/ Look closely at the signage in this photo.....

Our day was made complete with another visit to our favourite feature at Darling Harbour...the filthy fountain outside the toilet block...aww Sydney is grand!!!

Joe decided as we walked back to the car that he didn't need a shower tonight because he just had one. Yep- all class in my family!  

If anything this experience would require two showers with extra soap- he settled for one bath with bubble bath and soap. I have excellent bargaining skills.

Thoroughly exhausting with so many places to visit on a another day. The boys walked some good distances today...and Campbell did HEAPS of reading.

What are your favourite spots to visit in Sydney?

Luna Park

We are very lucky that the Police Credit union offer family tickets to Luna Park every year for a discounted price- it's a first in first served deal so you have to be quick. We had such a great day and thankfully the rain clouds hovered but then blew over. Drew braved a few of the rides with me but passed on a couple of the really 'scary' ones. We have the funniest photo of us on the roller coaster!

As a fabulous finale to the day Campbell and Joe made us mud pies for dinner :)