A few weeks ago, we headed off to Sydney for the weekend. We flew up on the Friday afternoon, and after an uneventful flight in a full plane, lined up for a taxi at the appointed taxi rank. The taxis were pulling in to the rank as fast as they were pulling out, so it took only about five minutes for us to be on our way.
It was a special occasion, I was to be presented with my intermediate Certificate of Theology from Moore College.
I have been working toward this for the last five years. The certificate is divided into three parts, preliminary, intermediate, and then the complete Cert Th. Having already been awarded the preliminary, it was time for the second part.
The graduation was held at the College, in Newtown in Sydney, a short taxi ride from where we were staying, which was pretty much next door to Chinatown. Although there were 250 graduands listed , there were around fifty certificates and diplomas physically awarded on the night ,and I was close to being the eldest person.
Here in the photos with me are Les and Judy, Les was awarded the Certificate, so he has finished studying now.
A delicious supper was served afterwards, and we managed to hail a taxi without any trouble at all, to return to our hotel.
It's over 25 years since we had been in Sydney, and there is a lot to see!
We set off the next morning, walking towards Circular Quay, stopping at a small cafe for breakfast on the way.
Once we reached the Quay, we decided to hop on a ferry and go over to Manly. I queued up for our tickets, and was pleasantly surprised when I was charged only five dollars for two all day, all transport in Sydney tickets.
Although it was a little overcast, the weather was good, and the harbour was so pleasant to be on. In this close up of our magnificent bridge, you can see a group of bridge climbers. There were three groups there , and we hope to do the climb in the future.
Tall sailing ships and many other craft, including a large number of ferries were out and about.
Manly was abuzz with a food and wine festival, so we enjoyed some lunch there, and a very pleasant walk along the beachfront.
The opera house is always a sight to behold, and in the evening we returned to the quay to enjoy the spectacular sights of the Vivid show. This was just stunning, and worth a visit to Sydney just to see it. Not only is the Opera House lit up, but most of the building are as well. There are eight venues throughout Sydney where these light installations can be viewed.
. Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images.
The following day we made our way to the famous Paddy's market, and then took the light rail to Hawthorne, to meet some friends for lunch at the Haberfield Rowing Club, which is situated on the banks of the Parramatta River
The weather has turned it little nastier by the time we made our way back to Sydney on the light rail, and our spray jackets were in use.
Monday morning took us on a walking excursion to darling Harbour, enjoying pancakes for breakfast at the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe
This was my serve of pancake and fruit with chocolate sauce. I never imagined so much sauce would be used, and it was far to rich to consume it all. Delicious, but way too much !
Out transfer to the airport deposited us in plenty of time for our uneventful flight home.
I can thoroughly recommend Sydney, it's right up there in terms of touristy things to do and see.
