Final Day in Sydney

Awoke to the sounds of the council cleaning the streets. At least, I think that's what it was. When we went out later the streets and footpaths were certainly wet and it hadn't rained. They cleaned up very fast after the Australia Day festivities.
It was also the end of the Sydney Festival, of which they were shutting down and tidying up when we walked through contemplating our breakfast. I made the mistake of leaving the hotel a touch too early, as the few places that were open for breakfast didn't open until 9 or 10am.

I've just thought of something I failed to mentioned the other day. After the trip out to Bondi beach, we got off the bus at Hyde Park and had a wander around to look at the ANZAC memorial and the Archibald fountain. Both monuments are impressive, but of course they were what you would expect to see in the middle of an iconic park in the middle of a city. What you wouldn't expect to see would be something like, say, a blow up massive Stonehenge. Yes, that's unexpected.
It better come to Perth, that's all I can say! We didn't want to queue for over an hour to go for a bounce, so hopefully it does make an appearance here. Looking at it all deflated on the lawn after Australia Day did raise a giggle or two from me.

STOP PRESS! It is coming to Perth, thank God. Along with some other fantastic works of art and entertainment.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/your-perth/ten-things-to-look-out-for-at-the-2014-perth-festival-20131108-2x5jm.html

After making bad inflatable jokes, we wandered off to the The Rocks in the hope of finding breakfast there and luckily we weren't disappointed. It was a cafe just next to the entrance of Suez Canal laneway, so we wandered up the lane after breakfast as we'd seen it on the first day but didn't want to deviate from our main street wander then.
I just love The Rocks for all it's twisty winding lane ways. Just when you think you couldn't find another one, there's an archway entrance with a bar or restaurant just around the corner.

I would recommend you pop into the Susannah Place museum and The Rocks Discovery museum. Unfortunately we only made it to the latter, as the SP museum only opened at 2pm and we weren't sure where we'd be then. The SP museum comprises of a corner shop circa 1800's with 3 houses attached. I will have to put it on the list for another Sydney trip another time.
The Rocks Discovery museum is a nice little place to explain the local Aboriginal people's culture and the significance of the area to them. Plus there's a bit on some notorious English blokes who made a name for themselves back in the First and Second Fleet days.

Bottom line, The Rocks was originally a small village which then turned into a bit of a slum and then a lot of it got knocked down by the government early on due to fears of the plague. I can understand why they did it; seeing the close quarters living and imagining disease being spread in the early days was quite scary.
Thankfully they didn't get too carried away with the demolition, and quite a few beautiful buildings still exist to wander into and around.

After checking out the local markets at The Rocks (some nice locally made stuff), we wandered back through Circular Quay to the lift that takes you above the station there and then a short walk across to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
The weather was quite warm, so I was taken by surprise and unfortunately got a tad burnt. By this stage though we were quite tired and footsore and in need of food and drink. So we only saw the Governor's House (from the outside) and some of the gardens before exiting and walking past The Domain (concert area) back to the CBD.

By this stage all the shops and food courts were open so we ended up in the Westfield Tower Eye complex for a bite to eat.
After that, a little shopping was required. Although I didn't find my new favourite store until after our afternoon coffee and cake. It took me about 10 minutes to find a heap of clothes I liked, try them on and pay for them. Whew!

We had a shuttle bus pick us up and take us to the airport, and this time we had a larger plane which meant two aisle four aisle two seating. The plane on the way over was smaller and we had another person sitting next to us (which was fine!). We also had no entertainment screens/options, so it was a good thing we bought magazines/books/tablets.
The larger plane on the way back had everything we've come to expect from flying, so I have no idea why we got such a crap plane on the way over. Thankfully Sydney is such a short flight that it doesn't matter.

Back to reality today - what to eat this week...fresh basil, tomato and pasta dish?