The GAA continues....

and yes, I am feeling much better today thank you which is a relief. Having given myself permission not to do anything I find I have achieved more in this one  morning than in the last 3 or 4 days put together - I expect a good nights sleep and a hair wash helped, but taking some of the pressure off myself has helped too.

 

And now for some more from Australia. We'd planned to do lots in Sydney, a mixture of the old and the new but a combination of the heat and jet lag meant we didn't get as much achieved as we'd have liked. (Ha! who's spotting a theme coming through there then?!) Among the places we didn't get back to were the Chinese Garden, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Botanical Gardens, Darling Harbour (except incidentally)and the Maritime Museum,  and amongst the ones we wanted to try for the first time but didn't were a ride up the river to Paramatta to do a historical tour, a tall ship harbour cruise and a trip to a celebrity chef restaurant. (You might guess whose particular pet project the latter was; Big Clue incoming, not mine)

 

What we did manage was a revisit to the Taronga Zoo and a first ever visit to the Sydney Aquarium. Long term readers who know how title I am moved to interest by the natural world may find it odd that it was me who suggested the aquarium but I  am a bit of a sucker for those ones that have the big plastic tunnel for you to walk through and the Sydney Aquarium has one of those. Taronga Zoo we have visited before and loved, mainly it must be said for its collection of species native to Australia (all together now - WOMBATS! YAY!  and we were keen to go again.

 

You get to the zoo on the ferry and when you get off there's a cable car to the top that gives you the most amazing views of Sydney Harbour and the CBD. When you try to take pictures of the said amazing views you tend to get bits of cable car machinery and wire in the way but for what it's worth her are some photos anyway

 

See what I mean? It was also a bit heat hazy so they aren't the world's best pictures but I like to look at them.

I have no picture of the wombats because the only one we saw was fast asleep and in the nocturnal house as were the duck billed platypii - well they weren't asleep, they were swimming about relatively energetically but you get no joy from trying to photograph them as we know from previous experience. You can't use a flash, which is totally nothing but fair, but without it all you get is murk and two small shiny dots which are their eyes. Even the koalas were a lot less visible and active than last time....

 

yes there is a koala in there. It's not doing much, just sitting there, quietly stoned out of its head on eucalyptus. I did however gets lots of lovely pictures of the amazingly cute Tasmanian devil, who we both just wanted to pick up, cuddle and bring home with us.

 

 

 

There was a seal who knew it was feeding time, even though the keepers had apparently forgotten

 

 

 and some very energetic penguins.

 

 

Should you ever be planning a visit to Taronga be aware that the eating facilities are limited, crowded and expensive. Eat before you go, after you come back, or take a picnic. Despite that, it is a lovely Zoo.

 

I was a bit worried from the entry to the Aquarium that it might be a bit tacky but in fact it wasn't. It was a long way round and that was made worse by the fact that it was a very hot day, but the overall experience was very good. There are sharks and rays and tropical fish and manatees and all sorts - I am not a great lover of fish, either to look at or to eat, but I really enjoyed myself here. Not very many photos but here are a couple

 

 

or three even. I'm also a sucker for figureheads. Of the wooden ship variety that is!