7 June 2014
Our 18th floor apartment view over Sydney Harbour
Alarm work me up at 4.45am this morning, time for a quick shower before leaving for the airport. The parking station is only a short distance from the hotel, but we were glad we had packed our larger bags in the car last night, so it was only the one trip this morning with the smaller luggage. The GPS behaved, and we were at the airport in good time to book in the bags, get through security and have some toast and coffee and relax before the flight.
The flight was fairly smooth, except for some turbulence when passengers were asked to stay seated (and the cabin crew were not able to serve tea or coffee!). I was lucky to have a window seat, it was wonderful to see pass below me the countryside we had driven through the previous four weeks. We passed over the Great Australian Bight so my view was largely of the great ocean before we started to fly over South Australia, Victoria, then New South Wales and Sydney Airport.
Pete had organised his flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast, and I had arranged to meet my son Steven in Sydney where we would stay overnight.
The impressive foyer and floral decoration at our apartment
We organised our long planned trip to visit the Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour, lots of fun, with the crowds such a contrast to the quiet and serenity of many of the places we had visited in Western Australia. When we returned to the apartment the darkness had fallen and the lights were on all around the beautiful harbour.
The city lit up for the Vivid Sydney Festival
We were on the 18th floor of an apartment block at The Rocks and had a wonderful view across the water. It was one of the last nights of the Vivid Sydney Festival, and the Opera House was truly vivid with ever-changing colours, the ferries all lit up in pink and blue stripes, and the Harbour Bridge always looks spectacular. We could see across to colourful Luna Park, and the lights all around the harbour were like little blinking stars. We ordered dinner in the apartment, and spent a lovely evening overlooking the colourful scene.
The Sydney Opera House puts on a glorious display
On Sunday morning we drove home via the home of a friend in Sydney whose son (my godson) was visiting from the UK, so we had a lovely croissant morning tea and long chat, then headed up the Motorway to home. I unpacked my bag, sorted the washing, then decided to have a ten minute cat nap – and woke up an hour an a half later, must have needed the sleep.
For those interested in statistics we travelled 4352 kilometres on the Indian Pacific, a flight from Perth to Sydney of 3301 kilometres, and we covered 5091 kilometres in our self drive tour around the beautiful state of Western Australia – unforgettable!
