Last Full Australian Day

Today was our last full day in Australia. Sadness. It was a good day, though. We started out by taking the monorail to downtown Sydney to do some shopping. Although other methods of transportation were available, we felt compelled to try the monorail since it goes right past our hotel window. And when I say right past, I mean it’s level with our window and no more than 6 feet away. Thankfully, it stops running around 10 pm on weeknights, but it’s slightly annoying.

After shopping, we had tea at a very fancy tea room in the Queen Victoria Building. The whole building is just about the nicest mall you’ll ever see. Ornate tile floors, stained glass windows above each store front, granite tile sinks in the bathroom (or maybe I should say “toilets”, as that’s what they’re called here). The tea was excellent (I decided that milk and sugar in tea can be a good thing!) and the pastries…oh, the pastries. Incredibly light pastries. Oh, and scones. Now, these were definitely not the type of scones we have in the US. They were moist. And oh so light. Mmm…mmm…good!!

After tea, we took the bus to Bondi beach. Beautiful!

Huge waves make the ocean here a little rough for swimming, but I wouldn’t mind training in this pool every day. Talk about a great setting…it would be a scenic excursion at every practice!

Over dinner tonight, we shared our “best” and “worst” moments of the trip. Favorite food, favorite restaurant, favorite place we went, favorite activity, favorite wine, favorite tour guide, favorite sign (highlights coming in a future post), favorite Australian phrase, favorite thing in Australia that we don’t have/do in the US, worst restaurant, most uncomfortable moment, most surprising, etc. We can make this game go on for awhile because it’s a fun way to relive a great trip.