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#12 - Last Day in Paradise

Wednesday is Andrea's "I am good Grandma" day as she watches Rosie while Georgia heads off to the salt mines. And usually Mark will be heading over the Harbor Bridge by 8 and into the city to practice law, although I get the feeling that by now he is quite an expert. But today was the Scumbag Cup, a golf competition where the winning team is awarded a shield, specifically the scumbag shield, and who wouldn't want that? It was up in Newcastle, a couple hours away, so alas, we would not get to spend any time with Mark on our last day in Sydney.
  Betty, the best dog in Australia


Steve and I decided to train into the city and walk some of the more urban 'hoods like Kings Cross, Darlinghurst and Paddington, just strolling the winding streets of historical terrace houses and popping into the designer shops along Oxford St.

We were in desperate need of some hot weather clothes for hotter than usual temps we hadn't counted on. I had diligently researched the average temps for all of our destinations, but as usual Mother Nature and climate change threw us a curve with another 35C day and my jeans and linen shirt just couldn't cope. And we were heading to Noosa, a beach resort town on the Sunshine Coast the next day, where resort wear and caftan like dresses were the standard uniform. 


 We had already been in Sydney for nine days and spent them all either in the tourist/business center (CBD) or the North Shore (think leafy, beachy burbs) so this day was spent discovering the more urban but livable areas that looked a bit more like a city.
                                                      
        
After putting another six or seven kilometers on our feet, we ended up at Bondi Junction, a busy hectic area close to the famous Bondi Beach. We could have kept going just to say we saw Bondi, but in reality, we had seen so many beautiful beaches already, we were happy to get on the train back to Roseville
  Sydney's great train system


where Andrea had made another beautiful dinner for our last evening together. Full of local slow-cooked lamb, the last item was packing, a ridiculous attempt to put everything we came with and everything we bought back into the same suitcase that was completely full when we arrived. Just not possible, so we edited down, yet again, leaving Andrea with a stack of stuff and $100 to pack and ship it home for us. 

Early Thursday, after big hugs and kisses goodbye, with promises to meet somewhere again in the not too distant future, hopefully in Santa Fe, we were in the car with Mark on the way to the airport.  A quick flight to the Sunshine Coast, another hour backwards on our watches and a 30 minute drive got us to Noosa and our next home for five nights....which in our book means long enough to actually unpack again, do some more laundry and even get a touch up!  Our apartment was ready, clean, big, modern and spacious with two bedrooms and two bathrooms for us to get lost in. 



    
                                                 







We put away the few groceries we bought, got in our suits and spent a couple of relaxing hours by the pool reading. Some chilled rose, a bit of Taleggio cheese ....this is the life. Tonight we will head into town, a not too long walk down a very, very steep hill, to discover the town and have a bite to eat in one of the many restaurant recommendations we have.  Hoping the weather cooperates with sunshine, this looks like a great place for our next Aussie stop.


                                                      

PS - there is no Wi-Fi at this apartment, so Steve has to run down the street to the Pub to post the blog and get the e- mail....and it's a nice pub, so this may be a problem....and we have an empty bedroom at this place, so if you are nearby, stop for a few days.


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