13th January

Right, should really get some washing done, my only two pairs of shorts are now well and truly soiled, not in bad way but they don't smell all that great. After jamming all the dirty stuff into a small carrier bag I grabbed a handful of change (notice the subtle change of tense) and got the lift down to the "M" floor. Just like being back at Pollock Halls: a line of top-loading washing machines and some dryers, and I don't have the correct change. So I wouldn't have to ask for change whilst carrying a plastic bag full of my belongings, I filled one of the machines and then headed down to the Thai restaurant on the bottom floor to see if I could change my fiver for some 2 dollar coins. They had two two dollar coins; getting there. Went back up to the washers and used the coin to get a sachet of powder, set up the washing machine and put in the second two dollar coin; it wanted another. Back up to the flat to see if H had any, she didn't. Out on the street a nice business man sort of person gave me what I needed and I finally got the washer going. All this kerfuffle is why I tend not to do clothes washing all that often.

Whilst I was slaving away H was out a-wandering looking for some kind of craft shop for those gift things I don't bother myself with. It now being lunch time (the washing took bloody ages) I headed into Chinatown to meet up with her for some food: she had scoped out a dim-sun place that sounded half-decent. Having only been to Glasgow's Chinatown I was impressed that Sydney's consisted of more than one building and actually felt like a busy street in China. We headed into a shopping mall and up a lift into the dim-sum restaurant which was massive with rows and rows of round tables and full of Chinese people whizzing around with trolleys of dumplings etc. We sat down and very quickly had an array of grub sprawled in front of us. I accidentally chose a dessert first; these Chinese, I tell you.

After we had had our fill we decided on walking around Darling Harbour, tagged as being a tourist-haven and where the I-Max cinema and bowling and things like that are. With no false expectations we headed off. H had been here previously in the morning on her craft shop hunt, but she had decided to get to it by walking down a motorway. With me in charge of directions we walked on pavements. The place was a bit soulless but seems fun for kids, with lots of water things to play in and climbing frames to climb. After playing in the water things we passed the I-Max cinema, where I have already booked a ticket for Avatar in glorious 3D. H won't be joining me for this, the fact that it is the world's biggest screen and that Avatar will make up for having no story with epic effects and alien battles didn't seem to entice her; some people.

Darling Harbour

This is the closest Heather's come to swimming this holiday.

An ice cream later we found ourselves in a Mythical Creatures exhibition at the Maritime Museum, the best bit of which was undoubtedly the guy who was dressed as a gargoyle and who scared the crap out of some kids by shouting when they walked passed. I, being very manly, managed to cleverly turn my girlie scream into a laugh and directed it at the kids.

A mermaid, made by sewing together a monkey skeleton and a fish.

Me loving it.

A monorail snakes it away through Sydney and passes through Darling Harbour; our flat is only two stops away but we thought it would be cool to ride it so bought a couple of tokens and got on board. The monorail set off in the wrong direction. A nice aerial tour of Sydney later we arrived back at the flat where I probably fell asleep and H, mm, she probably painted her nails or something.

After our rejuvenation session we left for our now most-visited place in Sydney; The Rocks. It was now dark and the night market would be in full swing. We filled up on some tasty food and sat down in front of a gypsy funk band whilst we ate. After some browsing of the stalls and watching an immensely talented couple of guys on a guitar and a double bass we set off out of the market. RIght at the start, or end I guess, of the market was a pub/club belting out some live 60s-80's classics. What the hell, let's go have a drink and a dance, we thought. I asked the bouncer whether sandals were ok, and although offended by my footwear he seemed to think it odd that I asked, given the appearance of the place. It was a massive pub with a bar in the centre, a band at one end, and crammed full of punters including a hen party or two. A couple of drinks later we were showing the Aussies how dancing should be done, persevering (though in H's case with a scowl) even through songs like "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". Stepping out of the club I felt like I had been swimming with all my clothes on. Time to go home.

14th January

I awoke alone; H had deemed me too lazy and left on some excursion without me, probably gift hunting or something. I went back to sleep. We thought we would try to get to Bondi Beach today. Being a Saturday we knew it would be heaving with folk but at least this would give us a genuine feel for the place. Upon stepping outside, however, we decided it was too cool for the beach. I say "we" - it was probably still 24°C, but at this kind of low temperature Heather's blood is in danger of freezing. We instead set off to a place called Paddington Market. After a small rant at the crapness of the Sydney bus network we arrived and had a wander around the stalls. This was a bit too close to shopping for my liking, so we found a nice coffee shop and had a sit down.

Heather: Paddington's full of streets lined with these tiny terraced houses with their elaborate iron balustrades. Once heavily working class (in 1935 it was described as "the worst white slum in the British Empire"), Paddington is now achingly hip, and apparently many of these miniature houses have been converted into glass-backed, marble-bathroomed, open-plan living spaces.

I left without my wallet and a nice waiter ran up to me and gave it back. Having not really thought to book anything for dinner we were turned away from the first couple of places we tried because they were full, and had a 10 minute wait for a table before we finally ate something at a really nice pizza place. After the previous evening we decided to have a quiet night in with "Monkey Island: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood". Today was one of those constructive days.