Today was a day of foot exploration again. We got up fairly late, at least by our standards – it was 8:30 or so before we’d rolled out and I’d gone in search of coffee.
There’s only instant in the room. Otherwise it’s a 5 star hotel. We can overlook this glaring oversight, though.
At least, I thought we could – until I went to the two coffee places immediately next to the hotel, one a regular café and the other just a roll cart – only to find that they’re both closed on Sunday.
Don’t these people know that coffee doesn’t follow a calendar????
It’s not a complete crisis, though, since there’s a Starbucks in sight of our hotel. Coffee is the one exception to “no national chains while traveling” rule, if there’s no alternative. The next rung down the ladder was the McDonald’s just up the street the other way from the Starbucks, and that would have been a fall indeed.
Anyhow, the weather sucked again today, so rushing about to go out wasn’t a big issue. We got a couple of suggestions from people, all of whom assured us that this weather wasn’t the norm – usually it’s hot and sunny here this time of year – although given that we’re unlikely to return here in this lifetime, it’s largely irrelevant.
Anyhow, we got a couple of suggestions for “indoor” activities this afternoon, decided the weather be damned and headed out.
One thing that was going on this afternoon was the Mardi Gras Fair, which officially kicks off the mardi gras season.
The weather was particularly uncooperative in the early afternoon. By the time we caught the bus to the park where the fair was happening and walked the last 4 or 5 blocks, a full-blown monsoon was in effect. We had our umbrellas, as did most everyone else, but the vendors had little choice other than to cover everything up with plastic to try and protect it. You had to feel sorry for them – it was a big event, and obviously a lot of effort and planning had gone into it, only to be rained out.
We are a hardy people, though, and most were not to be daunted by a little precipitation. Cheap ponchos abounded and umbrellas were everywhere.
We were “faired” out after a relatively short period of time and headed off to find lunch. It’s a short walk from the park where this was held to Darling Harbour, so we decided to go that direction. The rain let up enough for us to have fish and chips at a restaurant next to the harbour and we then decided that the casino was just a short walk away.
The Casino Gods were not especially kind to the Americanos. After an hour, we’d blown our allotted fun money and headed back to wander into the town.
It’s interesting to note that businesses here close at 7:30 p.m. You can't buy anything (outside of a convenience store) after that. Sundays are even worse; lots of things are closed, and restaurants (and apparently businesses) add a 10% surcharge on if you’re going to shop with them. Instead of running sales to get you in, they’re encouraging you to stay home.
We came back to the hotel long enough to dry out and change into long pants and decide where to go for dinner. Went to a great restaurant by cab, outside of the tourist district. The bar downstairs was really going despite the fact that it was 6:30 on a Sunday evening. The restaurant upstairs, though, was blissfully quiet and the food was great (French – we both had steaks, though).
The rain finally decided to let up sometime while we were in the restaurant, so we had a dry cab ride home. We were too tired to figure out the bus / train system at that point, so despite the fact that our passes are good until 4:00 tomorrow morning, we opted for the easy solution and took a cab.
Tomorrow is a “Harbour Tour”, and we’re being picked up at the hotel at 8:30 in the morning. That’s a considerably earlier start than we’ve had in the last few days, so we opted for an earlier bedtime tonight. Now if the weather will cooperate, we’ll be in good shape.
Interestingly enough, they’ve had several shark attacks in the last week or so here in Sydney. The word in the paper is not to swim at dusk – like I’d go in any deeper than my ankles at this point! One guy that got chewed up was in less than 3 feet of water. They say it’s a sign that the pollution that once existed in the harbour is being effectively remediated, since the fish are coming back and consequently the sharks that eat the fish are also coming back. I guess swimmers are just a bonus for the sharks!
