More of Sydney

Clearly we are gluttons for punishment, and it was only a gold coin donation to get into the SCG for the final day of the test, so we headed back to it on another scorching day, beginning with a fortifying coffee.

Coffee at Two Daughters Cafe, Surry Hills

The scoreboard shows both a duck (for Stoneman) and the fact that Joe Root retired ill. He came back in before lunch, but didn't make it back out again afterwards, giving him the dubious honour of being one of very few cricketers to retire ill twice in the same innings.

A friend lent us his tickets (and the essential collared shirt for Him Outdoors) so that for a brief time we could sit in the Ladies Stand and pretend to be Members.

We lost the series 4-0, as the Australian podium display so classily reinforced. 

As a tribute to the pink test, many of the statues at the SCG are sporting McGrath Foundation pink bandannas. This year is the tenth anniversary of the Pink Test.

Steve Waugh sculpture at the SCG

Maybe it's just because we lost so badly, but there is something about the SCG that looks a little like a prison - one from which there was no great escape, no matter how much the Barmy Army sang the theme tune.

We headed into the harbour to one of our favourite places where we sat and watched the boats coming in and going back out again beneath the bridge.

There was a spectacular summer storm building up as we sat at the Sydney Cove Oyster Bar. Him Outdoors displayed his superior grasp of economics by explaining that, 'If a glass of Prosecco is $12 and a bottle is $48; we might as well buy a bottle, and then our third glass is free. And everyone loves a free drink.' 

Him Outdoors at the Sydney Cove Oyster Bar

And then between the lightning flashes and the downpours we walked around Sydney Opera House; one of my favourite buildings in the world.

The next day we checked out of our hotel early and had breakfast at Circular Quay before hopping on a ferry to Watson's Bay.

From Watson's Bay we walked over to South Head, where we looked out to Middle Head - the gap in between is the entrance to Sydney Harbour.

Harbour entrances are often marked with military hardware - they are the base of national defences. And yet, occasionally the cannons pointing inland look as though they might be threatening the city rather than protecting it. 

Cannon above Camp Cove

Hornby Lighthouse was built in 1858 following the wrecking of the Dunbar(August 1857; loss of 121 lives) and the Catherine Adamson (October 1857; loss of 21 lives) at the foot of South Head. Designed by colonial architect Alexander Dawson, it is the third oldest lighthouse in NSW and still operational.

Parsley Bay is a secluded little beach with a forested reserve, a lounge of water dragons, and a pedestrian suspension bridge built in 1912. The houses perched on top of the cliffs must have superlative views and real estate prices. 

Parsley Bay Suspension Footbridge

Camp Cove is thought to be the first landing place of Captain Phillip in Port Jackson in 1788 as he sailed from Botany Bay looking for a site for what would become Sydney Harbour.

This is also the location of the southern end of the cross-harbour boom net extending 1,480 metres to Georges Head. Building began in January 1942 as part of the national defence strategy. On the night of the 31st May 1942, three Japanese midget submarines attempted to enter the harbour: one became entangled in the not-yet-completed net and when the commander attempted to free it with a sawtooth metal cutter, he attracted the attention of the watchman for the Maritime Service Board, James Cargill. Cargill rowed across in a boat and was surprised to discover the submarine. 

It took him two hours to convince the navy that there was a Japanese midget submarine caught in the boom net. The commander, realising he had been detected, detonated charges, destroying the submarine and killing himself and all crew in the process. The other two submarines slipped through the net and attacked shipping for several hours before being destroyed. 

Green Point, Camp Cove

Watson's Bay

It was overcast but still very hot and muggy with enough sun peeking through the clouds to cause sunburn. I was applying sun-cream on the beach, when who should walk over and ask to borrow some but Alastair Cook. We chatted about the cricket and the heat (he said it was hotter than he'd ever played, except perhaps when he was in Abu Dhabi) and the Aussies (he said the English team had been drinking with them in the dressing room for about three hours after the game and that it was 'mostly good-humoured'). 

Of course, like any good English person, I didn't ask for a photo and just let him go about his business. Then we had fish and chips and caught the ferry back to Circular Quay, the train back to the station, and the coach back to Canberra.

Vaucluse Yacht Club

Back at the Quay

Back at Canberra we indulged in our traditional (done it twice before) Four Winds with Friends weekend. The first weekend we're all available after the madness that is Christmas and New Year we hang out at Four Winds Vineyard for a couple of fun-filled hours of pizza and wine; conversation and laughter; laziness and relaxation.

Four Winds with Friends