Yesterday (Tuesday) I did a LOT of walking. I figured out how to take the public bus toward the downtown area, and visited Darling Harbor before joining a free walking tour. Yes, the tour was absolutely free! Claire, our tour guide, was very knowledgeable and gave us some nice historical information on Sydney. We saw Hyde Park, the Customs House, Pitt Street (great shopping), etc. It was just a good way to get my bearings straight.

Before the tour, I got a non-fat chai tea latte at Starbucks, for about $4 .50. Yikes!!! The nice Asian lady behind the counter also thought my name was "Jenny." Hey, close enough.

During the tour, we went to Circular Quay (the main ferry terminal area thingy), and that is when I saw the Opera House and Harbor Bridge for the first time. WOW. Stunning. Tons of people, tourists, little shops and cafes. By the way, I'm not sure why Circular Quay is called "circular" as it's in the shape of a rectangle. Hmmmm. Anyway, after the tour, I walked across the Harbor Bridge and walked up the Pylon Lookout to get some better pictures of the harbor. Bridge climbs are available for about $180 (yikes!), but this was only $10, and I read the views were almost as good. Well, for $10, they were certainly good enough for me!

After doing the bridge and walking around a bit more, I headed back to my hotel and rested a bit before heading to La Cocina Peruana, a little dive with Peruvian cuisine. It was delish! I spoke to a couple who has been living here for two months. The man is from Ohio and his wife was from Peru. Apparently, they frequent this place a lot, and being that she is from Peru, I figured it HAD to be pretty good. I had a delicious salad, with potatoes corn and olives, followed by "Carapulcra a la Limena," an Inca stew with braised pork, chicken, spices and rice. Also tasty! For dessert, I had "picarones," donuts that were glazed with sauce, and a "flat white," (coffee with milk). I'm sure it was ALL low-cal and low-fat. Ah, I don't count that stuff when traveling. (Actually....who am I kidding? I don't count that stuff ever).

This morning (Wednesday), I decided to walk to Coogee Beach and take some pics of the sunrise. It was really peaceful and pretty darn cool ! Some people were out running or walking or cleaning up from activity the night before. On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at a bakery for a blueberry scone. It was still warm and oozing with blueberries! Not sure what it is about the bakery here, but it's all been very good!

Today I have to check out of the Randwick Lodge and go to another one down the street. I decided to stay in Sydney an extra night, and when I did, the RL was not available. No biggie though.

More later!
Jamie

PS. There were at least three other girls on my walking tour yesterday that were traveling ALONE. One from San Fran, one from Germany and one from Holland. And they were clearly younger than I. Ok, Mom??? :)