I have several hours in Sydney today awaiting a flight to first Doha and then to Bucharest where I'll be spending 11 days at the invitation of a friend at City's main university. I, and another friend from Curtin University, Roy Jones - another ex-POM - will each be giving several presentations to a variety of institutions in several locations across the country. However, more about that later.
Today I had 10 hours between flights! So I met up with my Cousin, David, who picked me up at the airport, drove me to one of Sydney's major shopping centres - Bondi Junction - and then on to his home high on a cliff at Diamond Bay. This is a prestigious region in Sydney, with homes costing mega-bucks. After the usual banter and putting all sorts of devices on a charge - phone, e-book, and so on, not to forget reading some of the 50 emails I get a day - we went for a stroll along the cliff-top. It was gorgeous weather, with brilliant sunshine and temperatures around 26C - despite it still only being the middle of Spring.
I owe the following images to David and his mobile phone as I forgot to unpack my camera from the luggage. I think you'll agree that our journey to South Head - the southern entrance to Sydney Harbour was quite picturesque. Our coastal trek begins with two southwards glimpses of the Diamond Bay area.
A little further on we could look westwards up Sydney harbour with excellent views of the city centre (left), the Coat-hanger (aka Harbour Bridge), and the office towers of North Sydney (further right) or Chatswood (extreme right). Those with keen eyesight might just be able to see the outline of the Blue Mountains in the distance - maybe 50 km away.
Well, it's only 5 hours to departure and a long night-time journey to Doha, a little north of Dubai and Abu Dhabi on the west coast of the Persian Gulf. Here's hoping the onward journey to Bucharest doesn't take us over Damascus!
Today I had 10 hours between flights! So I met up with my Cousin, David, who picked me up at the airport, drove me to one of Sydney's major shopping centres - Bondi Junction - and then on to his home high on a cliff at Diamond Bay. This is a prestigious region in Sydney, with homes costing mega-bucks. After the usual banter and putting all sorts of devices on a charge - phone, e-book, and so on, not to forget reading some of the 50 emails I get a day - we went for a stroll along the cliff-top. It was gorgeous weather, with brilliant sunshine and temperatures around 26C - despite it still only being the middle of Spring.
I owe the following images to David and his mobile phone as I forgot to unpack my camera from the luggage. I think you'll agree that our journey to South Head - the southern entrance to Sydney Harbour was quite picturesque. Our coastal trek begins with two southwards glimpses of the Diamond Bay area.
Looking south from a little further up the coast we can see better the coastal cliffs and, turning through 180 degrees, both South and North Heads guarding the entrance to Sydney Harbour.
Then the South Head lighthouse came into view.
South Head was also fortified for defence purposes during the 1920s and 1930s and these two images show today's remains with communications installations in the background.
A little further on we could look westwards up Sydney harbour with excellent views of the city centre (left), the Coat-hanger (aka Harbour Bridge), and the office towers of North Sydney (further right) or Chatswood (extreme right). Those with keen eyesight might just be able to see the outline of the Blue Mountains in the distance - maybe 50 km away.
And, on our return journey, we came to a dead end! Sorry about the pun, but this cemetery is completely full. That's probably lucky because there is a lovely new retirement home on the other side of the road and most of its residents are probably looking for a somewhat longer last journey
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