Wednesday

My morning began with the now familiar train into downtown Sydney and a ferry ride to a new destination.  Today I was off to Manly Beach.  It is the largest beach available to the Sydney area. Today I sit on the correct side of the ferry to photograph the opera house from out in the harbor.

    Manly beach is on the other side of the point where the wharf is.  It is cool enough that I am wearing my jacket today but there  are surfers all over in the water and two instructional surfer classes taking  place. 

As I walk the length of the beach I notice some folks playing a lawn game with blocks and dowels.  It looks like the kind of game that our camping group could build a trophy for.  I ask the players what the game is and they say it is Kubb (rhymes  with tube) They say it is a Viking chess game – that description will peak the interest in my family.

The view below is less than half of the length of the entire beach.

After the beach walk and peruse the shops and markets, I ferry back to the Circular Quay harbor spot and grab another ferry to Darling harbor. I am hoping to try a shop said to have the best ramen bowls in the Haymarket area in Chinatown.

The ramen bowl was not what I was expecting as it was a thick brown brothed soup with pork and an egg. Left just as served, it was flavored a bit strongly in a way I’m left unable to describe.  They did have many of my favorite condements of pickled ginger. Spices, and sauces that I applied and got the flavors right to where I wanted and was well fed and satisfied.

I was wishing I had just a little something sweet for a dessert afterward and just a block away I  noticed a small window that people were queued up to.  It was part of the bakery next door where fresh cream puffs are made and you can get them hot off the press – literally.

I purchased 3 for $1 and noticed how warm they were in the bag.  One bite later and I knew the warmth was radiating from the scalding hot filling inside. Yeow!

 I made my way through several streets and found myself at Paddy Market.  Kinda like a flea market with all kinds of wares.   Nothing I couldn’t live without.

  I decide to navigate to central station to catch the train back to the burbs.  Being accustom to loading/unloading at stations with 2, 4 or maybe 6 tracks I am amazed to find my train on platform 19.  Central station indeed.

I text Wilma I am on my way back as I purchased a SIMM card and some minutes to use on an old iPhone she still has and is letting me use. Handy to have.

We have dinner over at her father in laws as her purpose in being over here is to watch over his care and dinner is shared there most nights.  I’ve missed a few due to my own travels but Wilma stops most every day if only just to update his white board on what and who he can expect the following day.  He is blessed to have her here.

It was another great day.

Love Betty