"An Around-the-World-Ticket for Two, Please."

We had booked at a lovely campsite that was in Lane Cove National Park on the outskirts of Sydney, and the closest campsite. It was lovely and had excellent public transport links to get into the city which was great! We rang Brian about the job when we arrived and he told us that he had been in contact with the Environmental Protection Agency (the licences in NSW are issued by them, different to QLD) and had spoken to a lovely lady who seemed to think it would all be fine. We were still a bit bemused and disbelieving! He told us to go into their office in the city and take the documents we had with us, and he would get a faxed copy of Ben's degree certificate sent over to them. Considering how everything had to be originals or copies signed by a Justice of the Peace in QLD this seemed a bit strange to us! Luckily Ben called ahead before we went to the office and they told us we couldn't come in, they don't do it that way, but they told us to fill out the 2 page form and fax it in with his AIR certificate and they would do it today! Absolutely nuts!!! So, we faxed it all in, and withing 2 hours we had a fax back with Ben's licence to work in NSW which meant he had a job! WooHoo! We found out the the Environmental Protection Agency oversee so much, Radiography licences are not their major concern, which is why it was so simple. In Queensland there is a whole organisation dedicated to just that, so of course, it becomes a great big deal! If only we had known that before! But we were so pleased we knew it now, and it worked out for him to work! So, we knew he had a 3 week job in Armidale, and we had 5 days in Sydney before travelling towards the job. It was also so amazing as it came with accomodation! We just wondered what that might be, but had to wait and see!

So after all the drama we put the tent up and decided to go into Sydney for the late afternoon / evening and visit the Botanical Gardens at dusk to see the bats at Rachel F's recommendation! There were LOADS of them, and I couldn't quite believe how BIG they were! They looked more like birds, but when you looked properly you could see their little claws and furry heads, ewww! They were amazing to watch and a sight to be seen! We walked through the gardens to the other side to get our first view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. It felt quite surreal after seeing it on the TV and in movies so many times before!!!

On Tuesday we had a late start as the weather wasn't great so we didn't rush up to make the most of it! We headed into Sydney on the double decker train, and went to the famous fish market! Luckily Ben didn't make me get up and go at 5.30am to watch the auctions which are apparently lots of fun to see! We had a wonder around and marvelled at all the amazing fish and crabs around, and then shared a fisherman's basket for lunch. It's so nice that Ben has finally embraced fish (the battered kind for now!) and we can enjoy it together, it only took me 10 years! After lunch we headed back to the Maritime Museum as we had seen that there was a shark exhibition on, and of course Ben wanted to see that! It was also a good way to get out of the rain! It was free entry which was great! On the way to the shark exhibition we had to pass one called 'On Their Own: Britain's Child Migrants' which turned out to be absolutely fascinating! I love social history, especially 20th century, so I loved it! It was all about children who were sent out to Australia and Canada by the ship load to start new lives. Some stories were harrowing, and the children ended up being slave labour on farms and some were told their families were dead when they weren't and it was a terrible experience that affected their whole life. While for others it was the making of them and they have never looked back. It continued into the 1950's which I thought was amazing! After that unexpected find we moved onto the shark exhibition which was also fascinating! They even had a video of people tagging great white's at Port Lincoln with the company we went with for our cage dive! There were some terrible shark attack stories, and the debate rages on as to whether they are killing machines, or it's a case of mistaken identity when they attack! After that we made our way across the city to the National Art Gallery, where Ben wanted to see the exhibition of 'China's Entombed Warriors', the Terracotta army. However, when we got there it turned out that although entry to the gallery was free, it was $20 each to see that exhibition, and we weren't that fussed, so we looked at the art as we were there. We both enjoyed it more than we thought and felt we had had a very cultured day! We finished it off with a visit to the cinema as it was bucketing down and didn't fancy an evening in the tent. We saw No Strings Attached which was a great comedy chick flick that we both enjoyed!

Wednesday started off quite sunny and put all our washing going, as I was on my last pair of pants! However, once it was done and was hung up it began to spit with rain, typical! I left it and hoped for the best! Lucky we did, as when we got into Sydney the sun came out and we had a lovely day! We got a few bits from the supermarket and had a picnic in the botanical gardens, amongst the bats which were now sleeping upside down in the trees! We walked through the gardens to 'Mrs Macquaries Chair', the Govenors wife from a long time ago had a favourite sopt where she walked everyday and enjoyed the view. When we turned the corner we saw the huge cruise ship the Queen Mary II. It was absolutely huge! We walked to the Opera House and saw it up close. When you get to the front of it and walk up the steps towards it, it looks like 3 separate buildings. We went inside to the booking area, but couldn't see inside any of the theatres which was a shame. We headed back to the campsite in time for tea and an Aboriginal cultural show that is on every week. It was 2 aboriginal people that talked to us about their culture, beliefs, and how they use songs and dance to teach their children. It was brilliant and so interesting. I was so glad as it made up for the bad experience we had before! They did lots of dances for us, my favourite was the one about the kangaroo. They imitated a kangaroo, teaching their children the habits and behaviours of kangaroos so they would be good hunters when they grew up - they were VERY believable kangaroos!!! Ami and Pete arrived to stay at the campsite for a week, so after a skype with Mum, Dad and Emma we played cards and drank wine from a box, fondly known as the 'goon bag'. There were some rather friendly possums and a bandicoot that came out at night to rumage through the bins. Pete and Ben took to feeding them all sorts!