18^th August, 2013 – Sydney, NSW, Australia

Alan and I decided to take a holiday from Sulana, with a five-day trip to Sydney, staying in a fabulous hotel (the Shangri-La) overlooking the harbour and the magnificent opera house.  We managed to get tickets for La Traviata and had a wonderful evening, complete with a meal on the opera house terrace. Alan was keen to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge walk and was a little disappointed to find the walk he ended up on didn’t go all the way to the top on the outside of the structure, but was achieved instead by scrambling through the British-built steelwork. He nevertheless enjoyed the experience and of course, the views.  While out walking one day in the CBD (Central Business District for the uninitiated!) Alan spotted Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant, tucked away among some very ordinary office buildings. We tried to book a table but were told they didn’t accept bookings; you had to come along and just wait for a table – so we did. The interior was very “industrial” with bare bricks, visible pipes and ducts and utilitarian fixtures and fittings but we didn’t have to wait long and the food and service were everything we hoped and expected. It was a real treat and has made us determined to seek out more of his restaurants.

August 23, 2013 – Back on board Sulana we were re-joined by Will, looking in need of a holiday to recover from the action-packed three week holiday he’d had in New Zealand.

August 24, 2013 – Alan and Will went diving off the Great Barrier Reef’s Saxon Reef, the highlight of which was coming face to face with a huge green turtle. That night there was a firework display in the marina – we didn’t know what it was in aid of but enjoyed it nonetheless, although it wasn’t as good as the Cowes’ one!