As we hadn’t yet been over to Balmoral beach we decided to start our last full day with a walk over there and then to Darling Harbour to visit the Maritime Museum.  It was about a half-hour walk up the hill to the main street then down the even steeper hill to the beach.  On the way we admired the many different styles of very expensive houses in Mosman.  The day was overcast with a few spits of rain.  After arriving at the beach and noting the two apartment blocks named ‘Banchory’ and ‘Braemar’ we walked around the swimming lagoon, noting the shark net enclosing the entire structure.  As we’d recently been hearing about the two shark attacks at Cid Harbour, where we had been anchored just a couple of weeks ago, we took special notice.  After a very nice coffee at the harbour cafe we took another route back and then headed for the ferry.

We took the train to the Town Hall stop, the closest to Darling Harbour and, while John explored the Endeavour replica at the Maritime Museum, Fi explored the shops at the big shopping centre.

The replica of the Endeavour is as close as you could get to the original and it has made many impressive voyages in its own right.  The living conditions on board are pretty much as they would have been on Captain Cook’s original (i.e very cramped) but with less than half the number of people that he’d have had.

After a good look around the Endeavour John explored the HMAS Onslow, a diesel-electric submarine built at Greenock in 1969, while Fi waited patiently.  And then it was back to Mosman on the ferry to buy a microwave dinner from the IGA and start packing.  Tomorrow we start our journey home after a fantastic three months in this wonderful country.  We\ll stop for three days in Singapore and be home on Saturday 29th.

A selection of Mosman houses

Note the name of this apartment block!

Balmoral Beach swimming lagoon

The National Maritime Museum

Replica of the Endeavour - a very blunt bow, originally a collier.

Not much room below decks

Officer’s cabin

The Captain’s cabin