Letter from A?Broad

Wednesday, 21 December 2011 11:26

Written by Editor

Dear News Readers,

So, where do I start? Well, the ‘plane ride from London to Sydney was predictable. Twelve-and-a-half hours, a drop down of 50 minutes.. .. then hours in a metal pencil case hurtling through the air at a height of stupid feet above the ground could never be described as pleasant! ( I suppose if you go first class it’s different but in “cattle class”…. Nah, it’s not nice at all.) But being fed a dry roll without butter with a couple of bits of sliced tomato and floppy cucumber because I can’t eat nuts was a bit bad – I’m only allergic to nuts, not food in general and, while everyone else was tucking into a beef with rice dish, I felt a bit put out. On the way back I’ll carry my own “grub” as they say here in Aus.

Anyway, our first four days were spent in Sydney where, on the first day, we walked all round taking in the famous Queen Victoria Building that is stuffed full of really good individual little shops and, underneath has a food hall where you could spend at least a couple of weeks and still not be able to eat at each outlet!  Then we were off to The Rocks, the area first developed by the early settlers coming to Sydney. Modern times see shops, restaurants and museums and it’s almost situated under the famous Sydney Bridge that they call the “coat hanger”, a fairly accurate description when you think about it.  The Sydney Opera House is a fabulous, if weird, design and for twenty dollars you can have a look round it on  a guided tour but, as we had seen inside twelve years ago when it was free, we didn’t bother and there were no concerts or recitals going on while we were there.

On our last day we took a boat trip with Cook’s Cruises over to the Sydney Zoo. It’s very well laid out but quite tiring to walk around – though they did have a “Wally Trolly” for those who wanted to use it for an extra four bucks, but you don’t get to hop-on-hop-off very often so, although you could probably see most of the animals, you couldn’t stand and watch, for instance, the seals playing for any amount of time. The Koalas were kept behind screens so the only way of  seeing them close up was to pay another 29 bucks to have a “photo opportunity” with them (they stood you in front of a Koala up a short tree and took your picture and, no, you didn’t get to cuddle one for your money). But if you stood on the wall and walked along it a bit, you could see over it and take all the photos you wanted, and one had a baby Koala with her, so that was good. The Wombats ( I love Wombats – no idea why, just do) were as usual asleep making their sonorous noises, and did nothing else at all. The zoo was great and the boat trip to and from it very interesting with all the views from the water of the bridge, Opera House and all the little bays along the route.

The following day….  

...The following day, Thursday, we boarded yet another aircraft for the journey from Sydney to Melbourne, just a one hour flight and so it seemed a very short time in the air. We were met at the airport by my husband’s brother, Stephen, and whisked off home to our lovely comfortable suite at their house in a Melbourne suburb where we had dinner of the best lamb we had eaten in a long time with salad and potato salad.

On Friday, we took the tram into Melbourne and strolled around Victoria Market for several hours, checked out the tourist site options and bought a three- day tram pass. In the evening we were treated to a show in the centre of the City – the sequel to Lloyd Webber’s Phantom. Called “Love Never Dies” the story continues where Phantom of the Opera left off. The Phantom, of course, did not die and Christine (the love interest) was lured back to a theatre, this time on Coney Island where he had been whisked away by his stalwart wardrobe mistress to avoid prosecution in Paris. He made a bet with her husband, Raoul, that he could get her to sing and, if he did, Christine would have to stay with the Phantom and Raoul would have to leave her and the little boy (who it turned out was really the son of the Phantom anyway) forever with him. I won’t tell you any more, other than the fact that, if it comes to Spain, it’s worth going to see but don’t expect to hear any of the old, much loved songs – they’re not in it.

So,….. Saturday came and it was the big birthday day. My husband turned 60 so we went for a ride on the famous Puffing Billy steam train to some lakes, had tea and cake then came back. The evening was a total surprise. Melbourne’s tram system also has restaurant trams. My husband had absolutely no idea where we were going until we got on the tram. It was decked out à la Orient Express and the food and service throughout the two- and-a-half hour trip was superb.

Today, Sunday, we have transferred to Sorrento and are here for a couple of days before returning to Melbourne for Christmas.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.