Mom and Dad's Trip - Part 3

Don't worry...I will cover more than just one day in this post!

After our crazy long day in the Blue Mountains, we slept in a little on Monday and took our time getting ready. We  had planned to head out to Manly Beach, but the weather wasn't cooperating very well, so we spent the afternoon in Darling Harbour instead.

Darling Harbour was PACKED with people everywhere. There were lines around the buildings for the Aquarium and Wildlife World, so I was glad we weren't planning on going there. We went to lunch at what we thought looked like a great little place. We had a table that was up a level, so could look out at all the happenings of Darling Harbour. I think my parents enjoyed their meal, but I made the mistake of ordering the fresh prawns (not called shrimp here, called prawns). So, I got this bowl of whole prawns, head, eyes and all. I don't have a problem with peeling prawns, but when I tried to take the heads off, their guts would pop out on me. YUCK! My parents were dying laughing at me and Mom kept saying that she wished she took of a picture of me with these things. So, needless to say, I have been a little hesitant to order prawns since then...

We spent some time just walking around and looking at everything...the boats, shops, gardens, fountains, etc...and then we went to the National Maritime Museum. We had a great time looking at all of the exhibits in there, especially one about the US and Australia naval relations and one about sharks. It was pretty crowded in there too and we had quite a few laughs and repeated how this one little boy exclaimed about the sharks for the rest of the trip. I obviously can't do an accent on here, but it kind of sounded like he was saying 'shocks' with a bit of a nasal cold. Hilarious!

I don't have many pictures from Darling Harbour...I think we took some on Mom's camera that day. But, here are a few...

We headed home from Darling Harbour late that afternoon and went to dinner at a great little Italian restaurant in my area.

On Tuesday, I went to work in the morning while Mom and Dad went out to breakfast and goofed around some in Kirribilli. In the afternoon, we caught the Manly Ferry out to Manly Beach! The ferry ride in itself is wonderful and I think Mom and Dad now agree with me that ferry is by far the best way to travel around the city! The Manly Ferry is about 3 times the size of the other ferries and it is a 30 minute ride to get there. The best part is when you pass the opening out into the ocean and the waves get pretty big, so the ferry gets a bit rocky! Here are Mom and Dad on the ferry...

We stopped for a snack when we got there and spent lots of time down by the water. It wasn't really warm enough to be laying out, but there were still quite a few surfers and some people taking a sea kayaking class...that was fun and funny to watch! We walked around some of the shops and then went back to the beach for more toe-dipping and people watching! It has been a really long time since Mom and Dad have been to a beach anywhere and it was really fun to watch them having so much fun there! We ended with a fun fish-n-chips dinner and then caught the ferry back.

I worked all day on Wednesday (booo), but Mom and Dad had a great day without me! They took the train into the city and started out with some shopping at the beautiful Queen Victoria Building. The walked around quite a bit in the main city center and then made their way down to the Opera House where they did that one hour tour that I did when I first got here. I think they loved it as much as I did! I got home from work to find them doing one of their favorite things...sitting on my balcony and watching the rainbow lorikeets that always come by!

As a surprise Christmas gift, I had gotten us tickets to go to a true Aussie show that night...Tap Dogs! It is a tap dancing show that was started by 6 steel workers in Australia in the 90's. It has been made into a movie and has toured the world...and last Wednesday night was their opening night back in the Capital Theatre in Sydney! This show was 80 minutes of heart pumping, fast paced, loud tap dancing using all sorts of props...steel beams and platforms, basketballs, water to name a few! We had so much fun getting dressed up and seeing a show in the big city!

Only 2 more days left of their wonderful visit here, so one more blog post coming!