Sydney: sun, sea creatures, Sloan and Sadie!

How's that title for an alliteration? It does sum up much of our first full day here in Australia's biggest, busiest city. Charlotte and I arrived yesterday afternoon after a challenging flight. Tired but relieved, we got to the apartment around 4:30 pm. After trying unsuccessfully to get Charlotte to nap (she hadn't had her regular 3 hour afternoon sleep), all three of us headed out to Circular Quay to check out some of the sights. It was hot, windy and busy, but we hustled along with the crowds and managed to see some sights before heading back to the apartment to eat supper and get the little one to bed. We were up before Charlotte this morning (Friday) and awoke to a warm, sunny morning. It was 25C by 8 am, so we knew we were in for a hot one. Soon after getting up, Charlotte and I were off to the Sydney Aquarium (Neale wasn't able to join us because it was a work day for him), which is conveniently a 10 minute walk from the apartment. We arrived shortly after it opened and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. We saw a huge crocodile, thoousands of fresh- and salt- water fish, sea horses, jellyfish, fairy penguins, sharks, huge manta rays, turtles, and although we tried desperately to see the resident platypus, we weren't patient enough to wait for him / her to emerge from it's hiding spot. The best part was the "oceanarium" which was a section of the aquarium that had us walking through an enclosure that had sea life all around us - above, on both sides and underneath. This was the part where we saw the biggest creatures - 20 foot sharks, manta rays that were 2 meters across, giant logger-head turtles - it was amazing. Charlotte was very interested in the exhibits and sat contentedly in her stroller for almost 2 hours. For those of you who know her well, that is almost unheard of for her! It really was an impressive sight, and I hope the pictures do it justice. I'll be sure to post some soon.
After finishing up at the aquarium, Charlotte and I carried on along Sydney's famous harbour to Darling Harbour. Despite it's posh reputation, we were disappointed with it's lack of interesting sights, so we carried on home. By the time we reached the apartment we were tired and sweltering, so we headed downstairs to the pool and went for a nice refreshing swim. After that it was back upstairs for lunch and Charlotte's nap.
After Charlotte woke up, she and I headed out to Manly to visit Kathy Donnelly and her twins, Sloane and Sadie. We took the ferry from Circular Quay (30 minute ride) and met Kathy at the Manly wharf to walk back to their place in Queenscliff. They treated us to a great barbecue, and the three girls entertained each other well in to the evening. The skies lit up with lightening around 7pm, so we quickly packed up to head back to Sydney, trying to beat the rain. We got a little wet on the walk to the ferry, but Charlotte was a trooper and didn't even make a peep. Now we're home, Charlotte's been asleep for almost an hour, and we're looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow . . .

Neale here, It has been nice to have Kate and Charlotte in Sydney to see the sights. I think I have taken this beautiful city for granted as it has been a pretty stressful stretch as far as work is concerned. You really need to stop and look up at all the beautiful old buildings and appreciate it and I have not done much of that in the last 10 weeks. Greg and I drove to Manly at about 5 oclock today and were greeted by a course of "daddies" from the 3 girls. Kathy prepared a very nice dinner as the girls ran around the apartment and we watched the surfers enjoy some pretty nice sized waves. I would like to give the surfing a go, but those who know me, know that water and I do not get along to well. I may not have a choice as the it is early summer, and we may need to use the ocean to keep cool. We are hoping to go to the zoo tomorrow as we have heard very good things about the Sydney zoo. It is about a 5 minute ferry ride from Circular Quay. Circular Quay is about a 5 minute walk from our apartment and you can catch a ferry to all the main spots from there. Yesterday when Charlotte and Kate arrived, we walked down to to circular quay which is also very close to the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera house. It was very windy but Charlotte loved running on the vast concrete fields that surround the opera house. We got a few pictures with Charlotte running with the bridge in the background. On the other side of the Harbor, you can see #42 Wallaby Way which is famous from a certain movie for having a denist office in it - can anybody name the movie? Think children's genre. We'll post pictures soon.