It was Friday and time to fly back to Sydney after our short trip to the Great Ocean Drive. We took our time and had a nice breakfast and took a short drive around Torquay once again. Then it was on to Geelong to see what it looked like. Gerry wanted to stop at a
"Spotlight" store to check it out and I guarded the car since I don't like to walk around stores unless I have something I want to buy. She decided the Spotlight store was similar to a Kmart and craft stores combined.
Saturday was a quiet day at Vivian & Patricks house. Gerry and Vivian went window shopping and checked out some of the beautiful homes in the area. Patrick and I went to a Harley Davidson shop to buy a shirt for a friend. The traffic on a Saturday was horrible and it took 45 minutes to drive there even though it was only a few miles. Patrick said it was the first time he was in a bike shop so I took him to a biker bar for a beer which was another first.
Sunday we got up early and toured Parramatta where Patrick grew up. Parramatta was where the original settlers moved to since it was good farmland and on a small river that lead to the Sydney harbor and then the ocean.
Old Government House
This convict-built Georgian house
and surrounds is a World Heritage site. It was the country residence
for the first 10 governors of NSW. Today it houses the nation’s premier
colonial furniture collection amongst parkland and other heritage sites.
Standing in 200 acres of
parkland overlooking historic Parramatta, the convict-built Old
Government House and garrison buildings were built in 1799-1816, the
oldest surviving public building in Australia. For seven decades, it was
the ‘country’ residence of ten early governors of the Colony, including
Gov. Lachlan and Mrs Macquarie who, from 1810 to 1821 preferred the
clean air and space of rural Parramatta to the unsanitary and crime
ridden streets of Sydney Town. |
| Vivian & Patrick |
We boarded the Rivercat ferry from Parramatta and took it to Darling Harbor dock area. The ride down there was very nice with beautiful homes on the cliffs, tons on sailboats, power boats and people out having a good time. The following pictures are just a few that we took on the ride down there.
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge |
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| Sydney Skyline |
We had lunch at a restaurant on the King St wharf and looked around the area for a while before departing back to Parramatta on the ferry. By the time we got back to the house we were all worn out and took it easy the rest of the afternoon.
That was our last few days, hope you enjoyed yours as much as we did ours.
Beautiful photos of a lovely city.
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