When I arrived in Australia, I had left my main suitcase in (paid) storage at Sydney Airport & gone on to the Gold Coast with just my strolley.

On arriving back in Sydney, one of the first things I found out was that my lock was jammed. It was working fine at the airport when I transferred my liquid makeup from there to the strolley. It was a tiny little silly lock that thieves could have easily picked if they wanted to, so the whole jamming thing was a mystery. Nick however solved my problem instantly with the help of a few men tools.

Sunday morning Sim & I got up nice and early & headed down to church for Mass. It happened to be Palm Sunday, so we got to witness the procession as well as get out own palms.

After Mass, Sim took me out for breakfast before heading back home to get ready to head down to Coogee Beach.

After basking in what ozzies consider “Such glorious weather!” we headed down to ‘Cafe Ristorante‘, a lovely Italian Restaurant just off the beach. Met up with several people in Sim & Nick’s clan. Was somehow terribly noisy that day in the restaurant - so naturally we did what we ought to - we talked even more loudly over everyone else’s voice.

* Lunch (& dessert, I must add) was very good.
* The company was even better.
* The super-duper-gorgeous waiter who struck up a conversation (for about 15 minutes while we were waiting to get in) about Hard Rock Cafe with me (I was wearing a ‘Cabo San Lucas‘ T) - priceless.

I shall take you all around the table in photographs now:

After lunch digestion was by the beach:

Where I for the first time discovered “beach pools”!

The pool (see pic above) at Coogee was once called the ‘Giles Hot Sea Baths & Swimming Pools’ and was for “men only” when it opened, way back in 1929. Now the point has been renamed ‘Dolphin Point’. The pools apparently are used by kids & adults alike who want to swim in sea water without the danger of tides.

Anyway, we headed back home for evening tea before Sim & Nick decided to give me a tour by car of every place in Sydney all in one night. I was by this point quite tired and I honestly don’t remember half of where they took me! I remember them saying, “this is CBD”, “this is Oxford Street”, “this is blah”, zzzzz, “this is blah”…. wha-huh??

What I do remember was my very very very first view of the Harbour Bridge - and yes, of the Opera House. Just like I remember the first time I saw the Taj Mahal. There are some moments in life where you just don’t breathe for a second because they really are so breath-takingly beautiful.

We also drove over the Harbour Bridge (who would have thunk to use it as a bridge?!) & saw the sunset from a beautiful point at the other side of the CBD.

A beautiful end to an amazingly beautiful day.