The view from Circular Quay. A place I had only know from song lyrics previously. “And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay I looked at the place where my legs used to be And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me To grieve and to mourn and to pity.” Waltzing Matilda by Eric Bogle (covered by the Pogues May, 1984)
I flew to Sydney this morning morning on the 08.50 from Auckland which arrived neatly at 08.50 ins Sydney (3hrs time difference between Auckland and Sydney). This is my first time in Sydney and I don’t know what I was expecting but I discovered that Sydney is a proper city sharing the good features of Auckland (i.e. a harbour and good climate) with the madness of London. The city centre reminds me of New York, very tall buildings jammed intogether with a grid pattern street layout and lots of traffic and people. I drop my bags off at the Hotel (a rather swish Sydney Hilton) and head down to Circular Quay where I take a ferry to Manly in search of John Hinton (my brother-in-law Aled William’s mentor when he played for Manly RFC many moons ago).
Manly Rugby Union Club, Sydney.
It’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I quickly find the rugby club. There are only four people in the bar (betting on the horse racing) one of them is indeed John Hinton.
John Hinton originally from the Mumbles, Swansea and Charman Manly RFC.
I introduce myself and have a beer with him and talked about all things Welsh. Originally from Mumbles, John played for Neath and Swansea in seventies. He is now president of Manly RFC and has a pile-driving company (Aled worked for him when he was out here). Apparently, Aled went by the nickname of ‘Prince’ while he was out here – no, not as the heir to the throne of the ‘King’ Barry John but after the diminutive pop star from the 80s & 90s. John seemed genuinely glad to meet me and, as the only person I know in Sydney, I was glad to see him too.
Sunday afternoon on Manly beach.
I then head to Manly beach before catching the ferry back to Circular Quay. The Sydney Hilton has a great Gym and Swimming Pool so I do 50 lengths before spending the rest of the morning sorting out my conference presentation.
With the flies at Bondi.
In the afternoon I jump on a bus to Bondi beach which is a sweeping bay of golden sand and reliable surf 5 miles from the city centre. It is very urban and a little bit seedy and there are lots of people on the beach, but from what I could make out from the accents, not many Australians.
I take a dip in the sea, bob up and down a bit in the surf and then try to relax with my book on the beach but couldn’t. The flies are too annoying – apparently Bondi is particularly bad in the summer. My plan to read my book on the beach all afternoon is cancelled after less than ten minutes and I catch the bus back back to town.
The next day is conference day but as the conference does not start to until the afternoon so I make a beeline for the Sydney Harbour bridge to do the bridge climb. At the highest point you are 150m above the sea. The flags on the bridge, which look like postage stamps from down below, are actually very large (5m x 10m) and while its a hot still day down at ground level there is a good stiff breeze to keep us cool at the top of the climb where the views are panoramic. The bridge was built between 1928 and 1932 and when finished was the tallest structure in Sydney. The most impressive thing to my mind is the forward-thinking which saw a bridge built of such scale that it is still fit for purpose seventy five years later despite the cities massive growth.
An all expenses trip to Sydney for an hour of my peculiar brand of wisdom.
In the afternoon I meet up with the conference organisers to run though my presentation with them – they seemed happy so that was good.
Day 2 of the conference and my turn to present. The audience is about 150-strong and my presentation is well received, I’m hoping to be invited to present at other conferences if it means a free trip and accommodation in other interesting places!! In the evening there was a ‘gala dinner’ at at Pier One, a spectacular location just below the harbour bridge.
Wednesday and day 3 of the conference. At lunch time I duck-out and go for a swim at an open-air 50m pool adjacent to Sydney Harbour bridge on the other side of the harbour. Again a very impressive location, this pool probably lays claim to being the pool with the best location that I have swam in. Late afternoon when the conference is over I jumped on a train the go to the Blue Mountains (about 2hrs outside Sydney). The Blue Mountains is a national park with impressive ravines, bush and far reaching views. I only have a couple of hours to look around and then head back to Sydney.
I check my flight details and discover that my flight left that morning. Oops! I find a £120 flight back to Auckland leaving Thursday morning to recover the situation.
A grand few days in Sydney and, if this is the average experience of presenting at conferences, it is definitely good to talk.
NewZealandly 