While Zoe was staying with us we took the train down to Sydney to see Vivid, where selected buildings have magnificent light shows played on them after dark for a few weeks. We set off early to make a day of it and, instead of taking the train all the way into Circular Quay, we got off a couple of stops short and walked in over the Harbour Bridge. The views from up there are sensational though I imagine the brave people we saw setting off on the bridge climb would see even more. These little groups of climbers can be seen all the time if you look carefully at the bridge. They are not easy to pick out because they have to wear boiler suits which make them blend in with the bridge so as not to distract drivers. I have the greatest respect for them, my knees turn to jelly just walking across on the footpath.
Ian has been set the challenge of finding us a different bit of Sydney to look at every time we go and this time he chose Barangaroo Point Park. This is a new park that has been developed on the harbour in an area which used to be home to old freight docks, the rest of the space is going to be taken up by a massive Crown Casino complex, but the park is delightful. It is a really peaceful place to walk, cycle or just eat your sandwiches and watch the boating activity on the harbour. They have made a marvellous job of it, planting the whole area with native trees and shrubs, it is a really neat addition to Sydney Harbour.
We shuffled back to Circular Quay via the Botanic Gardens, which are always worth a visit, and got ourselves into position with a Hungry Jack's in hand to wait for Vivid to start (Hungry Jack's is what Burger King is called here).
Vivid was good last year but even better this time. The display on the Opera House took about 20 minutes to get through its full cycle, my favourite bit was when the, astonishingly 3D, turtles were walking across it. The Museum of Contemporary Art was incredible too with blobby paint in all different colours cascading down the building, the pictures don't really do it justice.
After a visit to the Hunter Valley the next day, Zoe flew back to Melbourne and we settled down to study for our boat licence test. We bough a boat a few weeks ago (Bunny II, Ian's family had Bunny I when he was a child) but have not felt up to taking it out until we passed the theory part of our test. The boat licence test has two elements, theory then three trips out with an experienced skipper (anyone who has held a NSW boat licence for two years or more).
We were surprisingly nervous about the test and set off to the Marine Rescue headquarters with mounting trepidation, it was ok though, we both passed. You can take your boat out before gaining a licence but cannot go above 10 knots, so we ventured out for the first time this week to get the hang of the controls so we don't look like complete idiots when we go out with the experienced skipper assessing us.
It didn't go too badly. We chose a quiet time midweek when we thought nobody would see us making fools of ourselves at the boat ramp but, of course, it turned out to be surprisingly busy so we had a small, amused audience. We managed to launch it without too many dramas or arguments and took a slow trip up the creek and back. When we came to put it back on the trailer (a procedure we were secretly dreading) one of our neighbours appeared from nowhere walking his dog, so we had an audience for that too! It was all fine however, and we are now confident we will be up to speed by the time our friend Eddie and his son Archie come to visit from England in August.