August 27th, 28th 2005 – The Weekend

After another early wakeup we decided to catch the sunrise from Circular Quay. On route we happened to stumble across the Rocks Market being set up for the weekend and got very excited at the prospect of fresh food. Without the bustle of the tourists it was really peaceful looking across the bay to the Opera House. We were headed to the Botanical gardens and after a quick bite for breakfast and a paper bag lunch were off, laptop in hand. Although it was a dreary morning, we settled ourselves on a quaint rock and bench for Laure to type her blog entry, while I flipped through a Sydney tour book for further inspiration about where to live and what to do. No calls on the mobile yet. The picture is from a parc bench in the gardens looking back towards the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. We walked around the point through hoards of Asian tourists all with cameras nicer than mine and then off through town to explore Darling harbor. Although rather gimmicky with its flare, Darling seemed a younger and livelier crowd than Circular Quay and we decided that we’d head over to Ultimo to re-evaluate signing a lease. On our way we caught a glimpse of Paddy’s market and were sold on the new neighborhood. Aside from the market, the Broadway mall was our new favorite spot, complete with a blockbuster and k-mart. Unfortunately, still no luck with the free wireless access, the coffee shops have wireless zones but they require a service provider to get any further than a home page. We loaded up with fresh vegetables and beef for a cheap meal and headed home for yet another jet lag induced nap before dinner.
Sunday was a well deserved break from our normal routine of scouring the city running errands. We spent all morning relaxing in the Botanical Gardens on a beautiful Sydney morning with our books in hand. The sailboats were off the point and the sun-tanners, joggers and tourists were out in numbers. Not to forget the birds. For lunch we hit one of the cities many food courts and then stumbled across a movie theater and decided to catch a flick – Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Laure was really excited as apparently there are not to many cinemas in Madagascar! We splurged on a nice Chinese restaurant on the edge of China Town and meandered back to our home in the Rocks.