BurbleChaz

We drove the wonderful Prius from the Hunter valley through low cloud and thunderstorms. The journey was largely uneventful except for some geographical inexactitue in Sydney. The famous bridge is paired with a tunnel. To get to the airport from the north, you have to go under the river. "Sod that", we said, and swerved across four lanes towards the bridge exit. The road signage in Sydney was obviously outsourced to someone with no map of the city, and precious little understanding of what a road is, so we swerved back five lanes with the rest of the traffic. The drive across the bridge is awe-inspiring. It's vast industrial structure is overwhelming. Well worth the $3 toll.

I might have made a teensy error in my dead-reckoning run from the bridge to the airport road, and we found ourselves getting a bonus trip across the bridge in the other direction. Oh well. Eventually, I managed to turn the car round, and we took the tunnel to the airport. Over 400kms the car used 18 litres of fuel. I was disappointed to return it with more charge in the battery than when we hired it. That's my energy - I'd paid for it.

We took the train into the city and the ferry to our hotel. We had a lovely evening around The Rocks, ending with an excellent Chateaubriand overlooking the Opera House and harbour. We like Sydney.

On Monday we had breakfast at our favourite cafe, and spent the morning on ferries, looking at the harbour. In the afternoon we hunted down the colony of flying foxes for some photography before heading back to the airport.

This morning, our wine was delivered to the office. The Chardonnay is on ice right now. Full tasting notes can wait.

Helo in the Shiraz vines.