Tourists in Sydney and the Trip Back

We began our touring by walking to Darling Harbour again. We passed by this enclosed Chinese garden, which charged admission for entry, so we didn’t go inside. It looked pretty neat though.

Walking along the Tumbalong Park. That whole building is crawling with restaurants on the ground floor.

The hotel breakfast was by far the worst breakfast we had the entire trip, and the coffee machine looked pathetic. So, I requested a mocha pit-stop, and was duly rewarded by some good stuff. Pro-tip: Black coffee is called a ‘long black’ in Australia.

There was a big really nice looking playground right there, with about as many adults supervising the kids as the kids themselves. Oh, I’ve been spoiled by living in Iceland where there’s nary an adult in sight by most playgrounds.

Hello there, west side of Darling Harbour.

Hello there, east side of Darling Harbour.

Building cranes galore! Also, that’s the highway we ate under the evening before.

Walking along the sea.

Weird tower thing. With escalators.

We were pretty happy!

Oh, look! Financial sector buildings. Yay.

Buying some sunscreen… and a selfie-stick!

I got myself a hat. That sun was fierce!

Gulli trying out his selfie-stick while Sævar documents.

Onwards…

Quite a collection of sea-faring vessels.

We decided to hunt down a bike-rental, and lucked out because we found out via the wonderful internet that we were right by one. And would you look at those bike-lanes!

The bike-shop, marked by green signs.

There was some drooling.

The bike-rental was in the basement. To where there is no elevator.

In the basement. We placed our order, and then the bikes got carried upstairs for us.

Gulli used the opportunity to road-test a saddle he was considering buying.

And off we went! This is the amount of asphalt that leads on and off the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

We took a quick detour before crossing the bridge, and stopped up on a hill overlooking it.

It was the kind of hill where bridal parties come to be photographed.

We then biked over the big bridge. I didn’t stop on the way over, it sort of freaked me out.

There was a market going on besides the roadway.

Market!

We biked over that!

The other direction. We decided to double back and go to the edge of the water for some touristing.

Would you look at that!!?!

Sweet! And flipped left-to-right.

The view slightly to the side.

Boats!

We weren’t the only tourists…!

I’m guessing those are the locals.

We biked on, under the bridge.

Not the best crop ever, but oh well. That boat was in a hurry!

There was a carnival on the other side of the bridge, as well as a swimming pool with those weird windows for peeking in.

That’s a large bridge. They have walking tours where you walk along the big arches.

The carnival had a Ferris wheel.

We biked up the steep hill back to the market, and stopped by at the Friendly Grocer’s to get some liquids.

That stairwell on the wall is where we got off the bike-way that goes over the bridge.

Time to go back over.

Quick photo-stop.

We biked around and made our way towards the Opera House. As we got closer, the amount of people increased dramatically.

Such stereotypical tourists we are.

Oh, look, humongous ship!

A smaller ship.

We made it!

Oh yeah, because what this house needs, is more photos of it!

Looking around.

With that, it was time to bike back to the bike-store, return the bikes, and walk back to the hotel. We then wheeled our bags to the car, drove to the airport, and returned our mostly trusty car.

… and here we go again!

The first (7-8 hours) flight passed fairly quickly. I spent a good amount of time chatting to a lovely Australian girl who was about to go and be a swim teacher in Japan, and then napped for a bit. The stopover in Singapore only lasted for an hour, during which time I managed to use the restroom, walk around a bit, and notify Finnur that I was indeed still alive. I then lucked out and managed to sleep for about half of the 14 hour flight to London, albeit getting up every 2-3 hours to get blood running again in my poor sad butt and thighs. I even manged to use the airline-issued toothbrush and super-cute toothpaste.

Cattle class. Sigh.

We had an access card to a lounge at Heathrow. Sadly, I had to venture outside for a decent mocha.

The free food was pretty decent though.

People checking the status of their flights.

Going from the A gates to the B gates of terminal 2 requires you to travel underneath the airport.

It’s not a short trip.

What a sight for sore eyes!

I slept through pretty much the entire three hour flight to Iceland, in spite of being surrounded by a gaggle of 16 year old girls on a school ski trip to the US.

I can (sort of!) see my house!

Getting close!

Oh look, who’s that!

Cuddle time!