Sydney Day 7 - The last day

Well Sydney is sending us off with a wet, blustery day. Not deterred we head out…making sure not to utter the infamous words “It can’t rain ALL day” that doomed our visit to Salzburg back in 2006 (when it was proven that it can downpour ALL day). First we head to the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) for a closer look at the clock that features the beheading of King Charles I (dioramas complete with puppetry).

The Royal Clock. King Charles is beheaded every hour on the hour between 10 & 5.

Nice architecture for a shopping mall!

Then we dodged rain drops and headed towards the Harbour Bridge. It is quite a hike to get to the lookout located in the end pylon. We buy tickets and climb 200 stairs to the top – Jeff and I are pretty sure that we’re going to lose weight on this vacation. Although the wind is gusting at 40km (I think this qualifies as more than blustery) we take in the view of the harbor and suburb areas of Sydney. We are feeling sorry for the people who paid $238 each to do the bridge climb today (they cable you to the bridge and you can climb all the way to the top). As we’re standing on the lookout we can see what looks like a mist floating out of the city. It’s very eerie because there is this white mist rolling out between the buildings at rapid pace – then Jeff points at the water and we can see that its rain, and its approaching at breakneck speed. Steven bellows for his comrades (there is only us 5 up there) to ‘hold your ground’ – however rain flying in your face at 40km/hr really hurts so Kristen and I scurry back inside – followed by all the boys.

See the spooky mist? You can see the rain hitting the water too.

Luckily there are a lot of displays and history about the building of the bridge and by the time we’re ready to leave the rain has stopped. There is an outdoor market down in The Rocks today and we lunch on gigantic meatballs wraps, chicken tikkala wraps and steak sandwiches. I force everyone to take one last family picture in front of the Opera House on threat of being sent home. A kindly lady who admits she has a shaky hand agrees to take it for us. Adieu Sydney!

A few other things we’ve noticed in Australia:

• All the kids wear school uniforms, some include hats (it’s very cute)
• They have “McCafes” which are connected to McDonalds but is the Starbucks equivalent (in all things including price - $4.40 for a small Chai Tea Latte and $2.50 for a pretty small donut).
• In the convenience store a can of Coke was $1.99 while Fanta is considered “American soda” and cost $2.99/can
• They do not have a penny. They round up or down.
• Their tax is INCLUDED in the price – so the price you see is the price you pay! BRILLIANT (my new favourite word)! No surprises at the cash register.
• Their bills are ‘plasticized’ which means you can forget your money in your pocket and put it through the wash and it’s still there when you pull it out of the dryer.
• And…..they have started making plasticized bills for Canada which are targetted to start circulating later in 2011.