Mom's Visit - Part 1 - Mom Starts to Explore Manly and Sydney

My dear mother was able to visit recently. Her three-week stay was jam-packed with activity. She arrived Easter Weekend, during which we enjoyed the famous Sydney Easter Show (a cross between the Royal Winter Fair (horse, other animal and agricultural/horticultural shows, competitions and exhibits of all kinds) and the Canadian National Exhibition (midway, exhibit buildings (but much worse than in Toronto...they could use some improvement in Sydney), fashion shows, etc.), an Easter Sunday visit to the beautiful Botanic Gardens and lunch in the Gardens' Restaurant, overlooking the gardens, St. Mary's Cathedral and Hyde Park (Hyde Park will be featured at another time in the blog).

During her first week, Mom was also able to get her first taste of life on the edge...of the sea. Australia does a fabulous job of using gentle coastlines to build "natural swimming pools", allowing those wanting to swim without fear of crashing waves and strong currents to enjoy the therapeutic salt water in shallower pools bordered by natural rock and landscape. Mom also benefited from a much warmer-than-typical Fall, and caught the last bit of lovely climate before winter arrived. At the date of this posting, it has become quite chilly and downright cold in the mornings and evenings.

We had fun hanging out in Manly and Sydney. Mom thought taking the ferry back and forth from Manly to Sydney was excursion enough sometimes, but that didn't stop us from spending even more time in the Harbour than was necessary, taking advantage of a sunset dinner cruise one night. We were amused at how efficiently dinner was served during the 90-minute cruise, the result of cruise organizers attempting to ensure guests enjoyed the sun sinking into the horizon as much as possible. The all-you-can drink wine was a nice touch, too...

OK, I promise, no more pictures of the Opera House! For now, at least.