... and Sydney just got worse!!!

No hope for continuing to update images for the Australia photo-pack to day unless I expand my section on the weather (in Australia Here we Come - a photo pack for 5 to 9 year olds) to include something on needing your umbrella.

The morning was absolutely foul so we decided to go down to Circular Quay to spend the morning in the Contemporary Art Galley. We've enjoyed the gallery in the past but on arrival today the only thing available was the Annie Leibovitz exhibition which I doubt would have been my first choice (I've always felt irritated by her arrogance). Well I'm really pleased we went. The exhibition was a mixture of personal and professional and was stunning and I love the way she's chosen to interweave these. There were huge landscape images - I particularly liked Wadi Rum though wasn't so taken by one or two others. I was very moved by her formal portrait of her mother, which she says neither her mother or family liked (everyone always had to smile in family portrait). If you get chance go see it. It's well worth the $12 (or was it $15!)

Read the review in the Sydney Morning Herald

Our fun didn't end there however! We had been persuaded by the lovely (and deliberately very `camp') Sebastien who was on the desk at the apartment, to catch the airport shuttle. We'd originally intended to catch the train and deliberately chosen accommodation relatively close to the station so we could walk. Well the driver was thirty minutes late and we then haired round Sydney in the rain picking up other passengers before eventually setting off for the airport. Next time we will definitely follow our usual routine and get the train to the airport from Gosford - no stopping off in Sydney on the way!

At the airport I needed to report some damage to my case on the way out (the zip was damaged on the corner and came apart when I tried unzipping it) - though this was probably a wasted effort as apparently you need to report these things in writing within seven days!! (... and I'd had quite enough other things to sort out at the start of the holiday - like bank cards which had been blocked (I did tell the bank where I was going!) and our holiday shack that smelt of years of neglect!

Well we made the plane departure lounge shortly before boarding commenced though we had very little time to calmly embrace the airport atmosphere before setting off.