Being only a short hop from Sydney we decided to take a closer look at the Big Merino sheep from last night. It is attached to a very nice gift shop specialising in wool products (not surprisingly). From the shop you can walk up inside the sheep and look through is eyes at the traffic below. Very spooky.
We then went to the bakery next door and started to enjoy a leisurely breakfast drinking coffee, eating pastries and reading the paper when Nicola suddenly realised the time was 11:00. We still had a good 2 hour drive into Sydney, drop off the luggage at the apartment we had rented and get the car across the city to Hertz for 14:00. Bloody hell!
We set off making a mental note not to stop off ANYWHERE with the weather getting steadily worse and significant spray from the rain making driving awkward.
Reading the map it became apparent that Sydney had a number of toll roads and being from Yorkshire (definition: a Scotsman with every ounce of generosity squeezed out) we made the unspoken commitment to take avoiding action. This of course made the journey longer and navigation nearly impossible.
At 13:47 and still being 7km from the city Nicola rang the car hire to make the lame excuse that we were trying very hard to make the deadline but were stuck in traffic and could we have an extension. Luckily the woman on the other end was very understanding and helped navigate us into the maze of one-way streets (too tight to hire a SatNav). We arrived at 14:05. Phew.
We have driven a total of 2,562 km from Adelaide.
A short taxi ride saw us decamp our bags into the handy abandoned supermarket trolley at our apartment 15 minutes later.
The place is very central on the 19th floor (Debby, my vertigo is starting to subside) with great views across the city and great facilities. Ah well at least I have my parachute to make a swift exit if things get sticky.
Breaking news - just writing the blog for the day, listening to the newly acquired 'Santana' CD and we have been treated to a nearby firework display. Awesome.