We are finding the pollution in Sydney a challenge. On my walk this morning I felt like I was chewing on it. Each breath was thick air with crumbs. It’s hard to explain but it stinks and leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. 
We left in plenty of time to get to the airport to meet Corrie who was flying up from Melbourne to spend a couple of days with us. She is in Australia to visit Ray’s Dad and its so good that we can return some of the hospitality that she showed us when we visited Holland a few years ago. Although, Corrie put us up in a hotel there and here she will get the left wing of the caravan. Hard to compare!
Corrie’s plane was 30 minutes late but it wasn’t long before we were all reunited and leaving the airport. Ray slipped easily into speaking Dutch with Corrie and I struggled to keep up my understanding of what they were saying. Corrie speaks English very well, as most Dutch people do, and they both tend to flip flop between both languages so it is not too hard to understand what they are on about. Dutch children learn English at Primary School so any Dutch person we have met either here or in Holland, family or strangers can speak English. So, I’ve always been ok! 
We made our way back towards the city, cutting through the traffic and pollution and not enjoying a minute of it. We parked at the entertainment centre because “Google” said it was the cheapest place to park. After paying $44 when we returned to the car we got a lesson in not believing everything that you read on the internet! 
We headed for something to eat at one of the cafes on Darling Harbour. As Corrie says, ” Australians always want to eat and they eat too much!” After lunch we caught a ferry around the Harbour to Circular Quay. We travelled under the Harbour Bridge taking in the sights. The Opera House is magnificent seen from the water and we weren’t the only tourists taking photos and expressing our thoughts. There were a couple of cruise ships in the Harbour waiting to depart, now that’s a way to holiday! 
After a scrumptious icecream and a look inside the Opera House we realised that we had really walked a lot as our feet were really sore. We felt sorry for Corrie who wasn’t used to all this walking and so we headed back to the ferry. 
There was so much more to see and we didn’t even touch the iceberg of tourist haunts to explore. Luckily, we have another 8 days here and at least Corrie got to see the main Sydney attractions. What seemed to impress her most was the huge water park and playground right in the hustle and bustle of Darling Harbour. It is a wonderful facility for families and we sat and watched as Caleb played. Ahhhh! Our feet thanked us. 
Back at the van we sat and talked enjoying some cheese and crackers. The Dutch are known for their magnificent cheeses so I thought I would be safe stocking up on a few. We had planned a good old Aussie BBQ for dinner but as Corrie said ” Australians always want to eat and they eat too much!” I quickly fried some eggs which we had on toast, ate some cake that Corrie had bought in town, and shared some nut toffee with coffee. Patting our rounded tummies, we had to agree with her. We always want to eat and we eat too much!