Sydney is a fantastic city. We spent a few days in Manly, by the north head of the harbour. We spent one day walking around North Head, which is part of the national park that flanks the harbour.
North Head has an interesting military history, abundant fauna (I spied a gowana and another dragon like reptile out sunning themselves), poignant remnants of the hardships faced by new migrants (quarantine station, and accompanying graveyard – a beautiful place to be buried, but far from home for many).
We also saw whales skirting the mouth of the harbour.
We caught up with Sean O’Connell and Azri, and got a great insight into Australian politics. Intense discussions over dinner. 
The next few days we visited our old neighbours from Auckland – the Rouvrays, who also live in the North Shore of Sydney. Our stay in their house ranged from swimming in their pool on a warm Winter sunny afternoon, to the most amazing continuous blanket lightening on the evening before we left…..with generous hospitality, great conversation and delight with the kids meeting each other again, in between!
We took a ferry into the city, gliding past the Sydney Opera house on the water, under the watch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and spent the day enjoying exploring the Rocks, walking the Bridge, visiting the Contemporary Art Gallery.
Daniel and I even had a date night (thanks to the Rouvrays kindly minding Ilona and Tadhg!) – we went to an Art House cinema in the eaves of the Opera House, where we saw “Last taxi to Darwin”. At least I saw the Australian desert on screen!
Ilona randomly bumped into an old classmate from her 2nd year at school, in Luna Park. Bizarre! Lots of colour and fluster!
We got a most unique perspective of Bondi Beach – I guess very few visitors get to see the iconic beach so empty and with torrential rain! It didn’t deter the surfers. For what it’s worth, I preferred Manly beach to Bondi!