Final Post of this trip, March 1st Skipton

So that's it we have arrived back home after nearly five weeks we are back in sunny Skipton.

We spent our last two days in Sydney, having driven back from Avalon on Thursday morning over the famous Harbour Bridge, what a nightmare trying to navigate to the car hire return address in the middle of town. That evening we had a very special time, started with dinner at Doyles on Circular Quay, you can see Sue in front of the restaurant

and then it was off to the Opera House concert hall where Sue had managed to book tickets in the Sydney Opera House for Ashkenazy’s opening concert as new resident conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, it was Mid Summer Nights Dream but a very avant guard production with a cast of actors performing Shakespeare’s play of the same name. It was an interesting experience to say the least we had a lovely time, when we came out in an open air bar by the Quay there was live jazz from a Stephan Grapelly type group so we had to stay for an hour and enjoy that too.

Friday was reunion day, for lunch we met up with Katheryn and Andy, two friends we met on the Oriana so we went back to the Fish market for oysters and sushi and in the evening it was a reunion with with the honeymooners, Tony and Anne Hibberdine who's wedding we had attended the day before we flew out. They had just arrived on a different cruise from South America so as our wedding present we took them for dinner at the top of the Sydney Tower, a revolving restaurant similar to the London Post Office Tower. While the food was only average the views were splendid as you can see.

Saturday after a last breakafast at La Renaissance, our favourite French Cafe anywhere in the world, we set off on the long journey home. Virgin to Honk Kong and from there to Heathrow. It would have been more enjoyable if we could have travelled business class but P&O only offered "lepper" class and we would have liked two seats at the side of the aircraft but the luck of the draw saw us in a row of four and next to the toilet for 24 hours so that took the edge of our sleeping plans. Nevermind it's been a wonderful trip and we hope all our friends and relatives who have followe dour adventures have enjoyed reading it nearly as much as we did.

Another blog when we set sail again