Bondi Beach and Luna Park -- A Day in Sydney, Part II

Our time in New Zealand was spent in the company of the approximately 25,000 Brits who were there as rugby fans of the New Zealand vs England/Scotland/Ireland/Wales matches.  The number 25,000, while spread  out, means that while we were travelling in the slow season, we were always surrounded by tourists, most of them wearing matching red jackets and discussing the first match defeat, and preparing for the second match.  We also managed to time our trip so that we all began in Auckland, and spent the week en route to Wellington.  We left before the second match (a win for Britain), so we missed some of the excitement, but we can safely say that the pubs were doing a booming business.  There was a bit of a scandal due to the high prices on everything in Wellington.  Either an example of the law of supply and demand, or and example of price gauging, depending on your point of view.

At any rate, we enjoyed our week in New Zealand, but didn’t find any job prospects and didn’t seek asylum (can't say I wasn't tempted!), so we returned to Australia on Friday afternoon, following a morning at the national museum.  Saturday was our last full day with Jake, who had to return to work, so we spent the day seeing more of Sydney’s iconic sites.  Despite it being mid-winter, we ventured out to Bondi Beach, where the surf was up, but the only people in the water seemed to be tourists and their instructors.  The best part of the beach was the farmer’s market nearby, truly one of the best markets I’ve been in.  It was only about 10:45, and we had already eaten not only breakfast but also a mid-morning snack, but that didn’t stop us from buying both lunch and provisions for supper, as well as both cocoa and a sugar cane juice drink.

Our next stop was Luna Park, a historic amusement park that gets its inspiration from Coney Island.  We were amused by the winter break ice rink, a sheet of sloppy ice absolutely packed with people who can’t skate, and roughly the size of half of a basketball court, but didn’t waste much time there.  We actually didn’t go on any of the regular rides (roller coaster, bumper cars, etc.), but spent most of our time actually in “Coney Island”, a warehouse-sized building filled with fun-houses, slides, and pinball machines, and actually dating from 1935.  The machines have been retrofitted to accept dollars instead of pennies, and it has all been refurbished, presumably multiple times, but it is more or less to its original specs, down to the artwork:  next to several are posted signs warning that the cartoons and caricatures would not be considered “politically correct”.

“The Coney Island” amusement barn is my sort of place – I love fun houses and slides!  We spent an hour hauling our burlap sacks up the steps and sliding down on the polished wood, over and over again, besides negotiating the hall of mirrors, the moving steps, and the hamster wheel.  One of the funniest rides is for kids where they sit in a circle on a cone-shaped island.  The operator makes the island spin, and the kids come sliding off the cone and down onto the mats.  Once they are out of the way, the island spins again, faster and faster, until everyone comes falling off.  Makes me dizzy just writing about it, but all the kids seemed to be having a wonderful time, our own kids included.  I will admit that I also enjoyed the fun house mirrors, too…but only the ones that made me tall and thin!

We topped off our day with a huge cone of “fairy floss” (known as cotton candy on our side of the ocean), and a walk back across the Sydney Harbor Bridge at sunset.  (For more on the bridge, see my previous post of “A Day in Sydney, Part I, which now includes a video clip from the top of it.)

Sunday morning we attended church at St. Phillip’s Anglican church, built in 1789.  It was a beautiful church, and icy cold, despite the warm reception we received.  But not only did they have portable heaters in the pews of the sort that outdoor cafes have between the tables, but also a large basket of fleece blankets to borrow during the service, so we kept sufficiently cozy.

Jake had to flew back home on Sunday afternoon, so we returned him to the airport before wishing Sydney good-bye, getting another rental car, and heading off to Canberra.