Aussie rules

Australia – you have me at hello... I manage to get a SIM at the airport that will make all my phone contact worries a thing of the past. In 10 minutes. Then an old Greek fella called Alberto fixes me up with a Shuttle Bus (my bag weighs a ton but I just don't have it in my DNA to pay the best part of £50 for a taxi). Thanks to Alberto I don't have to. And thanks to the two fit men in singlets who offer me a lift when I look lost trying to find my friend Anne's apartment. And then there's her downstairs neighbour, Ben, who lets me in to store my bag in his secure spot in the locked underground car park and gives me his phone number in case I have a problem. Thanks to the weather, for not making my hair look like a toilet brush as soon as I walk outside. And at last I can wear a little make-up. Goodbye to that just-roasted chicken look.

But you still have much to learn, Grasshopper. The exchange rate, for one, is a shocker. About 70p to $1. I wander up to a local cafe where a wrap and a smoothie set me back nearly $17. Gulp. Not only that but the thing is toasted and with the final mouthful one of my fillings drops out. Thankfully I took my pal Olenka's advice (having mentioned to her that I had a temporary filling) and brought a dental repair kit with me. Rest assured, this blog will conclude with a list of the top ten most useful items in my luggage. Who would have thought that tooth cement would be on it? 

Prices may be ferocious here but nevertheless in 24 hours canny Cate manages to knock three major Sydney sights off her bucket list without spending a cent, apart from bus fares...  namely, a sunset walk in the Botanic Gardens (above), a look at Sydney Opera House (particularly like the sinks)...

...and a coastal walk south of Bondi Beach (below on Bondi), including an impromptu swim in a wave-lashed sea-water pool at Bronte beach.

These pools cling to the rocky shores of most of the beaches here and vary in the degrees at which you are tackling the elements. It's fun in Bronte pool and I join the kids at the far side where we sit on the edge and get swept off by the force of the waves. When I get to Giles pool at Coogee, it's positively extreme and I leave it to the teens in wetsuits.

Despite the immense amiability of the locals, it's not all plain sailing during my first couple of days. I find that yet again I'm relegated to being an irritating tourist when I stand on the wrong side of the escalator.