Ruth “pulled up a little lame” while in Adelaide and we were beginning to think that it was maybe a sign that it was time to quit. She could barely walk last Saturday but a bit of strapping, a couple of rest days and some “true grit”, she has carved off over 40km of walking around Sydney in the last three days and can now hobble so fast that I have had to tell her to slow down a couple of times.
We have really enjoyed our few weeks in Australia and decided that arriving from Asia rather than New Zealand was a good approach, it made us appreciate the country a lot more than we normally do when arriving direct from New Zealand.
The weather has been very patchy, dry but quite cool, even here in Sydney. We seem to get one hot day which is then followed by three or four cool days. It is good walking weather though and we have been able to cover a lot of ground, something we could not do in the heat in Asia.
Apart from all the usual haunts down harbour side, we have had some nice coastal walks on the North Shore and, today, a very spectacular walk along the Eastern beaches from Coogee to Bondi.
Our airbnb is a loft above the hosts car garage. It is very comfortable and cosy and above all, great value for money. It is close to the railway station which means only a short trip to either the airport or the city.
Tomorrow we are off to search for a café with a great location and have a long slow lunch to celebrate / commiserate (both are applicable) the last day of our trip.
It has been an adventure beyond all expectations. Rather than being too long we have felt that we could have kept on traveling for another six months. However, Australia is similar to New Zealand in so many ways and we have suddenly missed home a little more and are probably ready for our return and whatever that may bring.
