Sydney and Terrigal, December 2000

We arrived at Sydney airport about 10am in the morning after a stopover in Singapore. Customs and immigration was pretty quick and we were soon outside the terminal. There is now a train line from the airport to the city, though I would imagine it would be a bit of a pain carrying your luggage through some of the underground stations in the centre. So we opted for the minibus, which only costs about $9 and which drops you outside your accommodation. I was somewhat less than impressed that the bus driver had never heard of our hotel, and in the end I had to dig through my luggage to find the guidebook, so I could look up the address.

We were staying at the George Street Hotel which is on the edge of Chinatown. It was alright though the rooms were a bit stuffy and got quite warm. The temperature was around 28°C for most of our stay. Nearby were a few pubs and places to eat and it wasn't too far to walk to the nearest train station into the centre. The metropolitan trains are quite easy to use to get around. There was also a new light rail line and the monorail nearby, but these don't really go anywhere useful, though the monorail is worth a trip around to see the city from a different angle.

We stayed in Sydney for a couple of days and did all the usual sightseeing. We had a look the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and we went by ferry across Sydney Harbour over to Manly. The North Head national park near Manly provides some spectacular views over the harbour and the city skyline and was well worth visiting.

Then we headed north to a small town called Terrigal to meet a friend. We went on a City Rail train up to Gosford, where we were met at the station. It's not that far to Terrigal from Gosford, and buses are available. Terrigal itself looks like something out of an Australian soap opera. It's set in a bay with a nice, sandy beach, which generally has good surf and is patrolled by lifeguards. It's a popular weekend destination for Sydneysiders. There are a few shops, lots of cafes and takeaways and a couple of pubs, both of which do food. One was attached to the Holiday Inn hotel and did happy hour in the early evening. It was a nice place to sit there and watch the sun go down over the bay at the end of the day. The hotel management did their best to spoil the atmosphere though. They seemed to think we'd be much more interested watching 4 different channels of rubbish on TV. We were staying in a two bedroomed unit, though there was also a YHA hostel in town if you're on a smaller budget.

From Terrigal we then visited a national park to the south called Ku-Ring-Gai Chase. The park is around the mouth of the Hawkesbury river and it's impressive scenery. Sheer hills and cliffs covered in trees rise up out of the drowned river valley. It's well worth a visit, though it might be a bit tricky without your own transport.

There is also some diving to be done in Terrigal. In a protected corner of the bay are several boats and a dive shop. I didn't dive with the shop, though I did rent some gear from them. They organise boat dives at the weekend. The only diving to be had in the week is shore diving. There is a rock wall which starts in the shallows at Terrigal Haven and then goes out into the bay. I didn't get around to doing it because my girlfriend came down with a cold, but it is supposed to be a nice dive and sometimes there is some quite big stuff to be seen there. The other shore dive is a cave. However, this is exposed to the surf, so is only possible when the sea is very calm, otherwise you have to do it by boat.

I did one dive on a private boat and we went out to a site called the Bommies. The site was a collection of rocks which rose from about 30m up to about 20m. As we descended, we went through a big swarm of jellyfish. Fortunately they were of the non-stinging variety and not bluebottles, which I had seen washed up on the beach there. On the top of the rocks kelp grows, but below that depth it doesn't get enough light, so the deeper rocks have sponges and urchins on them.

It was a nice dive of just over half an hour to just over 30m. There were quite a few fish and an inquisitive cuttlefish swimming around. There were also some brightly coloured nudibranches, including one which was apparently quite rare, though obviously this was wasted on me. The visibility was about 15m and the water temperature was in the low twenties, so I was wearing a two-piece 5mm wetsuit.

After Terrigal, we went back to the station and caught the Country Link XPT from Gosford to Coffs Harbour.

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