the convict story...

Monday, February 20, 2017
After Sunday's big day, we decided to keep it easy and not do anything too overtaxing. Took our neighbourhood ferry over to Circular Quay to explore a bit more of that area. We checked out the Sydney museum, for a bit of the local history. Nice but a bit boring and we didn't really learn too much. We both have, in the past, read some historical novels and know about the convicts being the background of the settlements, but this focused more on the rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney (who knew?) and the growth of Sydney and the modernization - they haven't kept a lot of the old stuff, buildings, etc., apparently, but it's all good. We had lunch at a restaurant at the harbour - I had fish and chips and Jan had chicken and polenta, both quite good but no extras with water, from the lunch special and it was $58. No tip.
It was quite warm and looked to be getting more so - I then made an executive decision and we opted to take a long ferry ride to the inner 'burbs as we already had a few 'clicks' on the meter - I should explain - Jan has a Fitbit and I have a measly, little step counter that I got as a freebie at some health function a few years ago. We did this when we went to Europe two years ago also. I think the Fitbit exaggerates because it's usually has quite a bit higher count than my little clicker that hangs off my pocket edge. I use it at home and have a pretty good feel for how accurate it is because I would walk somewhere and then use the car to measure the kilometres. Jan's Fitbit starts clocking as soon as she gets up and has all sorts of fancy things to tell you how many stairs etc, but I trust my little gadget.
We took the ferry to Parramatta which was longer than we expected.It took an hour and a half and Jan decided we'd take the train back to the city centre and get the bus back home. I'm happy with that just for the experience. She used her blackberry for quick instructions to the train and we walk several blocks and get on the right train, no problem. It's traveling mostly above ground so we get to see the slummier side of Sydney, which still looks pretty good, compared to say England or Vienna. Exiting the train, we now have to find the correct bus to take us home. Knowing the number, but finding the right stop seems to be a bit of a mess. We zigzag around for almost an hour after Jan had asked someone in a shop for directions...we finally find the correct one. Manage to fight our way onto a very crowded bus - it's now 5:30 pm and rush hour. Get back to our neighbourhood safely, stop in at Wooly's for more salad and head home, pretty tired in spite of 'taking it easy'!
Fitbit 8km, MA 6 km