Sydney Day 5

Firstly back to  Day 4, as JacCee put it, (Mr) S Lut, the word on the bottom of the mirror was to advertise a brand of Vodka, Absolut, and a few letters had been removed, no doubt by patrons of the hotel. I am surprised no one picked that up. 

Today was R's actual birthday, a special one but not ending in zero but a five. We decided to visit the lovely Coogee Beach, with Coogee being the first place R lived when he arrived in Australia for a as a ten pound pom some fifty years ago, and he stayed beyond the required two years. The 373 bus trip to get there was fun with lots of curves and hills.  Coogee was quite busy, but also so quiet and peaceful.

I think everywhere we visited in Sydney, we could have done so by tram in the late 1950s. How much nicer that would be nowadays rather than buses. I was a bit surprised that there weren't many electric buses, but still noisy diesel buses spewing out their noise and filth. 

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There was plenty of quality seating for old people, and for us. 

There are lots of places to eat at Coogee but R had noticed a kiosk as we arrived on the bus, and we had a nice brunch there with surprisingly good coffee. If the local council is responsible for the beach frontage, a first class badge to it.

OMG, the guy on the left of this cropped photo was smoking hot. He and a mate sat together on the steps below us. Everything about him was so stylishly cultivated, yet not a hint of being gay. Famous sports person maybe? I was too slow with my camera. Sometimes it is best to just admire nice artwork.

I know how to give R a birthday dinner with style, a bus and a hamburger. C'mon lovey, we'll catch the 311 bus to Woolloomooloo. I had booked the restaurant a few weeks earlier. Being a Friday night, so many places did not take bookings, but this one did. We were joined by our two friends in Sydney and it was a lovely evening. I did concede to catching a cab back to our hotel. 

Finger Wharf is comprised of a wharf for very expensive looking boats, with the building on the ground floor hosting restaurants and above some very expensive apartments. 

With city views.

The restaurants were very busy.

One person chose something else but three of us chose hamburgers. We all agreed they were the best hamburgers we'd ever eaten. The hamburger bun was black but let me put it delicately, the burger led to a green output the next morning. 

Rounded off for R and myself with an affogato each. Ice cream, with strong coffee and Frangelico poured over. Elements was good. Did it cost a bomb? Yes. Was it good? Yes. Did R enjoy his birthday? Yes. I tried really hard to be a person who would say, 'It's only money'.