It’s been twenty three years since I was last in Sydney, and after one and a half days, I’ve decided I love it as much as ever. There’s an energy and confidence which is irresistible. And then there’s the climate. It was 23 c when we touched down in  Sydney at 7 am, rising to 34 c in the afternoon – a little hot even for me! Today is a very pleasant 28 c with a cool breeze coming off the harbour and barely a cloud in the sky.

We’re staying at an Airbnb in Double Bay, one of the Southern beach suburbs. It’s a great place to be. Yesterday, we took a train from the airport to Central Quay (about half an hour) and then a ferry from there to Double Bay. The ferry ride is only fifteen minutes long, but it takes you past some of the iconic landmarks of Sydney: the Opera House, the Bridge, the Botanical Gardens.

After getting off the ferry at Double Bay Quay, it was five minutes walk to our new home, a ground floor apartment which belongs to Stefan, our lovely Airbnb host. Stefan is an Australian from Adelaide but he’s lived here for 25 years, so he knows the city well and he’s given us lots of tips. Yesterday afternoon (or ‘arvo’, as the Australians say), we were too tired to do much after our overnight flight from Bali, and feeling the heat. Stefan recommended we stick on our ‘bathers’ and check out the harbour swimming pool, known as the Murray Rose pool.

The Murray Rose pool is named after a famous Australian Olympic swimmer who came from Double Bay. It’s not a pool as such, but part of the harbour which has been turned into a swimming area and is separated off by a concrete wall.. According to Stefan, there are plenty of sharks in Sydney Harbour and not everyone who has swam in it has lived to tell the tale. The wall at the pool is actually a nice feature as you can walk all around the top, and jump off it into the water. I enjoyed sitting on the beach and watching the Australians at play. A couple of teenage girls were competing with each other to see who could do the fanciest dive/backflip/somersault from the wall. There were dads taking their kids for a swim after school, and officer workers arriving straight from work in lipstick and high heels.

After swimming, we did something we haven’t done for a long time – we went shopping! It turns out Double Bay is a very fancy suburb and it’s easier to pick up a sparkling evening gown or some fine lingerie than it is to buy a pint of milk. However, eventually, we found a supermarket. We’ve been eating restaurant food for weeks, which is great, but it was nice to be able to select our own food and cook it chez Stefan. I cooked a veggie chilli and served it with homemade guacamole, followed by a ‘rip snorter’ of a watermelon.  Stefan came in late from a tennis game and was happy to polish off the leftovers. Clearly he doesn’t mind eating vegetarian, or ‘Vejjo’ as the Ozzies say!