Honeymoon Day 12: 27th December (Tuesday) – Arriving in Sydney

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After an almost trouble-free drive back to Melbourne Airport to drop off the hire car.  I say almost, because for a moment – just a moment – we thought we might not make it. It all started when we realised we were running low on fuel. The orange light came on and we thought ‘time to get some petrol’. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but combining the Christmas holiday with the vastness of Australia, and together, they combined to create a recipe for disaster,

We located a fuel station on the map, not too far away, only to find that on arrival, it was a single pump outside someone’s house! Worse than that that, the owner, in her most apologetic tone of voice, informed us that the pump wasn’t working. She helpfully drew us a map for the next station, some 15 kilometres away. Even me with my lightest right foot, was going to find this a challenge and we were starting to consider which cargo to jettison… or worse still still, which passengers!!! : )

We coasted into the next petrol station, to be greeted by a NO UNLEADED sign on the pumps. Even after asking if we could drain some from someone else’s tank, the answer was still ‘sorry no fuel’. The staff in the shop informed us that there was now a choice of two more fuel stations… in opposite directions… both around another 15 kilometres away. We chose the one that we thought might be larger (and therefore have a greater chance of fuel). As the needle started to pass the ‘E’ symbol, we made the most of the journey and the slow downward descent, and coasted as much as we could. And there, in the distance in the village of Winchelsea we saw the BP sign. What a relief!

So, after  the short flight to Sydney, (just over the hour) here we are at the Radisson Blue hotel. A nice touch when we got to our room was a hand-written note from the hotel congratulating us on our wedding.

After a few nibbles in the business lounge, we finished unpacking and then took a stroll down to the harbour area. It was really busy as it looked like the whole of Sydney had decided to do the same as us. All the eating places were packed. We eventually found a table in the lower concourse where there was a live band playing (so much better than a dead one!), and we sampled the local ale and coffee and took some photos of the Opera House – magnificent!!!

..and good to see they had Ann’s new initials up in lights! : )

We wandered back to the room around 9.30 after checking out the local walking tours for tomorrow with the Concierge. Looks like another day in paradise tomorrow! Nighty-night!