Yellow Mellow

It’s one of those Sydney entries again, where I ramble on about the harbour and go for another little walk around some of the shoreline and gaze upon the bridge and shade my eyes from the glaring opera house all while having a coffee and piece of cake. I really don’t know how to write it any differently and not use words like beautiful, picturesque, easy going, fair dinkum…

The weather was perfect – not always the case I have to say… honestly it is not all clear blue skies despite what all the brochures and TV shows have to say. But on Friday and Saturday it was, well, like I say perfect, and the pleasant weather was enough to bring out the yellow T-shirts, which formed the basis of a game which started off as a little time filler down at Darling Harbour and eventually dominated the weekend. I’ll just say now, I defeated my friend Jill, 68-66 at yellow top so am currently the world yellow top champion.

I was staying in Coogee, always a pleasant spot on a sunny day, and a great place to have a great Australian breakfast. By Australian I don’t mean kangaroo sausages and wattle seed damper, but just really damn fine breakfasts which they seem to excel at more often than not.

Fully loaded, we left Coogee to catch a ferry to Cremorne Point over on the North Shore, a land of identikit inlets scattered with boats and lined by alternating patches of wild bushland and more refined gardens of frangipani and other such gardener’s delights. From here we walked around the inlets of Mosman and onto Taronga Wharf, throughout catching iconic city views, passing happy, healthy people and their dogs, and spotting yellow tops.

It was, as always, a great way to spend a sunny day and by time we returned on the ferry to Circular Quay, a tiny part of my stomach was game enough for a spot of coffee and cake beside the Opera House. Have a taken this photo before? Oh, probably, but who cares? Occasionally, being here still brings about a pinch-yourself-moment, to be sat down there in the pleasantly warm sun having a coffee with the Harbour Bridge in one corner of your eye and the Opera House in the other.

From the whites of the Opera House it was more yellow top spotting on the bus back to Coogee, where the day was fading all too early and the faint chill of winter was starting to emerge beside the shoreline.

As darkness enveloped the beach and made yellow top spotting difficult, we retired to a restaurant for an early dinner of BBQ ribs before I caught my flight back to Canberra, fully satisfied on the food, the weather and the glow of victory.