The Gap

We set out early this morning. Ella woke up at 6am with a bit of a cold, but not enough of a cold to deter her from wanting to bounce on our bed ten minutes later. A toddler bouncing on your bed at 6am is one thing, but their using your body to heave themselves about is enough to persuade you to get up. Ella has two specialities; elbowlarynxus (elbow in the voice box) and nipplehandleius (using any available nipple for leverage). Neither are pleasant. We put the kettle on.

I am proud (and patriotic, in an Aussie way) to report that I was preparing a picnic at 7.45am. This included a tupperware box of (badly) sliced mango and (frankly butchered) paw paw, which I've never tasted before. I wanted a papaya and picked up the wrong thing in the fruit and veg shop, so paw paw it was.

As I'm not working, I've nominated myself as "Tour Leader" as well as chief cook and navigator for the next twelve months. Darren doesn't seem to mind. As is usual, he earns the money, I spend it. That's what I call an equal partnership.

This new-found role is an absolute dream; I get the map, I do some research, I book some flights. I can barely sleep with the excitement of it all.

As tour leader, I've joined the library and borrowed some books about Sydney harbour. Much of the area around the water is designated national parkland so it's free to visit, largely free to park, and the views are spectacular. We headed off to see "the gap" this morning, which is the gap between the north and south headlands at the entrance to the harbour (Port Jackson). You can see it in the right hand part of the map, near the compass.

We are living on the south side of the harbour, across the water from Manly, so we were standing on the south head. It's a stunning place, the sea licks the bottom of the rocks menacingly, the water is turquoise. The photo is worth a click just for the rock formations. For many years access was restricted to the Australian Royal Navy, but it was opened to the public in 1982. What a stunning sight it would be to sail into Sydney through the heads, past Watson's Bay and towards the city. Now that's the way to see Sydney for the first time.