Walkabout If you are interested in the Walkabout please let Maunie Kwok know in advance so we can get some idea of numbers. Meet in the main lobby of the hotel for 8.30am departure. We plan to walk up to Macquarie Street, through the Royal Botanic Gardens to Farm Cove, where the Olympic Triathlon was held, then to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair from where you can take photos of the Bridge and Opera House in the same frame. We will then stroll past the Opera House, around Circular Quay to The Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney. After wandering through this historic area we will either take a ferry to Darling Harbour or a train to Town Hall, then walk to the restaurant.

Yum Cha Lunch Those going only to the lunch, please be at the Marigold Restaurant at 299 Sussex Street by 11.45am. We will be eating upstairs and on arrival please say you are with the KGV group. Drinks are not included in the lunch price but may be ordered individually and paid for on delivery to your table. Waitresses with carts of assorted food items will be strolling through the restaurant and you may select anything you wish from the carts, but please do not order from the printed menu.

Updated 26th May

My thanks to Terry Peters for these photos

The Girls on the Sydney walkabout. Definitely a Woman's World

Norma (Stevens) Thompson, Terry Peters and Donald Dunne
 

Norma (Stevens) Thompson, Terry Peters, Donald Dunne and Ross Peters.
 

Donald Dunne, David Bottomley, Heather (Anderson) Harper and Norma (Stevens) Thompson
Who is in the very left peering over Don's shoulder.

Heather (Anderson) Harper, Norma (Stevens) Thompson, Ross Peters and Sylvia (Stevens) Hopkins

My thanks to June Tieken for this photo.

Anders and the Girls in the Botanical Gardens.  What are they standing on?

My thanks to Norma Thompson for these photos.

Norma Thompson, Terry Peters and Don Dunne.

Corrine & Iris Ellery, Heather Harper, Joan Franklin Izard .

My thanks to Les Baker for these photo.  Please send yours.

Anne-Marie Lee still trying to teach Maunie French.

Frank Rodrigues asking for kum shaw.

Maunie, Frank & his secretary who did all the work.
 

(Maunie Kwok)
Day 4 Wednesday 7th March A busy day with three events - the morning walkabout, the yum cha lunch, and in the evening the harbour dinner cruise.

Twenty eight energetic folk met in the hotel lobby at 8.30am and set off on a morning walkabout with me as leader. From the hotel we headed up to Macquarie Street, where many medical specialists have rooms, then crossed over and entered the Royal Botanic Gardens.

During our walk through the gardens we saw fruit bats hanging upside down in the canopy of tall trees, rather like large leaves. We also saw a young Woolemi pine tree, a conifer that will eventually grow to a height of about 35mtr. The Woolemi pines are prehistoric trees that date back 100 million years and were thought to have been extinct for at least 60 million years. In 1994 a National Park ranger discovered a grove of 38 of these trees in a remote gorge in the Woolemi National Park about 200km from Sydney. Since their discovery, horticulturists have been working on propagation and the little tree in the Botanic Gardens is one of their successes.

Also in the Gardens we came across the Wishing Tree planted in 1816. Tradition says you should walk around the tree six times - three times one way and three times the other way, then make a wish. I don’t know what passers-by must have thought when they witnessed a group of laughing adults walking around and around the tree in different directions. In fact, some of our group walked around a lot more than six times so they must have had quite a few wishes to make.

When we arrived at the foreshore of Farm Cove, where the Olympic 2000 Triathlon swimming section was held, and where aboriginals once held initiation ceremonies, we held our own ceremony. The one where everyone lines up and some one takes photos with lots of cameras.

Back row : Bea Peters, Carol Monteiro, Laara (Baldwin) Zimerman (behind), Kristina McIlravey, Diana (Moyer) Lincoln, Maunie (Bones) Kwok, Julia (Tingay) Moolenschot, Helen (Feldman) Dalton, Nora Sun, Helen (Kim) Lew, Penny (Jennings) Maguire-White, Margaret-Ann (Jennings) Hambly
In front : June (Lee) Tieken, Lulu (Diespecker) Lee, Kathy (Huber) Ellis, Gillian (Aldington) Wiedorn

Terry Peters, Ross Peters, Paul Wiedorn, Denny Brausen, Tim Ellis, Mike Dalton, Johnny Monteiro, Anders Stenberg, Dickie Gasten. In front : Jack Moolenschot, Roy Hutchinson, Adam McIlravey.

The group milling around.  Image from Roy Hutchinson.

From there we ambled around the cove to the Opera House before heading towards Circular Quay. On the way, Roy Hutchinson decided he wanted to take a group photo with the Opera House in the background but, to get everyone in the frame, he had to climb up on a high wall and do a balancing act whilst we all held our breaths. I have yet to see the group photo but hope it is a good one considering the risk Roy took to get the shot. Shortly after the photo session the sky opened and it poured with rain for a short time but we were able to take shelter until it passed.

Roy Hutchinson doing a balancing act.

The View from Roy's nest.  Image from Roy Hutchinson.

When the down-pour was over we continued around Circular Quay, through First Fleet Park to The Rocks, the oldest area of Sydney. We wandered through Nurses’ Walk and Surgeons’ Court, narrow lanes where the First Fleet set up their temporary hospital, then into another lane called Suez Canal. It was originally nicknamed Sewer’s Canal because in the early days an open sewer ran through it but the name eventually changed to Suez Canal. We then ambled along Playfair Place with its quaint shops housed in a row of old terrace houses built in 1875. A little further on we saw a lovely sandstone statue called First Impressions which reflects the three dimensions of early colonial life - the convicts, the military and the free settlers.

Maunie (Bones)Kwok and Diana (Moyer) Lincoln

Anders and Puddles in the Rocks.  Image from Roy Hutchinson

Casting a giant shadow and Sydneys dyslectic retailers.  Images from Roy Hutchinson.

From there we returned to Circular Quay, passing Cadman’s Cottage, the oldest surviving home in Sydney, and once the residence of the Governor’s coxswain. We then caught a ferry to Darling Harbour and wandered slowly through the area to the Marigold Restaurant to meet everyone else for yum cha lunch.

We had the 1st floor of the restaurant exclusively for our group and over a hundred people attended. Everyone enjoyed the leisurely luncheon and the delicious food and of course the company of each other.

Seated : Heather (Anderson) Harper, Joan (Franklin) Izard, Vera (Rumianzeff) Colman. In background John Eastman and Nora Sun.

Fletch & Sheila (Brice) Bolsover and Skip Heinecke
 

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