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A recent trip to Sydney afforded me an opportunity to fulfill my long-craved fix of its beautiful harbour. With family on the East side, someone suggested a drive over to Watsons Bay for a look-see and stroll around. Why, yes! How lovely , I thought, truthfully but somewhat nervously, the words "Watsons Bay" having invoked from the dark recesses of my brain a memory of eating fish and chips in the park one sunny weekend and a greedy seagull (one of the many that are constantly overfed by stupid visitors who ignore the signs clearly instructing NOT to feed the seagulls) flying to my shoulder and pecking a chip FROM MY FINGERS. Scared the LIVING BEJESUS out of me. Nevertheless, I like visiting Watsons Bay - not least for the entertainingly windy drive past clean and impressive mansions, The Macquarie Lighthouse * and the notorious " Gap " to get there - but also because it feels like a little holiday nook of Sydney: sheltered, village-y... yes, expensive; with a pr...

Opera Bar is one of those never-fail, so-Sydney, spectacular venues, absolutely perfect for taking out-of-towners to... or just when you need a dose of Sydney Harbour yourself. Right on the lower concourse level of the Sydney Opera House (between Circular Quay and the Opera House), Opera Bar has a frontal view of the Harbour Bridge. If you don't mind tourists, it is the perfect outdoor location to sit and watch either people or the ferries gliding into and out of the Quay. View from Opera Bar I met a friend here to have a good-and-proper catch-up, the kind that covers why we are here in the universe, what our next moves are, and how happy we are about everything. The sun was out full-blast and there were no tables with umbrellas or shade left, so we hijacked a bar table and moved it partly into the shade. I got burnt anyway (mainly on one side... trucker's arm, so attractive). We both ordered the fish and chips, pricey and typical, but beautifully cooked and presen...