Day 19 - Sydney

Day 19 began with us being rung up at the crack of dawn again. Not by Lisa this time (so we assume that Rupert got home safely), but by the Dutchman demanding to know why we hadn't given his car back. David explained, as politely as he was able at that time in the morning, that the car had, as arranged, been returned to the Bankstown depot two days earlier and if Mr van Rental was looking for it in Lismore then this might be at the root of the problem.

Thereafter, a leisurely day. David and Patrick went shopping while Mark set about the task of trying to write up Day 18 in a way that avoided causing offence to Sally, Steve and the other picnickers. His success was in debate at the time of writing.

And then off on the now-familiar train journey to the Circular Quay. The Fuzzy Prime Ministers exhibition that we had been deprived of a couple of days earlier was intact, so we were able to see a picture of Paul Keating looking less surly than in his Canberra portrait. Mark bought some tacky presents for his siblings on the Rocks, and we went to the Australian Hotel for a couple of pints and an Emu pizza.

The last barbie of the tour was held on David's balcony. It was decided that this provided the ideal opportunity to test David's newly-acquired oenological skills with a tasting of really quite a lot of wines (he got two-thirds right, for the record).

And that was about it. Today was the last day in Australia for Patrick and Mark. It would be the morning before they questioned the wisdom of having quite so much to drink the day before a long-distance flight. But the morning seemed a long, long way off.....

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