Island Hopping

As the weather warms up in Sydney, festivals start popping up all over town. Some relate to food, others focus on art, I can't keep track. Regardless, we like to partake in most such events. A couple of weeks back, we met friends for dinner at Hyde Park's Night Noodle Market, an event in which Asian food vendors set up stalls, picnic tables, chairs and lanterns throughout the park.

Maybe a week prior to that, we all went Island Hopping in the Sydney harbour. As part of one of these festivals, one ferry ticket could buy you a trip to four ordinarily inaccessible islands in the harbour: Fort Denison (the one with the cannon), Shark Island (named because of its shape), Clark Island and Garden Island (off limits because it belongs to the Navy).

When I tried to sell Gabe on the idea, he indicated that $48 was a bit much for such an event. It's funny that my reaction to the $48 price tag to get ferried around to four different islands was 'what a steal!' It must be a testament to the fact that I've been in Sydney for almost two years, but Gabe's only been paying Sydney prices for five months.

Anyway, it was a drizzly, but fun day out on the harbour. Highlights include Steph's three minute tour of Fort Denison, watching aboriginal dancers teach two year olds an emu-inspired dance and Laura's encounter with a persistent puppet.

The puppeteer did a great job in that she made it look like she had no control of the puppet's annoying behavior. Funnier still was my family's reaction to seeing the pictures of the puppets; they took bets on whether or not they were real animals. It tickles me that Australia's real native wildlife make puppets like these seem plausible.