The last four days were spent in and around Sydney with Laura. She is looking very well and has a fabulous suntan. It was lovely to see her again and spend some time with her. She had been a terrific organiser and worked hard booking trips for the three of us while we had been in New Zealand.

We paid a visit to the Aquarium in Darling Harbour, which amazingly stayed open till 10 pm. They had to gently throw us out in the end!

It was a fabulous place to walk round. Claudia's favourite was the huge tank containing sharks, manta rays etc. At one stage you walk through a tunnel made of very thick glass and the creatures are swimming all around you, so you get to see them very close up, but in complete safety. Still think sharks are ugly looking critters! Unfortunately missed seeing the seals as a new enclosure was being built for them and they had been moved to a quiet location in the meantime.

Another day we took an all day trip to the Hunter Valley for a wine tasting experience. Visited four locations and sampled up to six wines in each one. We were very restrained and didn't drink all the samples (unusual for us ) as it was a hot day, but in a genteel manner poured it into the spitoons provided. It was very tempting to buy quite a few, but we forced ourselves to remember the weight we'd have to carry back to England. At the first winery we were given a really interesting talk about the wines of that region and taught how to taste wine properly. This involves checking the colour and the bouquet etc. The other wineries all had lively staff who made the visit really enjoyable.

Also stopped off at a chocolate shop to sample their wares and succumbed to one or two purchases. It was a very enjoyable day and good to have a small group to travel with.

The following day we treated ourselves to a meal in the revolving restaurant. You have the most wonderful views over Sydney as you gently go around. The meal was a buffet and you could eat all you wanted. From there we dashed to the theatre as Laura had pre - booked tickets for us to see The Lion King. The costumes were stunning and the performances terrific. Laura particularly enjoyed herself as she'd really been looking forward to seeing it and was really excited. The performers enter down the aisles on several occasions so we got to see and hear them very close up.

On our last day the three of us took a trip into The Blue Mountains. Had a great guide who obviously enjoyed his job and came up with lots of diverse information about each area we travelled through. Made several stops along the way, including a wildlife park where we saw Eric the croc being fed as well as kangaroos, wombats, Tasmanian devils etc. The Blue Mountains themselves are beautiful with stunning views. We took a cable car ride across the gorge as well as a trip on the scenic railway which was pretty hair raising as the gradient was very steep. Almost felt as if you were travelling down vertically and could fall out at any moment. The cable car had a glass floor so you got all round views of the scenery.

That evening we were due to fly out at 10.30 pm and had already packed that morning before the trip. We were both really sorry to have to leave as we'd had a wonderful time and would have loved to stay longer. As Arnie says - We'll be back !