We landed in Sydney a couple of hours later than we'd actually planned for. It was a cold rainy day and the trains from the airport to the city for some reason took the day off. So we took a bus to the Sydney Central and from there just pulled the baggage to our hotel The Metro Central a couple of blocks away. As we entered the hotel. we were greeted by our friends who had reached there a day earlier. We quickly dropped the luggage in the room and rushed out to join the friends who took us around that day, as they were already familiar with the places. We first went to the Paddy's market to buy an umbrella and then proceeded to the Circular Quay to visit the Opera House. It was a real treat to watch the harbour bridge and the Opera House on a cloudy rainy day. After having lunch at an Indian restaurant there, we took a ferry to the Darling Harbor. We visited the Sydney Wildlife World taking pictures with the kangaroos and koalas, and as it was getting late, we quickly got out and took a ferry to the Manly beach. After a splendid view of the harbor bridge and the Opera house in the backdrop of the sunset on the way, it was already dark by the time we reached the beach. We grabbed some biriyani again at an Indian restaurant at Manly and managed to catch the ferry back in time. Returned to the rooms and relaxed for the day.
The next day ie., Monday onwards again it was official engagements for the officers during the day and the spouses went about exploring the city. In the evenings again me and Deepu would go about exploring places. On Monday we explored places around the Darling Harbour and the Sydney tower
On Tuesday we went around city and the Queen Victoria Building. That was Deepu's last day in Sydney. She was to leave for Hyderabad the next morning for Amar's wedding. So we returned to the room early and slept. In the morning she was all packed and we left for the airport. She took the 8 am flight to Bangkok and I returned to the hotel room, as all the others had left for the official tour by then.
Having nothing to do, I just took a ferry to Manly and then back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day in the room. When the rest of the guys returned, I went around exploring places with them. Thursday evening was spent at the souvenir shop buying gifts for friends and family members back home. The next day, was our last day of the Phase-3 training. We were given some time off in the morning and taken to the Sydney zoo in the afternoon, where we were to have our graduation ceremony. After a lousy ceremony and some lousy food we returned to the rooms to pack ourselves.
We were up early in the morning on Saturday and took the bus to the airport by 6am. We bid goodbye to Sydney and Australia and took the 8 am flight to Bangkok.
After a brief layoff at the airport in Bangkok, took the evening flight to Hyderabad and landed at Hyderabad at 10.30 pm. Back home to the summer after a nice cool fortnight of a wintry Australia.
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