On Sunday 3rd March - Jose had arranged for a birthday lunch with our Sydney friends at Casa do Benfica, in the suburb of Marrickville.
A former clubhouse for the Benfica sports club in Lisbon, even though it has kept the name it's now just a Portuguese restaurant attached to the Marrickville tennis club.
We got a lift from Jose's landlord and his wife, a lovely younger Iranian couple who have "adopted" him into their social lives, for which I'm very grateful.
Three other Portuguese friends who live in Sydney were present and believe it or not it was a typical Portuguese weekend family lunch that lasted from just after 12 pm when we arrived until 5pm when we left!!
 |
Top left to right : The Iranian neighbours next to Jose, me and my friend Bebe and husband.
Bottom left to right: M a former Perth friend now living in Sydney, Jose and neighbours. M's husband standing and another young couple we met through them. |
The varied menu includes a lot of Portuguese specialties and I chose a Tuna steak with potatoes, something I hadn't eaten in years. The food was delicious as always (we usually have a meal there every time I visit Sydney).
 |
Tuna steak with onions, boiled potatoes and salad
|
After the long lunch we drove home, through the Anzac Bridge.
 |
| View of the city before crossing the Anzac Bridge |
Monday, 4th March - I met up with my friend Bebe at Circular Quay, so we could catch a ferry to Cockatoo Island.
The MS Queen Elizabeth was docked at Circular Quay that morning.
We caught the next ferry and could admire the beautiful views of Sydney from the water.
 |
| The Barangaroo Reserve area (top), Opera House and Bridge and Circular Quay and Queen Elizabeth cruiser |
 |
| Panoramic photo - leaving Circular Quay |
After a couple of stops we docked at Cockatoo island, a UNESCO world heritage listed island in the middle of Sydney harbour.
 |
| Lovely houses on the way |
 |
| Cockatoo Island entrance and map showing the island (green) in the middle of the Sydney harbour |
At the Visitors Centre we paid for our audio tour earphones ($5) and started our walk around the island.
Cockatoo Island was used as a convict settlement from 1839 to 1869, and prisoners were subject to harsh living conditions, solitary confinement, etc.
From 1869 to 1888 an industrial school for girls and reformatory operated on the island and after the girls were moved out it again became a jail until 1908.
Shipbuilding began in 1870 and by 1913 the island became the Naval Dockyard of the Royal Australian Navy. Due to international competition shipbuilding, end of submarine refit program, unions, strikes, etc., by 1991 the dockyards closed.
 |
| Tunnels, Dockyard from where ships were sent to sea and workshop |
In recent times the island has been the location of movies, namely "Wolverine" where the industrial interiors and set scenes were constructed in the workshops, and in Angelina Jolie's film "Unbroken" about Louis Zamperini, the Olympian and Japanese prisoner set during World War II, where the workshops and outdoor areas were used in the scenes.
 |
| Pictures pertaining to the dockyard era of the island, and one of the areas used in the film "Unbroken". |
The island is also used for concerts and has a few houses and tents that are rented out as holiday accommodation.
After lunch at a "container coffee shop", my friend and I sat down in front of this big house admiring the view and having a chat.
 |
| Houses with fabulous views rented for holidays |
 |
| Panoramic photo - from Cockatoo island (Sydney in the distance,in the middle) |
On our ferry return we alighted at the Barangaroo Reserve wharf and walked to the nearby Darling Harbour.
 |
| Arriving at Barangaroo reserve ferry wharf, the city and the Barangaroo area from a distance |
A new "green" building caught my eye, but I also liked the old Shelbourne Hotel built in 1902, which can be seen from the pedestrian bridge out of Darling Harbour, from where the Sydney Tower can be spotted.
 |
Super modern green building and the 1902 Shelbourne Hotel (bottom right)
|
We caught the train from Town Hall station to Central station and walked about a block or two so my friend Bebe could show me a "green" apartment block at 2 Broadway, Chippendale right across from the Technical University.
One Central Park, a 623 apartment block was voted the best tall building in the world in 2014, among 87 other entries.
It features 1,120 square metres of vertical gardens with 35,200 plants of 383 different species, an internal water recycling plant and a low-carbon generation power plant.
It has also been awarded a five-star green star by the Green Building Council Australia.
The building has a pool, spa and gym at the top and shopping centre below.
 |
| One Central Park, a 5 star rated green building. It must be amazing in Spring |
Just around the corner in Kensington street, historic workers cottages and industrial warehouses are home to a few Asian eateries, Chinese lanterns and a few murals - the very cool Spice Alley.
 |
| Spice Alley in Kensington street (near Central station) |
It was almost 5pm, time when Jose leaves work from the offices at Central Station, and I gave him a ring so he could wait for me.
We arranged to meet under the train station departure board, and when he arrived we bade farewell to Bebe as we were going in different directions.
We caught the train to Circular Quay and then the 207 bus home to Middle Cove.
Another full day visiting locations I hadn't yet seen.
 |
| Central Station building and inside |
 |
| Suspension Bridge from 1892 in the suburb of Northbridge - on the way home |
