Ma Gartside arrives in Sydney...

Not far off a year after a tearful farewell in Manchester airport, I saw my Mum again (family tears, not mine obviously. I'm a bloke). She arrived looking fresh as a daisy after a gruelling trip. She obviously fared a lot better than i did.

To say she'd had such a long trip we managed to do quite a lot on the first day, and ended with a nice seafood meal on Darling Harbour.

On day 2 we did some Christmas shopping - clothes for my present. This turned out to be very successful. I ended up with 2 pairs of jeans, a shirt, 2 t-shirts and new shorts. All for next to no money at all. Get in. God bless the strength of the pound.

In the evening we did an opera-related dinner cruise round the harbour. This was great.

A 3 course meal with stunning views of all the sights accompanied by a crooner and 2 female warblers. Lots of fun. The women made their way around the blokes in the room, sitting on laps etc. They avoided me though. No change there then. Here's mum with Pavaraussie...

We did lots of walking, through the botanical gardens, round the opera house, the harbour bridge, the rocks, the city centre and had some wonderful meals. I can recommend Nick's in Darling Harbour. Great seafood, atmosphere and service.

I love Sydney, enjoyed it more than I thought I would. More pics are available on this LINK.

But it was time to head back to Auckland and to show mum my home town...