We drove to Manly & was suprised to see the crowds of tourists, many with warpaint from the day's barracking at the Olympics. We caught the ferry over to Circular Quay ($10 ret ea.).

We sat down to dinner at City Extra at the Quay & I was thrown into fits of laughter at the (near exorbitant) prices (2hamburgers, a milkshake & 1 dessert = $44). GST+5ring circus really adds up! Having ordered, we moved to a better table where we could see their television, which was very timely as we saw a couple of good swimming heats + an Australian Gold Medal performance. Lots of cheering & applause in the restaurant, particularly for the manager when he turned up the volume on the tele! We kept ordering drinks of water after the meal so we look justified in hogging a table in front of the TV until the races we wanted to see were over :-)

After dinner, we sauntered around the back of the train station to see the crowds watching the big (Panasonic ® ) TV. Lots of cheering & excitment. We stayed only for one more swimming heat, wanting to head to elsewhere.

Having walked for 10mins we arrived at the bottom of Martin Place to find the TV was at the top (with most of the crowd). Although there were many stages etc setup, only one band was plugging their gear together, so nothing happening there. Why would they be while the swimming was on anyway, duh!. We headed up to arrive in time for the 4x200m mens Final. Bloody good timing, if I do say so myself! The crowds in the makeshift outdoor bars were somehow roped off succesfully by blue tarpaulins - reminded me of the recent makeshift hailstorm repairs. There were plenty of people milling about but it was still easy to get a view of the screen.

{up-on-jingoistic-soapbox}

Come the race, young Mister Thorpe made a charge ahead that his team-mates either maintained or extended. What a roar. I'm sure Thorpy coulda heard it 15k's away in the pool! Eventually I realised that we were standing in the middle of the road, with the audible "You may cross now blind people" beeper bleeping it's head off time & time again but I didn't even notice it 'til way after the race. Sorta reminiscent of the US swimming dude saying something about `smashing us like guitars' - it was loud, mildly annoying & no-one took any notice of it until after the race ;-)

{/up-on-jingoistic-soapbox}

We shuffled off down Macquarie St & saw the edge of NBC tent city. Those dudes must be praying for good weather I reckon. We jumped on the 9pm ferry & grabbed a spot out on the side deck. The city looked good & the bridge looked great with the rings, but sadly, the Opera House, with its rather dark (arty?) lighting looked really dumb. From beyond Fort Denison, you could hardly tell where it was, only by the abscence of light could I point it out to Susanne. I think the cruise ships have added something to the harbour as well.

All in all a nice evening out.

4outa5 laps of the pond.