Emīls writes [Agnese comments]:
We have planned to go to the rental office today to get all the paperwork done. We should meet at 9:20am. I arrange with Agnese to arrive at 9:30 as then I can buy the cheaper off-peak ticket. As the ride takes around 30mins, I came to my stop shortly after 9. The trains usually go every 5 or 6 minutes, but this time I had to wait for almost 15. Of course, as a result I expected to be late and arrive at 9:45. At some stop the train decided to wait for another 7 minutes and in the end, one stop before my destination it stopped and didn’t move any further. I waited for some 10 minutes till I understood that I might wait for the whole day. Some tourists were onboard and they were talking loudly, so I couldn’t hear anything that was said over loudspeaker. I asked one Australian person what has happened. He said he doesn’t understand anything as well. If he, being an Australian cannot understand, how can I do it being a tourist? In the end it turned out that he’s going to the same stop as me. So I managed to get to the destination together with the Australian in a taxi with almost an hour delay.
Once the paperwork was done, we went up in the Sydney’s tall TV tower. A wonderful view over the city. However I didn’t feel anything extraordinary – maybe I have flown and seen cities from above enough. After that 3 people from out group, me including, visited the aquarium. There were uncountable fish and other water creatures’ species. But I was the most surprised by the many sharks which were both small and very big in size. I saw them alive for the first time in my life from distance of just about 1m. [The others visited Powerhouse museum or Australian museum meanwhile and were very happy with their choice but a bit short of time to see everything properly].
Later we took a ferry ride [to Manly beach]. Once in the destination whole passenger crowd left the ferry through one exit, but we [were guided to other exit as we were blocking the path while waiting for the others of our group]. I had quickly gone through the normal exit, but my fellow travelers were hesitating somewhere. After some waiting I decided to take a look, where is everyone. Of course, there was something for free again – this time it’s complimentary coffee. I went back via the exit, but a station officer called me back and said that it’s not allowed to go there. I replied that I’m looking for my travel mates. I went a bit further and saw – everyone is making coffee – they had put the powder and sugar in cups, just about to pour the water on it. And then the doors of the station officer box opened and she saw the complimentary coffee being used, which was not intended for the passengers of this ferry. As a result Emīls had spoiled the coffee opportunity for his mates, and compensated them later with a bar of chocolate. Anyway, who is drinking coffee in the middle of the day when there’s ocean with waves waiting in a few hundred meters? .
A great swim in the ocean, sunset on a beach, a ride back to Sydney centre with a ferry and a view to the city in the night – fantastic!