Yep, it's a bright sunshiney day, toasty on my skin and helping us feel fabulous! We opted for a quieter morning, Si went for some early breakfast after the gym and I caught up with Morg via facetime. When Si came back we sorted a few things out, loaded up Mildred and set off to locate the Sydney Fish Market. From our hotel it was just a 10 minute walk. We would have arrived earlier had we not got stuck waiting to cross the road. Things like a giant sink hole in the highway have an annoying habit of causing all the best laid plans to go pear shaped. Sink hole was of no concern to us really, it was being dealt with by a capable looking young lady and her work mates, it merely disturbed the traffic a little, and therefore delayed our crossing times somewhat.
The Sydney Fish Market is the largest fish market in the Southern Hemisphere and attracts more tourists than any other site in Sydney except the opera house. It trades over 13,500 tonnes of seafood anually. There are 6 seafood retailers inside the market, along with a butcher, baker and candle stick maker ( i just added the candlestick maker bit in, there's not one there ) a gourmet food place and also a gift shop. The retail space now measures 15,500 square metres but prior to a $250 million boost from the NSW government in 2016 which took the total site to a 35,000 square metres it was a mere 6582 square metres. Its quite an experience, as we rolled down towards the entrance, the smell made me gag somewhat, rotten fish guts will do that to most people i think. When we turned the corner , there were four large coach loads of people pullled up, so Si put a bit of a sprint on and we got into the actual market before they did in the hope of actually getting something to eat. As you walk in there is a lovely restaraunt on the right hand side, in massive tanks at the entrance to it are lobsters and crabs, of sizes i've never seen before. Basically you pick your fish and they will cook it however you so desire. They also have a menu that you can select dishes off. Due to the coachloads parked outside they were operating on a booking basis only. This wasn't a problem as walking on through, there are 5 further establishments serving up a variety of fish in different menus. We were spoilt for choice. Before making an executive decision on what we were going to eat, we decided that it would be prudent to explore what options were available to us.
The options were plentiful, there was the option of premade lobster mornay, scallops with all sorts of deliciousness as toppings, oysters, prawns calamari. squid and revolting octopus, slippery little suckers. You could take them home with you and cook at home or get them cooked there. Due to not wishing to stink the apartment out with fish we opted to go find an eatery that cooked it for you and we could eat it at their tables. The amount of fish on display was mind blowing, I don't think i have ever seen so many in a small space. The one sign on the lobsters, requested that you not pick them up by their antennae, which amused me somewhat. I have no idea why it made me chuckle so much. The mud crabs had a notice saying do not touch, the crabs bite. They were ugly too, so i had no intention of putting my finger into their tank and testing wether they do in fact bite. Eventually we decided on a place to eat and I had a huge piece of salmon cooked in honey and ginger, the only down side was that it came with chips. Although they were fluffy chips I could have done with some decent salad. Si had a mixed special dish, half a lobster mornay, scallops, oysters, and a battered shrimp piled up on chips and salad with a side of noodles. There was an awful lot of cheese on the plate, which he ended up leaving a lot of. He contemplated some oysters for desert but were full to bursting point, so he decided that if he was still peckish at supper time he'd go back down to the market and pick some up. Unfortunately the Fish market closed at 1600hours so the Oysters were off the menu for supper!
We left the market and trundled around for a few hours, exploring new areas and i think Si was trying to walk off his lunch! We took the opportunity to roll back over the Pyrmont bridge. Its a heritage listed swing bridge across Cockle Bay in Darling Harbour. It used to carry traffic from the central business district to the Pyrmont road . A new bypass was built and the bridge closed to traffic in 1981 and is only used now for pedestrians and pushbikes. On the opposite side of the bridge is obviously the other side of the Harbour, and a vast array of eateries and despite having had a large lunch we decided it would be rude to not go and have a beer. The beer was followed by another and then we decided we just as well have supper before returning to the hotel. The selection was great and i had a Lasagne, which was so huge I had to take half of it back to the hotel in a cardboard box. At least thats supper sorted for tomorrow! Si had a rib eye steak cooked to perfection on a bed of sweet potato mash which he thoroughtly enjoyed. To his great delight there was sticky date pudding with sauce and ice cream. It tasted great, I know this because i pinched a spoonfull of it and had a bite of the nut brittle that decorated the top of it! With my supper tucked in my lap we decided to return to the hotel and get some sleep. I'm pissed off that the recovery thing is taking a bit longer than anticipated, but you gotta do what you gotta do!
Much love
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