Awesome!

Saturday, 17 July, 2004 by Donna V. Whitmore

Like many hotels in which I have stayed, breakfast in this hotel is complimentary, but they don't mean "Continental Breakfast"; they mean BREAKFAST! Orange, grapefruit and other juices, milk, coffee, tea, yogurt (many flavors), toast (at least four kinds of bread), sweet rolls, cereal, muffins, and more!!

After gorging ourselves, we all got together to go to the marketplace, which is very like marketplaces you see in pictures of Europe with one shop after another, four abreast, under awnings in front of an equal number of shops in the adjacent buildings. The basements of the buildings, for the most part, had the types of malls described in the entry on the 16th. It was awesome! We bought lots of gifts and had a wonderful time looking at all the crafts and varied wares.

The Aboriginal art store here is fantastic! Both Cheryl and I bought lots of gifts there and simply admired the wonderful art work; it was like being in a museum or art gallery.

Several of us took the ferry around the bay and ended up at Doyle's Restaurant, per Gail. She steered us right - the food was excellent; all nine of us feasted! We sat outside on the beachfront patio under heaters - it was pretty cool!

We had time for a little exploring before the next ferry back to the mainland, but it started to rain and was then very cold! We drank coffee at a sidewalk café and waited for our ride; the rain stopped falling on the ride back and beautiful rainbows colored the sky. We observed the famous Opera House from every angle in many shades of white with the changing sunlight.

Cheryl and I meandered back to the Rendezvous via a wonderful bakery! Since we had eaten a late lunch, we had dessert for dinner in our hotel room while we gathered up our clothes for a much-needed trip to the laundry the next morning.

A hot, leisurely bath and an early bedtime completed the day.

Word for the day: AWESOME!