Last day in Sydney

Spent my last day in the land of Oz visiting the cluster of private art galleries off Oxford Road in Paddington. Set in little side streets among old terraced houses they are hard to find but the act of discovery makes them good fun. Some wonderful digital prints (I must remember to take down artists names!) from a distance looking a little like wallpaper but on close inspection little pictorial stories leading to other stories so you find yourself following along almost like a film reel. A lot of aboriginal art with some exciting crossovers from traditional to contemporary, sculptures made from alumimium fly screen, bent and coloured, simple but effective, bronze figures of little short people, naive but provoking, the new, the old, the boring, the exciting, I love the journey that artists take in their quest to express themselves.
Out to Oxford Road to do some shopping and found more artworks. The shoes and the dresses and the mens cardigans! Yes it seems the humble cardy is making a fashion comeback so don't throw it out. I abhor shopping centres where everything is dumbed down and the same and love little shops where the owners are trying to be different.
Dinner was at the Pier in Rose Bay, the Doyle familys' finest restaurant, which started off badly with a glass of champagne offered at the bar, before we had seen the winelist, costing $25 for 1/2 a flute but a corner table with great views over the water brought us round. The service was professional without being stuffy and the ambience relaxed. I had the entree of blue swimmer crab in gaspacho, which was a nice contrast of sweet and sour, and the main of crispy skinned salmon was delicious. It is expensive with entrees upwards of $20 and mains upwards of $40 and I applaud the chefs maxim of not playing around to much with the fish to retain it's delicate flavour but at that price I want the dish to wow me and felt he could have been braver with his flavours.
It's hard being in the business, youbecome very critical.
Looking forward to quiet home to put some of this vibrant city energy to good use