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On the ground in Sydney I opted for the Air Train rather than the shuttle bus, partly on economic grounds though it's actually only a dollar or two cheaper, but largely on the basis that a stroll through Central would give me a chance to scope out the transport arrangements for the trip out to Olympic Park.

Actually, having chosen the wrong egress after I'd done that I realized I could just have easily chosen to stay at the Rendezvous in terms of proximity to Central (actually, I knew that, but had opted for the known route between station and accommodation) before heading back inside to find the more familiar route to the Great Southern, which is, in many ways, a significant step down from the Rendezvous.

Given the choice in the future, Hughesy will definitely be arranging to hook up with the Rendezvous.

Having booked in I took a wander across to Market Central, made a more thorough search of the environs for alcohol and dining possibilities, picked up what I thought I'd need from the Red Bottle and headed back to the hotel, picking a likely dinner option a couple of doors away on the basis of interesting Sichuan-style cuisine and free WiFi.

Given a reasonable grasp of the environs I wasn't interested in exploring too much in the immediate vicinity, and figured I was due a big night pushing up Zs, so the tapping away continued over a couple of Yebisus until it was dinner time and a bottle of Pewsey Vale Riesling over dinner ensured I didn't need much rocking whenI wandered back upstairs to hit the hay.

© Ian Hughes 2012