We woke up to a wild and woolly day, very overcast with a strong wind howling around the house.  Not what we have been used to! Tony and Justine had left with the girls for the airport just after 6.00 am.

We had committed to cooking for Justine and Tony and Keith was keen to explore the fish market, so we set off down Market Street and over the Darling Harbour Bridge as the map said the fish market was over the other side.  The bridge is pedestrian only and you could see the Maritime Museum, Sea World and Madame Tussaud’s, an outing high on Coco’s list of places to visit!  Once over the bridge it was still quite a walk to the market, but once we got there it was buzzing with activity.

On the market complex there were sheds involved with all sorts of marine doings – large refrigerated trucks were either parked or coming and going, men in oil skins were hosing down the pavement and there was all sorts of fishing apparatus heaped around.

In the market itself, not only was there fresh wet fish for sale, there were also many stalls selling cooked fish of all sorts. Most of the people seated at the long eating tables were Asian – Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian. They were tucking into platters piled high with every sort of fish and crustacean.  They were eating with the usual Asian gusto!   It is unfair that they are all so slim!

We wandered the different stalls, Keth deciding what he was going to need.  It was all very colourful, the counters piled high with ice and colourful fish of all sorts nestling atop the ice mountains.  There were whole fish, filleted fish, crabs, lobsters, abalone, fish heads for sale to make stock, tanks of live crustaceans. A man in one area was hacking at an ice mountain with a large shovel. It was all going on!

There was an excellent vegetable shop where we were able to find all the vegetables and herbs required, a bakery (with a very good brand!) and a delicatessen.

We decided on the fish to be purchased and, our shopping done, we decided to take advantage of the cooked food – Keith had soft crab and I had a piece of salmon.

When we emerged from the market the weather had taken a serious down turn.  The return walk over the bridge was hard going. The wind had really got up and the flags that lined the bridge were flapping and straining against their flagpoles. It had also started to rain.  It was grim. However we battled our way across and back to the central Wynyard bus stop where all the buses go from and made our way home.

Keith then embarked on a cooking frenzy to prepare a tapas supper.

A good time was had by all!