It feels like we walked most of central Sydney today. We started by walking to Hyde Park and then up through it to the barracks. All morning it threatened to rain but held off.

Nick planed our day, as he does, and so I hadn’t done any research on what the barracks are. As we were walking in I realized it was yet another prison tour. Millie has developed a fascination/phobia of prisons, so it could have gone either way.

The entry was free and they had a great audio tour and kids’ activity book, so she ended up loving it and staying very engaged the whole time. Nick and I did the adults’ audio tour and learned a lot about the early convicts who arrived here, and the general colonization of Australia.

One of the activities in Millie’s book was to count how many mummified rats were in the museum.

At the end there was a guestbook-style wall where visitors could add their own story. Millie wrote hers.

From here we walked slowly through the botanical garden. The skies started getting more gray and the wind picked up.

We made it to the famous opera house and walked around it looking at the details, but we decided against the guided tour since it would have been $150 and we predicted Millie would be bored out of her mind.

We ducked into the Opera Bar for a late lunch and as soon as we sat down, it started pouring outside. We got to admire the architecture from here and eat and be protected from the rain all at the same time. Perfect afternoon stop.

When the rain let up we walked on. We walked with the water to our right all the way back to the hotel. We saw a giant cruise ship, bought postcards for friends, found a sweet little playground, and so on.

We once again had some canapés from the lounge instead of a full dinner. Millie charmed an employee by telling him literally every thing she has done in Australia and he brought her a little stuffed Echidna from the kitchen.

Normally we’d put Millie to bed after all this, but since we’re staying in a hotel room and don’t also want to go to bed at 8pm, we’re letting her stay up and continue her 90s film education. She will come home having watched 100x more movies than her peers, but at least they’re good ones. Tonight’s showing is ET. TBD if she will have nightmares.