Sydney Fish Market

November 28th, 2009



We decided to rent a car for the weekend to get better access to the area around Sydney. On Friday I called and made a reservation for one with Hertz. We walked over on Saturday morning and picked up the car. We decided that since the rental car was in my name and I had already gained experience a few weeks prior driving Cheryl's car, that I would be the designated driver for the weekend. Our first excursion was to the Fish Market. We punched the destination into the GPS and after some fits and starts we were off.





The Sydney Fish Market on Blackwattle Bay is the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is also the world's second largest seafood market, based on variety, outside of Japan. It is possible to get a "behind the scenes" tour of the market. I called to arrange one for Thursday morning, but they were booked through mid-December! They have lobsters the size of my leg and abalones bigger than my hand. The activity is almost frantic as people buy fresh seafood and eat it right there at picnic tables placed throughout the market.





After seeing the Sydney Fish Market for a few minutes on the 26th, we wanted to go back and try out some of the fresh specialties they offer. I was particularly interested in trying a few different types of oysters and abalone. Raw oysters don't necessarily make the best breakfast, but I can eat them any time. We started off with a dozen raw Sydney Rock oysters. Then we had three cheese-filled oysters, three baked abalones, and three baked scallops. After that we wandered around a little bit to see the market in operation, and then we set the GPS for Katoomba and headed for the hills!

Thanksgiving in Sydney

On November 26th, after coming back from the Olympic Park and seeing the small railway museum inside Central station, we walked to Paddy's Markets for lunch. I had some really bad Japanese food and a Heineken. The food court food was mostly lousy, but I should have had something else. Matt had a kebab and it looked really good.

We took the tram from Paddy's Markets to the Sydney Fish Market where we walked around for a bit to see the market and then bought some Balmain Bugs, prawns, and scallops for Thanksgiving Dinner at Cheryl's house in Sydney.



After a glass of wine and a quick snack of some olives and cherry tomatoes, we put the seafood into my backpack (huge mistake in retrospect, the smell lingered for weeks and through several washes!!) and headed for Central station to meet Cheryl. She drove us to her house and we waited for others to arrive.

We couldn't get the grill working because it was out of gas and then we swapped tanks but the new tank didn't have the right fitting for the grill! We gave up and just used the boil and fry methods for the bugs, scallops, and prawns. It all turned out great though! Gaelyn and Anne Marie arrived with a turkey!!! Haggie and Mary Jane and Aerhylle came to celebrate with us. It was an awesome Thanksgiving, even though we weren't in America for the tradition.







We had turkey and potatoes, prawns, bugs, scallops, an abalone. Matt and Gaelyn played pool in the garage before dinner. The mosquitoes were pretty rough being the middle of summer, so we had the bug zapper on. My feet got a few bites that would annoy me for the rest of the week!