Sydney Harbour Cruise

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Sunday Harbour Cruise.

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words.There are quite a few in this blog.

On Monday I caught the train to Circular Quay downtown Sydney to go on the "Coffee Cruise" on the Captain Cook Cruises

As an aside,an interesting thing about the trains,they are double decker's,on the platform you enter the train and there are about 20 seats on that level then you have the option also of going downstairs to the lower deck or up to the upper deck a good utilisation of space.They don't really look any bigger than the trains in the U.K. The other point I found out was that you swivel the top part of the seat so that you could face the way the train was travelling


At Circular Quay I purchased the ticket and boarded the Captain Cook
Sydney Harbour estuary has formed one of the largest natural harbours in the world, with the estuary being 19 km long and 55 square kilometers in area. There are 68 bays and coves within that area .It really is immense the cruise took two hours ,and it really only covered the Bay going out towards the heads (the Entrance to the Bay)and not round to Darling Harbour and up to the Olympic Stadium and beyond.

Going on River Cat to explore that part later in the week.

I find it amazing that Capt Cook logged it as a small cove and named it Port Jackson but had not further explored and went on to land at Botany Bay in 1770.
However, almost 18 years later, when Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet arrived in early 1788 to establish an outpost and penal colony, they found that Botany Bay and surrounds did not live up to the promising picture that had been painted. Instead, Phillip gave orders to relocate to a harbour a few kilometres to the North It was in this harbour, at a place Phillip named Sydney Cove , that the settlement of Sydney was established.

Since those early days Sydney and it's harbour has become famous for it's tourism,its notable beaches and it's two icons the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge

There are some really amazing houses with incredible price tags and some very fine Colonial buildings.

All in all a fascinating and super day made by the splendid weather .

Tomorrow the "Sydney Bridge Climb"


Phileas

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Photos

Opera House
Was designed by Danish architect
Jorn Utzon, BUDJET -$7Million
Cost $AU 102,000,000 to build ,somewhat over budjet!!
Government set up lottery to clear the debt - In 18 months it was cleared.
Provides guided tours to 200,000 people each year @ $26 a Head
Has an annual audience of 2 million for its performances prices up up to $280/adult
icludes 1000 rooms
Is 185 metres long and 120 metres wide
Has 2194 pre-cast concrete sections as its roof
Has roof sections weighing up to 15 tons
Has roof sections held together by 350 kms of tensioned steel cable
Has over 1 million tiles on the roof
Uses 6225 square metres of glass and 645 kilometres of electric cable
Phew !! glad that's over

Macquarie's Chair
Mrs Macquaire's Chair, otherwise known as Lady Macquarie's Chair, provides one of the best vantage points in Sydney. The historic chair was carved out of a rock ledge for Governor Lachlan Macquarie's wife, Elizabeth, as she was known to visit the area and sit enjoying the panoramic views of the harbour

Open air cinema
The screen is laying across the water when in use they raise it

$50 million house
Sold last year for this crzy amount the most expensive house in the harbour.

The Gap
South side of the Heads.It has an infamous reputation Locals know, and tourists do not, that this is the last stop for the desperate few, who throw themselve off!It also a beautiful location for a spectacular scenic cliff top walk that begins at The Gap Park. and throw themselve off!

North & South Heads
This is the entrance into the Harbour from the Pacific Ocean

China beach
In the 70's the Chinese moved into this area .You could buy a little original cottage for $30,000.It is only 15mins from City Centre today You pay up to $1,000,000

mini-HMS Sydney Mast
The white mast you’ll see belongs to HMAS Sydney, a WW1 battleship

Opera house bar
Top dollar prices and the so called "scooner Glass cleverly made with very thick glass towards the bottom so less for you with an inflated price (scooner normally 0.45 litres but these glasses more like 0.375 litres)

Sorely Tempted
But because it's in the trendy Opera Walk ,an arm and a leg pricewise

Unusual Find
This a Bronze plaque set in the pavementon Writer's Walk.It quotes part of a letter by Charles Darwin who spent two months in Sydney

Busker
One of many along the walkway