Advertisement
Published: December 9th 2005
On top of Harbour Bridge
Proud to be an engineer! City Living Sydney Style!
Quirky Factsheet No 2! Forget Las Vegas - Australia is a nation of gamblers. NSW has around 20%!o(MISSING)f the world's pokies and the world's highest ratio of pokies to people. The country outstrips the US by a 3:1 ratio per capita lost to gambling.
"Kangaroo" allegedly comes from an Aboriginal dialect word for "I don't know". An Englishman in NSW was trying to converse with an Aborigine when a kangaroo hopped across their path. The Aborigine was not naming the creature, but simply responding to the eccentric Englishman's chatter.
The Eucalyptus Regnans is the world's tallest known tree, the largest recorded being 132.6m tall. It is a sclerophyll (hard leaved) tree, and grows even taller than Californian Sequoias.
The Blue Mountains get their name from the fine mist of eucalyptus oil and grit dispersed into the atmosphere above the forest. This mist refracts blue light from the sun (known as Rayleigh scattering).
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is held together by 6,000,000 riveted bolts, and not one has had to be replaced in over 70 years. Saturday 17th September Arrived in Sydney this evening after a very
City Night
The Rocks & CBD uncomfortable flight folded into a seat between two others and behind another seat that was reclined the whole way, despite my knees being wedged into the back. Lots of turbulence too, whch didn't help. My pleas for an aisle or exit seat fell on deaf ears. Have never been so grateful to see an airport building! Stepping out of the airport into the cool, crisp Sydney night air felt wonderful after the heat and humidity of Hong Kong and the cramped stuffiness of the plane. My friend Steve took me on a mini tour of Sydney on the way back to his flat, and I got my first "real life" glimpse of "WOW! The Harbour Bridge!" then "WOW! The Opera House!". It was absolutely amazing - sights that are so familiar to us all, but still spectacular when you see them with your naked eyes! I saw the sparkling new skyscrapers of the Central Business District - lit up but in a less garish way to Hong Kong. Everything seemed very still, from the calm Harbour water to the ordered streets around us. Steve's flat is in North Sydney and has a balcony that overlooks the Harbour, CBD, and the
Bridge Evening
Harbour Bridge Twilight Bridge. I don't think I'd ever get tired of looking at that view! We went for a quick beer in the local and I had my first "schooner" of Toohey's.
Sunday 18th September I thought I'd pretty well avoided jet lag up till now, but I must have been delaying it, as I just slept and slept this morning! Felt a bit annoyed with myself but I guess I must have needed it. When I managed to rouse myself, we went on a sight-seeing tour - first port of call, the Fish Market. I had been reliably informed that baby octopus was the dish to go for, so we ordered a seafood platter containing octopus, oysters mornay, whitebait and some other type of fish, and found ourselves a spot on the pier outside. I have to admit, I was reminded of the film "Finding Nemo" while trying to protect my food from the beady-eyed gulls ("mine!mine!mine!)! There were a couple of pelicans in the water too, looking world-weary and mightly annoyed by their impertinent squawking neighbours! The baby octopus was quite good - much less rubbery than the adult type, but I preferred the oysters mornay. These were
cooked oysters served with chopped bacon and herbs of some sort. We wandered round the rest of the market - I have never seen such a big selection of seafood anywhere and everything looked and smelled extremely fresh. I did wonder what happens to it all though - surely not all of it is bought that day?
After lunch, we headed on to BONDI BEACH! Yes, it was beautiful and, yes, it had pretty good surf. I rolled up my jeans and went for a paddle and, er, it was freezing! I will go back in the summertime though! The only people swimming were Brits in denial. Walked the length of the beach in the soft, clean sand and tried to make myself believe that I was actually there! I still find it hard to believe! Then headed on to a sheltered seawater swimming pool for ice cream, and finished up with a quick tour of Darling Harbour. The light here is of a very different quality to that back home. It gives everything a crisp, defined appearance. Perhaps that's why everyone seems much happier and friendlier here than in London!
Monday 19th September Walked down from
Bridge Night
Me by the Harbour Bridge North Sydney, along the edge of the harbour and through the site of an old sawmill (now turned into a park). Walked up to and over the Harbour Bridge then spent some time exploring the Rocks area. This was once a slum district overunning with people and disease, and was the site of an outbreak of Bubonic plague at the turn of the 20th century, but it has now been gentrified. These days it is home to the wealthy and to boutique shops and tourist attractions. Many of the oldest buildings in Syndey can be found here too. Beyond the Rocks is the business district, with its shiny skyscrapers set out along wide grid-layout streets. I spent most of the day wandering around and window-shopping.
Tuesday 20th September Today was the most "touristy" day of my entire trip! Wandered all the way along to Darling Harbour, where I had a quick lunch overlooking the lovely boats and hordes of schoolchildren (not so lovely!) before heading into the Sydney Aquarium (well I had to see "Nemo" and his relatives!). This was well worth a visit, and I noted the display of sharks' jaws (this will probably be useful when
Bondi
On Bondi Beach I head to Australia's shark capital, SA!). I was then getting a little pushed for time, so I caught a cab up to the bridgeclimb centre - the cab driver was, again, very friendly and gave me tips on other sights to visit. I'd booked myself in to climb up to the top of the Harbour Bridge. A very slick outfit run these tours, and climbers are kitted out in natty grey jumpsuits and caps, and everything is tied on. We were anchored by sailors' lanyards to a static line the whole time, so it was very safe. I'm ashamed to admit that, yes, I bought the t-shirt (well I am an engineer after all!). The views from the top were stunning - I'd booked into the last tour of the afternoon, and we were lucky enough to catch the sunset. Seeing the colours change over the harbour was unforgettable. The Blue Mountains could be seen in the distance to the West - my destination tomorrow. Steve met me in the city on my return and showed me round some of the impressive Victorian-era buildings in the centre, then we caught the lift up to the top of the SkyTower.
Bondi Surfers
Surfers at Bondi Unfortunately, we were forced to sit through a series of extremely cheesy "virtual reality" audio-visual presentations, which seemed to reinforce every Australian stereotype I could think of (though the huge Korean tour group surrounding us seemed to love it). When we escaped, we were then allowed to proceed on up to the "Sky lounge", with its spectacular views of the entire city.
Wednesday 21st September It was an early start today as I'd booked onto a tourbus. Jed, our friendly driver/guide, whisked us out west to the Blue Mountains, a beautiful forest of eucalyptus just outside the city. We ambled through a pocket of cold-climate rainforest for an hour, before heading on to "Scenic World", where I saw my first koala. Jed informed us that koalas are pretty happy creatures generally, because they spend their lives stoned! Something to do with the substances in eucalyptus leaves that would be toxic to humans, but which koalas have adapted themselves to eating. The one I saw did seem to be transfixed by a nearby leaf! I also saw lots of parrots, cockateels and some flaming galahs! We visited the famous "Three Sisters", named after an Aboriginal
dreamtime story, in which
Octopus
Very Tasty! the rocks were originally three beautiful sisters from the Katoomba tribe. They fell in love with three brothers from a rival tribe, and their laws forbade their marriage. The brothers then tried to capture them, causing a major battle and threatening the lives of the women. A witchdoctor then turned the sisters into rocks to protect them, intending to reverse the spell after the battle. Unfortunately, he was killed, and the sisters remained as the huge rocky outcrops they are today. They are each around 900m tall. We finished the tour with a quick stop in a forest clearing that is home to a small band of grey kangaroos (Skippy re-inactments were inevitable!). They are a lot smaller than I expected, but very cute! I saw one with a little joey in its pouch. We finished the tour driving through the site of the 2000 Olympic village to the pier. A fast ferry service then shuttled us back to Circular Quay, providing more spectacular sunset views. When we got back to the city, I caught up with another mate, Todd, I knew from London, and had a couple of schooners before heading back to the flat.
Thursday 22nd September Fish Market
Mine Mine Mine! Today was my last day in this beautiful city (I definitely want to come back sometime!). I caught a train into the centre of town and wandered down towards Circular Quay. I then took a slight detour and ended up wandering round the Botanic Gardens. However, I'd recommend anyone to visit them. They are less formal than, say, Kew gardens, but very picturesque, and signs say "we encourage you to walk on the grass, hug the trees and talk to the plants"! I then continued on to the Opera House itself. From the outside, it still looks very modern, though the interior definitely harks back to 1950s/1960s Scandinavian-style architecture. The exterior is clad in two different types of tile, shiny and matt, and they cause the building to shimmer in different hues depending on the light. From Circular Quay, I caught a ferry to Manly Beach - Sydney's answer to Brighton! Lots of surf dudes, surfwear shops, and takeaway outlets. Watched a kite-surfer licking along the surf at an impressive rate of knots. I grabbed a late lunch before catching another sunset ferry back to Circular Quay. Steve and his friends then took me on a tour of the
Stormy
Opera House Twilight most scenic bars in the city. As we sat next to the Quay eating delicious fresh seafood and sipping some lovely Aussie wine, I thought "I'm definitely going to enjoy living in Australia"!
(See my Sydney Gallery for the best photos)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.107s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0441s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
