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Published: January 5th 2008
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Harbour Bridge
Our first view of the bridge Sydney
The plane landed at Sydney International at around 9am local time. As we wait to exit the plane, we notice that we are stood next to none other than Peter Andre and Jordan. You can imagine our excitement, the holiday just can't get any better. I think it says a lot about me that I was more excited to see a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 (what an enormous aeroplane) than Britain's most powerful celebrity couple (plus entourage).
The airport at Sydney is about as unremarkable as the customs procedures are over-zealous. I have to declare the chopsticks that Cath bought in Hong Kong as they are made of wood, and my shoes as they may harbour invasive organisms from the hills above Flintshire which could threaten the Australian way of life. The air is laden with the stench of rotten fruit and vegetables that have been dictched in wheely bins all over the arrivals hall. All in all it is a pretty inauspicious arrival into Sydney.
We get a taxi from the airport to the hotel. By now it's about 10 o'clock, and the temperature is already at 30 degrees-C. After checking in to the hotel, we
Opera House
Almost makes you respect architects freshen up quickly and hit the streets of Sydney, keen to see the famous views around Circular Quay. Despite the fact that Sydney's bridge and Opera House are as familiar an image as if I lived just around the corner from them, seeing them for the first time "in the flesh" is awesome (and I don't mean that in the Bill and Ted way). For me, the Opera House just pips the bridge in the modern wonder of engineering stakes. It is an unbelievably good-looking building, and I can't stop looking at it while we are there.
You can understand why all buildings aren't as daring or as innovative as this one (hell, it took 14 years to build!), but we could do with a few more like it. I show my appreciation to Australia for creating the world's most handsome building (ok so the architect was Danish and the Engineer some other type of Scandanavian...) by eating one of its tasty indigenous critters for my lunch as we overlook the harbour. If you haven't tried Koala steak then I recommend it. Only joking. It was kangaroo.
Starting bright and early the next day (again assisted by jet
Fireworks
Sydney's "other" display lag!), we enjoy a hearty breakfast in the hotel. We need to make plans for the New Years Eve celebrations later on in the day. Watching the news in the hotel room at 6am, we find out that people have been staking out the best positions to watch the fireworks display for the last couple of hours! Neither of us are keen to spend 17 hours jealously guarding a patch of grass in the searing heat so we agree that we'll play it by ear. There's a display going on in Darling Harbour as well which could be an alternative.
The day passes as we explore our environs and when 9pm arrives, we make the call that we are unlikely to get anywhere near the main harbour at this late hour, so we head for Darling Harbour. The first fireworks are watched from Pyrrepoint Bridge (the first electrically actuated timber swing bridge if you're interested in such things...), before we manage to get a place in a harbour-side restaurant.
We order the seafood platter (which is the only thing on the menu) and when it arrives there is clearly enough food on it to feed 8. It is
Big Ugly Fish
Gee, I hope this glass is thick enough... enormous. It included a lobster which was pretty darn tasty, amongst other treats; squid, oysters, fish, langoustines, mussels, smoked salmon... We manaed a fraction of it, but the setting was ideal. After finishing the meal, we watched the midnight fireworks display and took in the new year. We could also see the Harbour Bridge fireworks going off above the buildings on the other side of the harbour. All in all a memorable NYE!
The next day was another scorcher. It feels a bit wrong lathering on the Factor 25 on New Years day! We headed down the Aquarium and National Wildlfe centre. It was very busy but with a bit of patience and some use of the elbows we are able to make our way round the tanks and cages and take a few photos. I learn that it is incredilbly difficult to take a decent picture of a duck-billed platypus. A life lesson that will serve me well in a number of ways I am sure. In the Wildlife Centre Cath is delighted to learn that the most venemous spider in the world is called, worryingly specifically, the Sydney Funnelweb Spider. This isn't taken well by the woman
Frilled Lizard
Mum's favourite who has been checking under the toilet seat for black widows on the 22nd floor of the Sydney Hilton. She doesn't leave it to chance when it comes to arachnids, my wife.
On our final day in Sydney we head over to the Botanical Gardens to see the famous view over the harbour from Macquarie Point. This is the spot which, 48 hours earlier, was crammed to the edge of the water with New Year revellers and Portaloos. Things are a little more sedate today as we sit amongst a small number of people who are reading or sunbathing or, in my case, staring at the view like a slack-jawed yokel.
Obviously the view is amazing, but the biggest surprise of the Gardens in the number of enormous bats that were circling overhead. I thought I had seen one of these the previous evening, but I'd had no idea that flying foxes could be found in Sydney. Now, here we were with irrefutable proof that there is a substantial population of the beasts. There must have been hundreds of them! Look at the photo and you can see them hanging from the branches of the trees like big
Sleepy Koala
About as comfy as sleeping in a tree gets fat seed pods!
After the park, I decide that I want one more seafood platter before I leave Sydney. To be honest, the one we had on NYE was so large that it was unappetising. It was as if someone had dynamited a rock pool and then served it on a multi-tiered plate. I wanted something with a little less crude I suppose. We found restaurant right under the bridge called The Waterfront (just nextdoor to Wolfies if you're looking for it). This seafood platter was much better and it didn't make you feel full just by looking at it. My last meal in Sydney was excellent - washed down with a crown lager overlooking the Opera House. Perfect.
An early start the next morning required an early night. The "main bit" of the holiday awaits - can't wait to see New Zealand!
Alex and Cath
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Dad
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can't wait!
Can't wait to see everything for ourselves. It all looks wonderful. It's the day before we set off and these photos whet your appetite. Cold and frosty morning in Wales and so it will be a bit of a shock for us to experience the temperatures in Oz. Speak soon.