Blogs from Hyde Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania - page 2

I never knew that the Sydney Opera House was considered one of the "Seven Wonders of the Modern World" but after spending so much time viewing it from a vast array of vantage points, I have to concede that it is spectacular. Cloudy days, sunny days, sunrise or dusk...it really is quite magical. A contraversial design in its origins (1957), it took years to finally complete (1973) and is probably, aside from koala and kangaroos, the one iconic symbol of Australia. Some say that it represents the sails of a ship, some say each section is like the segment of an orange. Others liken it to aboriginal tales of a turtle, mathematicians marvel at its near perfect geometrical proportions (the "sails" all fit together in a circle). Either way you look at it, it's a magnificent ... read more

You have to love Sydney. Any city that has area with such "London-esque" terms like "King's Cross", "Paddington" and "Hyde Park" (my current residence) and gives equal respect to others known as "Woolloomooloo" or "Barangaroo" deserves a very large pat on the back. Of course, this is not meant to be offensive as many of these terms come from the various Aboriginal languages that were the first ones spoken on this fascinating and exotic land...but try saying those three times fast! Trouble for the Aboriginals began in 1788 when Captain Arthur Phillip established Sydney (he named it after the British Home Secretary, Lord Sydney) as British territory. He brought along many vessels filled with 751 convicts, both male and female, as well as other naval personnel and other soldiers and officials and their families. The female ... read more

Hello there all! Feels like we haven't written a blog in ages, but I guess that's just because we've been squeezing so much in. I should probably start at the beginning with our bus journey and our goodbyes in Melbourne - you know, work chronologically for a change. After writing the last blog a few friends from the hostel suggested we went down to St Kilda pier to see the penguins who come out at dusk. They actually live there! I know it sounds like a pretty minor point to our trip but can you imagine wandering down a pier on a relatively cold (for Australia's winter) day and finding penguins huddled underneath the surrounding rocks! It was so cute and you had to be really careful not to frighten them off with too big movements ... read more

Sind jetzt schon vier Tage hier und es gibt so viel zum anschauen! Es ist echt superschoen hier! Haben ein total zentral gelegenes Hotel mit schoenem Zimmer (sogar mit Mini-Kuechenzeile). Haben natuerlich schon das Opernhaus inspiziert, sind ueber die Harbour Bridge gelaufen, waren in the Rocks auf dem Markt, in Chinatown, im Loewenbraeu, in Daring Harbour, auf nem Studentenpartycruise (mit Artur und Lena, tanzen auf dem Wasser mit Opernhouse-Ausblick!!!!! UNGLAUBLICH!!!). Einen Abend waren wir bei Artur und Lena zum kochen und grad kommen wir vom Luna Park zurueck. Ahja und nen Blick in die Art Gallery haben wir auch schon geworfen und durch den Hyde Park sind wir spaziert. Also wir haben echt schon einige Kilometer zu fuss zurueck gelegt! Zum Glueck gibts tagsueber den kostenlosen Shuttlebus! Es hat die letzten zwei Tage leider geschifft wie ... read more

Australia Day - Tuesday 26th January Tuesday 26th January was Australia Day, a day when Australians celebrate everything Australian, have a few drinks and a BBQ. We both had the day off work so decided to make the most of it and head to a couple of landmarks that epitomise Australia the most, the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. First of all we headed to Hyde Park in the city centre. The roads round the park had been closed off and there was a festival atmosphere with live music, classic car displays, a big BBQ and kid’s entertainment. It was a scorcher of a day so after a little while we decided to head down to Circular Quay, home of the Opera House. It was very busy and there was a nice atmosphere. There were ... read more