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Published: January 20th 2009
Taipan
The most venomous snake in the world
Thursday 08/01/09 to Thursday 15/01/09 We were very busy in Sydney during our last week in Australia so this blog covers the whole week!
On Thursday morning we headed to Darling Harbour in order to visit Wildlife World, home to all the animals which make Australia home. Whilst it was good to see some new animals, the ones we have seen in the wild were of course much more exciting to see. For lunch we walked across to the Fish Market; we were both keen to try lobster and this is a good place to eat it at a much cheaper price than any of the restaurants in the city. The Fish Market is the second biggest in the world (behind one in Tokyo) and the range of seafood is fantastic. There are small shops selling bread, fruit, wine and delicatessen items aswell as all of the larger places selling seafood. Outside are tables for impromptu picnics - all very nice!.
That evening we headed to Circular Quay and the Opera Bar built into the side of the Opera House with views over the harbour to the bridge. We met up with
Simon (an old friend from Bristol) and his wife Julianna. We had a lovely evening despite some unusual weather - a grey and drizzly evening in Sydney isn’t too common.
On Friday we took the train and then a bus to Bondi. Bondi is famous for its surfing beach and there were no shortage of surfers catching waves in the bay. From here we walked along the coastline to Coogee. The walk passes through some beautiful bays and also through a huge cemetery which occupies a large area along the cliff tops. In Coogee we stopped for lunch at possibly the best pub we have visited. Set over three floors, it had a rooftop garden looking out over the bay. On the other floors were pool tables, arcade games and lots of television screens showing various sports from around the world.
In the evening we went to the cinema to see Australia; this seemed an appropriate film to watch! However, it wasn’t as good as we had hoped and probably reflective of the view of the critics (and Nicole Kidman’s accent is awful).
We visited Manly on Saturday. The beach at Manly is probably not as famous
as Bondi but the surfing seemed far better and there were some stretches of beach which were safer for swimming. Rich took the opportunity for a swim despite the big waves. Jules stuck to paddling and lying on the sand with her book. One of the highlights of the trip to Manly is the ferry journey. The views from the ferry are great and the deck of the boat is full of people trying to take photos.
Before heading up to Queensland we had booked tickets to see an opera in the Sydney Opera House. Saturday was the night for the performance so we got our least creased clothes on and headed out. There were actually two operas separated by a brief interval. The first was Cavalleria Rusticana and the second was Il Pagliacci. Both are Sicilian operas and involve affairs, scheming and murder. We only know this because there was a big screen with subtitles above the stage. The singing was incredible and the music was equally beautiful. It was also very interesting inside the opera house - the building’s interior is as unusual in its design as the famous exterior.
On Sunday we took the two
hour train journey to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. We picked a bad day for this trip as there were thousands of tourists in the area visiting the main tourist sites. After taking a trip down to the ground level of the forest on the ‘scenic’ railway (actually a nervy descent down a steep cliff) we explored the boardwalk around the forest. The trees offered some escape from the hot sun and there was plenty of wildlife to see.
The most famous tourist spot in the Blue Mountains is the Three Sisters. We got a good view of the Three Sisters from the valley and it was lucky we took some photos because as we approached the main viewing platform at Echo Point there were hundreds of people milling round. It was hot and we were fed up with the crowds so we gave Echo Point a miss and headed on to another spot to view some waterfalls. We decided to take a walk along one of the paths through the trees along the cliffs. It was very quiet and it seemed that all the other tourists were avoiding any walking as we had the path pretty much to
ourselves. The views from the various lookouts were stunning and probably bettered anything we would have seen from Echo Point. The Blue Mountains are so called because the Eucalypt trees emit a blue haze clearly visible as we looked out into the distance.
The return train journey was a nightmare with the train overcrowded and no room for us to sit down. We were tired from the walk and very hot and by the time we got back to Sydney we were ready for a drink and a night out. We headed into Chinatown for a meal and then on to Star City, Sydney’s huge casino. Star City is not quite as big as Melbourne’s casino but makes up for this by being even more tacky. The three storey waterfall as we entered the building was the best example of this.
It was apparent as soon as we tried our luck on one of the slot machines that we were in for a lucky night. Almost immediately our first five dollars became thirty dollars. We tried four or five machines and won varying amounts on each one. Last time Rich had been in Sydney he had won $180,
betting his last chip on number zero on the Roulette table, so he headed out to try his luck again. On the first table with a stake of one dollar number zero was a winner again, earning a twenty five dollar profit. On the five dollar table after a fruitless round and with just three chips left we were tempted to walk away, but Rich decided it was worth one more gamble and put the last chip on number zero. Yet again the lucky number paid out - it was quite unbelievable! We were now well over $200 up and thought it best to quite whilst we were ahead. We watched some of the live football from England (it was well past midnight by now). After buying a couple of beers we were given three dollars in change and as we left the casino we tried our luck one more time. Sure enough another thirty dollars came our way. Totting it all up the next day we realised we had made around £150 profit that night - not bad!
After a well needed lie-in on Monday morning, we took a gentle stroll to Darling Harbour. Our destination was the
Aquarium but first we wandered through the pedestrianised area around the harbour where there is plenty to catch the eye including a variety of fountains, sculptures and pieces of art. After grabbing some brunch we headed across to the Aquarium.
Inside the Aquarium we saw the fish and mammals which you might expect; turtles, eels, sea horses, penguins and sting rays. Most impressive, and rare, however, were the Dugongs. These are mammals that are most closely related to the elephant but also look a bit like a sea lion. It goes without saying that we also found plenty of Nemos in the Aquarium - much to the delight of the hundreds of children screaming his name. In the shark tank, other than a number of different sharks, were huge sting rays and a giant turtle.
From the Aquarium we headed north towards the area of the city known as The Rocks. This area is vastly different to the rest of the city in that the buildings are low rise, the streets are narrower and more pedestrian friendly and the architecture comprising a variety of European references. Located within The Rocks is a pub called The Australian Hotel. We
stopped here for refreshment and were amazed to learn that the pub contains much of its original fixtures and fittings from Victorian times including the awning on the front, taps and tiles in the restrooms and quirky split level internal layout.
Whilst in a photographic shop, purchasing some stunning pictures of the places we have visited on our trip, we found out that Fiji, our next destination, was experiencing some of the worst floods in living history. This was clearly not good news for our plans of a relaxing few days at the end of the week lazing in the sun. We later rang the hotel we were due to stay in and discovered that they were experiencing difficulties with many staff members unable to get to work due to the floods. It was clear that going to Fiji was off the cards and we would have to make alternative arrangements.
In the end, after plenty of phone calls to airlines, we opted to head straight to Los Angeles for 3 days (which is where our flight from Fiji would have left us for 5 hours before a connection to Vancouver in any event).
On Tuesday we
went up to the Olympic Park to the Tennis Centre for one of the warm-up tournaments for the Australian Open. Before taking our seats in the Ken Rosewall stadium (Centre Court) we watched the British Ladies no. 1, Melanie South, get knocked out of the competition on one of the outside courts.
On Centre Court we had seats just 9 rows back from the court and arrived in time to see Serena Williams go through to the next round in straight sets followed by Lleyton Hewitt struggle through his first set before winning the final two sets. Whilst there, we also saw Lleyton’s wife, Bec, who is a famous actress (formerly in Home and Away). Together they are viewed as the Posh and Becks of Australia (although Beckham doesn’t wear a stupid backwards baseball cap when he plays football).
Wednesday was our last full day in Sydney so we went for a final walk around the city to see some of the places we hadn’t yet visited. We passed through shopping areas, squares and parks and reached The Domain and Mrs Macquarie’s Point (a large area of parkland at the edge of the harbour). We enjoyed a picnic
lunch there and soaked up the sunshine. It was a very hot day and we knew our opportunities for sunbathing were running out.
On the way back to Circular Quay we walked through the Botanic Gardens which contains trees that are over 100 years old. Whilst it is encouraged to walk on the grass and hug the trees we decided not to participate in the latter opportunity. We did however come across the main reason for our visit to the gardens; flying foxes. These are a type of bat and we saw hundreds of them hanging in the branches of many of the trees in the garden, sleeping and chattering amongst themselves.
Our final evening meal was at a lovely restaurant overlooking the harbour called Wolfies. From our outside table we were able to see both the bridge and the Opera House lit up in the nights sky. Looking at this view really doesn’t get tiresome and I suspect the photos really don’t do it justice.
As we were checking out of the hotel on Thursday morning we received a call from Qantas informing us of a delay to our flight to LA of 5 hours! This
was particularly frustrating as we were both dressed in warm clothes and the temperature that day was set to hit nearly 40 degrees! We had a final wander around the Town Hall area of the city, taking in the Queen Victoria Building and its gallery of shops before heading off to the airport.
It is difficult to sum up our time in Australia. We have seen so much in the last six weeks and experienced so many different places that it is tricky to pick out just a few highlights; some were expected and some were places which aren’t even mentioned in the guidebooks. We have met some great people and had some really memorable experiences. The countryside and the wildlife will stay in our memories but so will the time spent in the cities. We have visited all of the mainland states and all bar one of the state capitals. We have travelled by air, by sea, by train, car and bicycle, visited islands, forests, mountains, rivers, deserts and beaches. We have packed a huge amount into our stay but still we feel that we have only scratched the surface of the country. We’ll be back one day!
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