Sydney 29 December 2010 to 4 January 2011

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Hello from Australia; we have arrived and were greeted with wonderful views over the harbour and surrounding area as the plane landed smoothly on the Sydney runway. We caught a shuttle bus to our B&B Sydney Harbour which was situated in the heart of the Rocks, Australia's birth place and one of the oldest and most interesting parts of Sydney. It was strange seeing so many people milling around, it reminded us of Hong Kong which was probably the last time we had seen so many people all together! The B&B was in an old restored building tucked in amongst the giant skyscrapers right at the top of the Rocks area, so many steps to get down to the harbour below! We met Jeff our host and his small dog called ‘mate’ who showed us around our room and although not as grand as the one we had left it had loads of character. It was strange to be surrounded by ‘old’ things (and I do not mean Paul) whilst the B&B in Christchurch had been so clean, fresh and modern. We set off traipsing down many steps for our first glimpse of Sydney and within minutes had views of Sydney Bridge, the icon that everyone knows. We continued on through the extremely interesting Rocks area to Circular Quay below. The quay is the stepping-off point for most attractions based around the harbour and an exciting place to be on a lovely warm summer's day. It was a vibrant, bustling place with ferries leaving every few minutes to different parts of the area, including Manly Beach, Watsons Bay, Mosman and Taronga Park Zoo as well as Darling Harbour. Street Performers were entertaining the tourist and we stopped many times to watch them perform but particularly liked the deep tones of the didgeridoos. There were great views of the Harbour Bridge, a short distance away and on the southern side of Circular Quay there was a walkway that led to the Sydney Opera House and Royal Botanical Gardens; while on the northern side, a short walk along landscaped walkways took you to the Harbour Bridge itself. We made our way along to the Opera House walking through throngs of people and at one time walked through an open air ‘pub’ with seating along the waterside everyone was enjoying a beautiful sunny evening. We spent a while wandering around enjoying the atmosphere and at dusk noticed flocks of Fruit Bats (flying foxes) making their way out of the Botanical Gardens which was just behind the Opera House. We awoke early the next day which was our Wedding Anniversary and here we are in Sydney, Australia which would have been a far off dream 44 years ago when we got married in Bath, Somerset. We wandered down to Circular Quay again and then walked through the Botanical Gardens, a sprawling 30 hectares of green next to the Sydney central business district, and contiguous to the 35 hectares of Sydney’s Domain. Established in 1816, Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens are Australia’s oldest scientific institution with plant collections of more than 7500 species as well as being the first farm of Australia. It was a good place for long walks along the curve of Farm Cove, from the Man of War Jetty close to the Sydney Opera House to Mrs Macquaries Point. It was rather hot but we set off on this walk seeing numerous Sulphur-crested Cockatoos in the trees a good place to stop to get some shade! Whilst we walked along the riverside we also noticed many Sydney siders out on their daily runs (in this heat they must be mad). We were trying to ascertain what would be the best spot to be in for the New Year Celebrations but already fences were being erected everywhere and the gardens would be cordoned off to only the ‘select few’. However Mrs Macquaries Point would remain open and we thought that this would be the best place as it offered breathtaking views of the harbour as well as the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. That evening we caught a ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour, the ferry passes right under Sydney Harbour Bridge so you get a good scenic cruise at the cost of a ferry ticket. We had booked a meal at a seafood restaurant overlooking Darling Harbour to celebrate our anniversary. This was a retirement gift from the Partners of Shentons and all we had to do was to log on to the ‘Red Balloon Day’ website and choose the date and time. An email confirmed which restaurant and its location and we were to be seated in a restaurant called ‘Nicks’ believe it or not. We were shown to a lovely table overlooking the busy harbour and then the food started to arrive. Every kind of seafood that you could imagine including lobster, prawns, octopus, squid, soft crab, mussels, salmon and barramundi etc, there was enough to feed six people. We spent a lovely evening, so thank you once again to the Partners of Shentons for this delightful gift; it was a lovely way to spend our 44th wedding anniversary and one we will remember for a very long time. We awoke early on New Years Eve packed our rucksacks for the day and set off for Mrs Macquaries Point. As soon as we left the hotel we noticed that people were all heading in the same direction and then we saw the queues, bearing in mind this was 0930 hours in the morning it was hard to believe so many people were on the move. We thought we had found the end of the queue only to see that it continued all the way around the park and we continued for about 20 minutes just to reach the end. The atmosphere was electric and every now and then the queue would become part of a giant ‘Mexican Wave’, you could watch it rolling around but never seeing the end of the wave as it disappeared towards the end of the queue which was growing and growing….. Believe it or not we stood in this queue for nearly three hours in really hot temperatures before we even got to the entrance of the park where they were searching everyone’s bags. No-one was allowed to take alcohol into the park and they were not even allowing water as they said this might contain alcohol but you could purchase this when you got in!! There were notices saying that they would only be letting 20,000 people into this particular area but we were told that there were usually about 100,000 in this one area. Once through we proceeded through the park which was already becoming full but found a good spot right by the waterfront with a view of Harbour Bridge and the river. We then took temporary possession of a prime piece of real estate with lovely views over Sydney. As the day turned to evening we met so many different people from around the world and we all chatted away counting down the hours until midnight. As the day went on your little piece of grass became smaller and smaller and soon you had to carefully guard your spot as people milling around were waiting to pounce if you left it! There were refreshment areas and rows and rows of portable toilets but one of us had to ensure we stayed to keep our ‘precious spot’. The food and coffee was good but although the toilets started off OK as the day wore on there were large queues of males and females at each door and they quickly degraded!!!! It was quite surreal watching people walking past the rows of loos with their fast food but that’s another story. We also saw our first ‘live’ possum whilst sitting on the grass, immediately in front of us there was a temporary fence which obviously crossed this little possum’s territory as he tried unsuccessfully to get through but was greeted by all these strange people and turned and ran off quickly. So we were about to celebrate a very different New Year and at 0900 hours the first display started. Sydney’s skyline exploded as the fireworks illuminated the city and dazzled us and the other spectators, ahead of the midnight extravaganza that would bring in 2011. This display was a teaser for the much-hyped show-stopper set to wow the world at midnight but we had to wait another three hours before then. However there was no way anyone was moving now after being here for over 12 hours, what’s another three! At last a giant red X lit up the centre of Harbour Bridge which coincided with a parade of brightly lit vessels on the waters below us, a truly magnificent sight. We found out later that there were an estimated 1.5 million revellers (including us two!) crammed into viewpoints on the foreshore, joining the people on board luxury yachts, boats, tinnies and even tenders filling the harbour waters. As we watched some of the boats were drifting off their anchors and coming quite close to the shore but police were busy milling around the boats to ensure that everyone remained safe. At last midnight arrived and the massive fireworks display started with some 5,000kg of explosives set off around the harbour. The familiar rumble and bang of fireworks was deafening and streams of bright rainbow colours went shooting into the night sky turning it into day. Fireworks were launched from the bridge, from boats in the harbour and from buildings all around the waterfront. It was a truly amazing experience and one probably not to be repeated as I do not think we would ever want to queue again. That being said we both said it was well worth the effort with some of the best views imaginable and lots of lovely memories. We finally made our way back to the B&B with the other 1.5 million people and soon got completely lost amongst the city streets but did eventually find our way back. We hope everyone who reads our blog had a fabulous New Years Eve, we certainly did. A new year begins with new adventures, meeting new people, and no doubt a few surprises along the way. Have a great 2011 we intend to……..We awoke very late next morning and had breakfast before catching the ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour where we had a delightful stroll through the Chinese Gardens. The gardens were designed and built by Chinese landscape architects and gardeners. Similar to every classical Chinese Garden, traditional principles govern the use of four key elements of water, plants, stone and architecture. Together, these four elements combine to create perfect balance. The art of Chinese Garden design began in imperial parks during the Shang dynasty 3000 years ago. Later they flourished on a smaller scale in the private gardens of China's rich and powerful. The Chinese Garden of Friendship at Darling Harbour is a scaled-down version of a typical private garden from this era. Chinese Gardens differ from western-style gardens in that there are no planted flowerbeds or manicured lawns. Instead, wild aspects of nature are recreated in artfully designed landscapes that feature waterfalls, mountains, lakes and forests. It was strange to see this lovely garden tucked in between the towering office blocks in the centre of Sydney and as you wandered around it was like being in two different worlds. Later we or rather Paul visited the Maritime Museum located on the harbourside. There were many historical ships as well as a seaworthy replica of Captain James Cook’s, Endeavour. However, thankfully, Paul remembered my lack of interest in this particular type of museum and decided to only look at the moored exhibits in the harbour and not the museum itself (I think he was tired from the night before!). Next day we caught the ferry to Manly one of Sydney premier beach locations and again had a delightful cruise around the harbour at the cost of a ferry ticket to get there. We arrived at Manly in brilliant sunshine and Paul had a swim in one of the little coves but it was a little cold for me (still used to the hot spring water in NZ). We undertook a couple of walks before making our way through the bustling town to the well known beach on the other side of the harbour where we spent some time watching the surfers. The life guards were constantly blowing their whistles and shouting trying to control the swimmers and keep them away from the very strong currents. The day before this huge beach had been evacuated as they had spotted about 10 sharks extremely close to shore but there was no sign of them today which was a pity! Next day we decided we would walk to Paddy’s Market passing through China Town, this market is Australia's original Market boasting a wide range of products and is one of Sydney's major suppliers to the tourist with souvenirs as well as hundreds of stalls selling just about anything! We then had a trip on the mono rail around Darling Harbour before heading back to Circular Quay. That evening we had a delightful meal in the Rocks area a lovely place to just sit and watch the world do by. For the cricket fans amongst you this was also the first day of the final ashes test and a big screen TV had been set up in Circular Quay, so Paul managed to catch a few live moments. The following day we decided we would ‘walk the bridge’ and had wonderful views out over the harbour - Sydney truly is a lovely city. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and would have liked to have had a couple more days but the B&B was fully booked so we decided we would head inland into the Blue Mountains for a couple of days. We visited the travel information centre in Sydney and there was not much choice of accommodation as it was ‘high season’ so we decided to go luxury and booked into the Carrington Hotel for a couple of days and then see if we could find somewhere cheaper when we got there. We also decided not to hire a car as the train service seemed quite good so we left Sydney with our backpacks and nothing else and boarded the train for Katoomba the capital of the Blue Mountains.

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