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Published: March 30th 2012
Sydney Day 3,March 8,2012
I woke up at a 7:30 the next morning, and after having breakfast in my room and getting ready, headed to the Sydney Opera House, where I had booked the “essentials” tour. If you book online, you can save $7! Unfortunately, the weather gods were not happy and it had poured throughout the night. It was still wet and rainy as I walked through Circular Quay towards the Opera House, and my poor Wal-Mart special umbrella was turning upside down in the wind. As I approached the SOH, I saw a huge staircase outside the building, next to an entrance, and I feared a wet climb. However, I approached a security guard outside who directed me to go in the entrance-whew!
I was able to get my ticket easily, and was told that I was the only one who booked the 9:30 tour. This surprised me-as I thought the tour was popular, not to mention an indoor activity to do in the rain. When I reached my tour meeting point, Dirk, my tour guide, asked me if there was anything specific I wanted to see or learn about. I told him I just
wanted the basic tour, whatever he wanted to talk about was fine. So we headed off to the first of the theaters, where he described the types of shows that each performed. Upon entering the Stage Theater, Dirk asked me what type of show I was interested in seeing at the SOH. I told him I was looking for a musical type show, and was leaning towards Midsummer. He said that this was getting good reviews, and then started raving about the show La Soiree, that was showing in the Stage Theater. Apparently it was a burlesque, cabaret type, and his description of the show had me cracking up-now I was torn as to what to see!
We headed to the theater that Midsummer was in, the Drama Theater, where I could see that every seat pretty much had a good view. Good to know.
Next,Dirk actually took me into the basement, telling me that this wasn’t part of the regular tour.it was cool, we passed several workers hauling pieces of scenery across the floor and others working on lighting and sound equipment. Then we walked up to the lounge of one of the larger theaters, the Opera
Sydney Harbour Bridge
yes,another pic-on a rainy day!Theater, where Dirk snapped some pictures of me and the skyline. It was here he told me that the windows were reflective, and that the whole building was designed so that no matter which direction you were facing, you saw water. Amazing! Then he pointed out the expensive houses across the harbor, saying that when the SOH was being built, the residents had complained that their property value would suffer. “Needless to say, they aren’t complaining now,” he added. We made our way into the Opera Theater, where another tour group (larger than mine LOL) was sitting. Dirk pointed out the netting at the bottom of the stage, telling me the infamous chicken story (apparently during a production featuring live animals, a chicken crawled onto an orchestra member’s head). He added that “here in Sydney, it takes us more than once to learn something,” and proceeded to tell me about a second chicken incident, this time involving a present left behind from the chicken. Thus, the net was invented.
Finally, we headed to the Concert Theater, where the Sydney Symphony was rehearsing. At first, Dirk didn’t think we would be able to go in, but then he opened the
Trump!
Not Donald.... door quietly and indicated to remain quiet. We slipped into the side, near the top, and actually got to watch about 15 minutes of the rehearsal. I never thought that I was into symphonies, but they were amazing! Now, I had three performances to consider.
At the conclusion of the tour, Dirk told me that it was “the most interesting tour “he had ever given. The photographer stopped us at the ending point, showing me the photos that she had taken of me at the beginning. I paused to look, and Dirk walked away, saying goodbye. Now I felt awkward, as I hadn’t given him his tip yet, and for once, I felt like a tour guide really deserved it.So I gave it to the photographer, and she directed me downstairs to the tor meeting point to give it.
Once I found my way back, knocked on the window and asked for Dirk, he came out and gave an audible sigh of relief. “Oh thank you! I was afraid to hang around, since you were looking at pictures,” he replied. OK, now I felt a little insulted. Yes, I thought he deserved a tip, but to act so
The Sun Came Out!
Underneath Harbour Bridge forward about it? You lost some points, Dirk!
As I left the SOH, I headed to Circular Quay, trying to find my way to the Bridgeclimb offices. I came across a tour shop and asked them where to purchase Bridgeclimb tickets. “Here, of course,” the woman chirped. So I sat down, and she presented me with my options. I chose to go on Saturday, as it was predicted to be sunny. The price was the same as on the website, so I felt comfortable purchasing it there. I also inquired about Blue Mountain tours, but the cheapest they had been $130, where I had been looking at ones that were about $95-$99.”But those don’t include the rides,” the woman interjected. “You’re going to have to open your wallet if you really want to experience the Blue Mountains.”
The rides that she was referring to were the skyway cable car and the train that took you to/from the rainforest at the base of the mountain. I had been considering doing these, but hadn’t made up my mind.However,once I purchased the Bridgeclimb,she told me that it would be 20% off if I purchased the Blue Mountain tour there, since I
had booked one tour through them. If I didn’t add the lunch option(which I rarely do, as I’m a picky eater and NOT a fan of buffets,)it would only cost me $115.I decided to bite the bullet, as it would be about the same price if I went with another company and added the rides. Plus, it would save me a call to the other companies.
Once I parted with a large chunk of my cash, I headed for Darling Harbour. One of the girls from the other day, Anita, had texted me, asking if I wanted to meet up at the Aquarium. I agreed, and we planned to meet at 12:30. I had just enough time for lunch at one of the cafes first, and chose an Italian one where they had a $20 lunch special (which, believe me was cheap).
At 12:30, I headed for the Aquarium, and decided to inquire about the declined credit card transaction, seeing if there was any way to get the discount tickets. I talked to the person at the ticket counter, relayed my story, and was told that declined transactions were common, and it meant that they were sold out
of discount tickets. Gee, you think they would just SAY that on their website instead of making people think there was something wrong with their cards?
Anyway, so I was faced with paying full price for the Aquarium. I wasn’t thrilled about this. Neither was, it seemed Anita, and her companion, once I met up with them. She had brought along Thomas, an American, whom she had met on her Blue Mountain tour the day before. Both of them cried budget woes, so we all decided to forgo the Aquarium. I figured that I could come back at a later time, although I was on the fence at this point as to whether or not I really wanted to go.
Instead, we headed for another café, as they hadn’t eaten lunch. I kept them company, as I had just eaten, and we all chatted about our tours and countries. It turned out Thomas was a retired military, so the discussion veered into politics a bit, but we managed to keep it civil.
After their lunch, it had FINALLY stopped raining, so we decided to walk towards Circular Quay. It was quite a nice walk now that it
was sunny, and we watched a cruise ship depart. We walked along a stretch that was obviously being remodled, and the billboards along the way promised passersby that it was “going to be the NEWEST, BEST hotspot on Darling Harbour.” As it was, it was an empty stretch of blacktop covered in skaters, lost tourists, and the homeless.
We managed to reach the Circular Quay promenade about 20 minutes, stopping to photograph the bridge as the cruise ship sailed underneath. Once we reached the Overseas passenger terminal, Thomas and Anita were enthralled by the docked Queen Mary 2. More photos ensued, and Anita was consumed with the idea of trying to get on board. We jokingly attempted to get into the elevator leading into the terminal, but found security at the bottom instead. So, we settled for watching the passengers embark from the balcony. It was truly a splendid looking ship, and the staterooms that we could see into looked luxurious.
Once we had our fill, we walked through the Rocks, and went to a free museum, the Rocks Historical Museum. It was interesting, and had a lot of pleasantly displayed artifacts and stories about the convicts that
Queen Mary 2
This one has lifeboats. Sorry,James Cameron. had settled the area. The museum also had iPad like touch screens, where you could read more in depth on a topic.
At the end of the tour, we walked around a little mall across the way. We explored some souvenir shops, and found what seemed to be a popular item-a kangaroo scrotum.I had seen these in another store, used and a wine topper, but these also were manufactured into corkscrews, can openers, and bottle tops as well.
Soon it was time for Tomas to leave, as he was entering some biathlon. We said goodbye, Anita promised to come by the event and take photos. We walked back through town towards my hotel, stopping for a quick Coke at McDonalds. As we were sitting there, Thomas texted Anita, saying that the event had been cancelled. Instead we all made plans to meet up at the bar at Sydney Tower in a few hours, where we could see the skyline for free as opposed to the $25 door price.
Anita and I said or goodbyes and I went back to my hotel for a quick nap.
At 9p.m. Giles called to check on me, and we talked
for a few minutes. Then I headed for Sydney Tower, met Anita outside, and we met up with Thomas at the elevator. The bar/restaurant, 360, had a security guard at the elevator entrance who wanded you prior to entering the elevator. Once this was complete, we got into the elevator, which zoomed up the tower.
As we exited, you could see the panoramic view of the city, lit up, through the floor to ceiling windows. The floor seemed to move under our feet, and we realized that the restaurant was revolving! We approached the bar, ordered a drink and appetizer, and settled onto the couch-like chairs at the base of the windows. We took a zillion pics of the night skyline and chatted. Halfway through the conversation, Thomas asked us if we had boyfriends. I had mentioned Giles multiple times during the day, so I wondered if this was a sneaky way for him to feel out Anita. After she denied having one, Thomas replied, “Neither do I!”
Okay, I was WAY off on that one. Usually my gaydar is pretty good.
Once we finished, we approached the bar to pay (the bartender had previously waved us
away with our drinks when we tried to pay). As we pulled out our wallets, the bartender looked stricken “I just put away my cash register!” he cried. “I thought we had collected from everyone.” Reluctantly, he told us our treats were “on the house.”
Pleasantly surpised, we left the restaurant and headed down to the street. We said our goodbyes for the night, and talked about meeting up again at some point during our stays. I walked back to the hotel, surprised that the streets were still crowded at that hour.
I went straight to bed upon arriving at my hotel, as I had an early wakeup call for the Blue Mountains the next day!
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