Day 35 - Sydney Harbour (14 January)

---

We were out earlyish on the hunt for coffee and toast. It was the bites that woke me up earlyish. Yep got bitten at the animal reserve, they look like flea bites. However, I didn't know fleas could jump so high, or am I so short. After sustenance we walked to Darling Harbour. We walked passed the statue given to the people of Sydney by the proprietor of the Sydney Herald to mark the paper's 150th year.

At the harbour we decided to take the Captain Cook cruise of the greater harbour. I found the Sydney harbour area to be an unattractive harbour full of commercial boats, cruise ships, expensive shops and eateries, street theatre and hundreds of tourists. Its saving graces are the Sydney opera house (see below) and the view of the Sydney harbour bridge. But once on a boat going around the greater harbour, you can see its allure.

We started off and saw the east Sydney suburbs with very expensive properties owned by the likes of Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe. Apparently the most expensive property sold for $50 m. What do you get for that money? Stunning scenery with the only wildness being the unpredictable moods of the sea. Quite a contrast to the madness of the city.

Our first port of call was Fort Denison, a fort guarding the entrance to the inner harbour. Out of the chimneys were feather dusters. These are not designed to frighten off human marauders but to frighten off the sea gulls. Yes the gulls think they are birds of prey and so don't nest there.

We got an amazing view of the Sydney Harbour bridge, nicknamed the coat hanger. This is an eight lane freeway plus train tracks built in the 1930s depression. It was quite a feat of engineering. It was started at both ends and ultimately connected in the middle.

We saw the cable car going up to Taronga Zoo. It was a very windy day and there was some doubt as to whether this would run all day.

Passed the largest bay - Rose Bay which was used by Qantas as an airfield in the 1930s. Then we saw Steel Point which was the control tower for the airfield.

We got off at Watsons Bay, a sandy beach resort; but a short walk up the hill and across the park revealed the wild Pacific Ocean crashing against the jagged rocks. A sky writing plane spelt out "marry me Erica" and all the Ericas in Sydney must have thought they were in luck :-}

We got back on the ferry and sailed back to the Circular Quay where we signed up for a tour of the Sydney Opera House. This was the first use of the advantage of age. We both got concessionary rates.

As an engineer Don was appalled that a few squiggled drawings by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon were unaccompanied by any concept of how to build such a thing, nor was there a practical architectural plan even whilst the foundations were laid. The sketchy plans were submitted in 1957, work began in 1959 for what was supposed to be a three year project. It overran somewhat and was finished in 1973. During the 1960s Utzon was sacked and although he died in 2008 at the ripe old age of 90 he never saw the end of his project.

The grand building has no resident opera company nor orchestra. Each hall (of which there are two small halls, a studio, the concert hall and the opera hall) is hired out. The opera hall which seats 1500 people is not amplified. Therefore in order to keep opera available to the public three operas run contemporaneously. Can you imagine the high drama of changing the scenery between each production? If all the halls are filled, each hosting a different event the opera house will hold about 5500 people. So why is it called the Sydney opera house? Because it is less of a mouthful than the "Sydney multi-purpose cultural complex" or some such thing!

We left the opera house and stopped for a Baskin Robbins ice cream and back to the hotel to get ready to have dinner with a 25-year colleague of Don's - George W and his wife Sonia. They took us to Savion, a classic kosher shwarma place. Great food. We then went for a drive to see the famous Bondi beach. It was a very windy evening but the waves were disappointingly small.

Back to the hotel for tea and coffee.

(SCROLL DOWN to see all 6 PHOTOS if they do not appear within the text frame)

---

Photos

Sydney Harbour Bridge
iconic & classic engineering triumph

Fort Denison in Sydney harbour
feather dusters at dawn

George & Sonia W
delightful Sydney locals