Sydney Part2 Fri 27 Mar - Tue 31 Mar

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On Friday 27 Mar we did a 9am tour of the Sydney Opera House which was really interesting from the point of view of how the design was chosen and then realized and also from the human aspect of the architect, Jørn Utson, who never visited the Opera house after it was completed. At 11am went for coffee and cookies as we had tickets for 'Tea and Symphony' in the Opera House where we listened to Holst's Planets Suite played by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It was brilliant! We then walked around the bay to circular Quay where we joined a Tall Ship lunch Cruise on the Søren Larson. We sailed under the Harbour Bridge twice and around the Harbour in brilliant sunshine with as much wine, sparkling wine or beer as you could responsibly drink and a barbecue buffet. For the more adventurous, you could also climb the rigging - before consuming any alcohol and help to hoist the sails. On Saturday we visited the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, where they have a daily remembrance service at 11am. It has to be said that Australia takes great pride in its memorials and we have been impressed by the care and effort that goes into maintaining them wherever we have been. Nearby a new memorial has just been opened which commemorates the indigenous servicemen and women. The four bullets standing represent those who have returned from conflicts and the three bullets lying down represent the fallen. From here we walked to St Mary's Cathedral and then on to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum. The Barracks was originally built by Governor Lauchlan Macquarie to house convicts between 1819 and 1848 when it became an Immigrant Depot and Asylum for the elderly and those unable to support themselves. In 1887 it became a court of law and Government offices until 1979. The first floor deals with convict history and describes their daily lives, which is really well done. The second floor focuses more on Immigrant history and we were both amazed by how many Irish, women in particular, emigrated to Australia as a consequence of the Potato Famine. Between 1848 and 1850, 4114 orphan girls, some as young as 14, were shipped to Sydney on government funded ships to relieve the pressure on overpopulated Irish workhouses and combat the spread of disease. There was also a shortage of women in the largely convict colonies. Each girl was given a regulation kit of clothing in a small lockable box. In the Barracks the convict hammocks were replaced with iron beds and ceiling boards were fitted. This last detail accounts for a large number of artefacts being found as the rats were responsible for squirrelling away all sorts of items to furnish their nests. The dormitories have been preserved and boxes with artefacts are on display which tell the story of individual experiences. What we thought would be a relatively short visit turned into two hours of exploration! Having worked up an appetite, we went and had lunch on Circular Quay, where I was introduced to kangaroo and crocodile! On Sunday 29th we had another early start as we were catching the 7.00am train to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains to avoid the crowds. We were able to use our Opal card (free) on the bus to Scenic World where we first took the Skyway with breathtaking views into the valley and of the Blue Mountains in the distance. We took photos from the lookout and did the return trip. Our next trip was on the Scenic Railway, which descends 310metres through a cliff-side tunnel and is the steepest passenger railway in the world on a 52 degree incline! At the bottom you have the perfect view of the Jamison Valley and the Three Sisters and you can access the Cableway which takes you to the Scenic Walkway through 2.4kms of Jurassic rainforest. We caught the bus back to Katoomba and the 14.20 train to Sydney. On Monday we woke to rain and didn't venture out until the afternoon. We visited Parliament House and Tom sat in the Speaker's Chair - delusions of grandeur! Our next stop, Mrs Macquarie's Chair, a sandstone rock carved into the shape of a bench in 1810 for Governor Macquarie's wife, Elizabeth. It is said that she used to sit there watching the ships arrive from England. We also walked past the stage for the outdoor production of Aida. Sadly, Tuesday was our last day in Sydney and we realised there were still lots of things we hadn't had time to see and do. We started by going to the QVB Queen Victoria Building, which is an elegant shopping mall which has two clocks which chime on the hour, one a pageant of British history and one Australian. The British clock has a window which lights up as it chimes with some of the Kings of England, Harold, John, Canute, Henry VIII & Charles I and Queen Elizabeth I. The Australian clock is circled by a sailing ship, showing the time and the date and has figures of soldiers, convicts and indigenous people. There are also images of the early landings from 1770 onwards. From the QVB we caught the 555 to Circular Quay and went to the Rocks Museum, the site of the first convict landings in 1788. Again, a small museum but packed with interesting information about the history of world colonisation and social history of the Rocks and its early settlers. On Tuesday evening we ate at Eastbank overlooking the harbour before walking around the quay to Macquarie Point to watch the outdoor production of Aida. With Sydney Opera House and the Harbour bridge in the background, there can't be a more idyllic stage! We had a glass of Champagne and watched the sun set as we waited for the performance to begin. It was beautifully performed with spectacular costumes and some live camels too. An amazing end to a fabulous stay in Sydney. On Friday 27 Mar we did a 9am tour of the Sydney Opera House which was really interesting from the point of view of how the design was chosen and then realized and also from the human aspect of the architect, Jørn Utson, who never visited the Opera house after it was completed. At 11am went for coffee and cookies as we had tickets for 'Tea and Symphony' in the Opera House where we listened to Holst's Planets Suite played by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It was brilliant! We then walked around the bay to circular Quay where we joined a Tall Ship lunch Cruise on the Søren Larson. We sailed under the Harbour Bridge twice and around the Harbour in brilliant sunshine with as much wine, sparkling wine or beer as you could responsibly drink and a barbecue buffet. For the more adventurous, you could also climb the rigging - before consuming any alcohol and help to hoist the sails. On Saturday we visited the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, where they have a daily remembrance service at 11am. It has to be said that Australia takes great pride in its memorials and we have been impressed by the care and effort that goes into maintaining them wherever we have been. Nearby a new memorial has just been opened which commemorates the indigenous servicemen and women. The four bullets standing represent those who have returned from conflicts and the three bullets lying down represent the fallen. From here we walked to St Mary's Cathedral and then on to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum. The Barracks was originally built by Governor Lauchlan Macquarie to house convicts between 1819 and 1848 when it became an Immigrant Depot and Asylum for the elderly and those unable to support themselves. In 1887 it became a court of law and Government offices until 1979. The first floor deals with convict history and describes their daily lives, which is really well done. The second floor focuses more on Immigrant history and we were both amazed by how many Irish, women in particular, emigrated to Australia as a consequence of the Potato Famine. Between 1848 and 1850, 4114 orphan girls, some as young as 14, were shipped to Sydney on government funded ships to relieve the pressure on overpopulated Irish workhouses and combat the spread of disease. There was also a shortage of women in the largely convict colonies. Each girl was given a regulation kit of clothing in a small lockable box. In the Barracks the convict hammocks were replaced with iron beds and ceiling boards were fitted. This last detail accounts for a large number of artefacts being found as the rats were responsible for squirrelling away all sorts of items to furnish their nests. The dormitories have been preserved and boxes with artefacts are on display which tell the story of individual experiences. What we thought would be a relatively short visit turned into two hours of exploration! Having worked up an appetite, we went and had lunch on Circular Quay, where I was introduced to kangaroo and crocodile! On Sunday 29th we had another early start as we were catching the 7.00am train to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains to avoid the crowds. We were able to use our Opal card (free) on the bus to Scenic World where we first took the Skyway with breathtaking views into the valley and of the Blue Mountains in the distance. We took photos from the lookout and did the return trip. Our next trip was on the Scenic Railway, which descends 310metres through a cliff-side tunnel and is the steepest passenger railway in the world on a 52 degree incline! At the bottom you have the perfect view of the Jamison Valley and the Three Sisters and you can access the Cableway which takes you to the Scenic Walkway through 2.4kms of Jurassic rainforest. We caught the bus back to Katoomba and the 14.20 train to Sydney. On Monday we woke to rain and didn't venture out until the afternoon. We visited Parliament House and Tom sat in the Speaker's Chair - delusions of grandeur! Our next stop, Mrs Macquarie's Chair, a sandstone rock carved into the shape of a bench in 1810 for Governor Macquarie's wife, Elizabeth. It is said that she used to sit there watching the ships arrive from England. We also walked past the stage for the outdoor production of Aida. Sadly, Tuesday was our last day in Sydney and we realised there were still lots of things we hadn't had time to see and do. We started by going to the QVB Queen Victoria Building, which is an elegant shopping mall which has two clocks which chime on the hour, one a pageant of British history and one Australian. The British clock has a window which lights up as it chimes with some of the Kings of England, Harold, John, Canute, Henry VIII & Charles I and Queen Elizabeth I. The Australian clock is circled by a sailing ship, showing the time and the date and has figures of soldiers, convicts and indigenous people. There are also images of the early landings from 1770 onwards. From the QVB we caught the 555 to Circular Quay and went to the Rocks Museum, the site of the first convict landings in 1788. Again, a small museum but packed with interesting information about the history of world colonisation and social history of the Rocks and its early settlers. On Tuesday evening we ate at Eastbank overlooking the harbour before walking around the quay to Macquarie Point to watch the outdoor production of Aida. With Sydney Opera House and the Harbour bridge in the background, there can't be a more idyllic stage! We had a glass of Champagne and watched the sun set as we waited for the performance to begin. It was beautifully performed with spectacular costumes and some live camels too. An amazing end to a fabulous stay in Sydney.

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