Sydney


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Oceania
March 2nd 2010
Published: March 2nd 2010
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Set off for Sydney, quite a straight forward journey. Arrived at the outskirts without any trouble, drove over the Anzac bridge, a beautiful cable-stay span bridge, then we got lost, the air in the car was getting quite heated as we drove across the harbour bridge one way and then back the other way, round the one way system once or twice!! Found the hotel in the end which is located near Darling Harbour and offloaded the luggage. Then went to drop the car off in Darling harbour, a very easy journey, thank goodness or there would have been words. Just about to set off back to the hotel when I fortunately realised that you know who had left the camera back pack in the car, not only the cameras, lenses etc but the laptop, passports and all our other important documents! We have an apartment here, mainly so that I can remember what household chores are i.e. washing and ironing. Got sorted out and went off for a walk around Walsh Bay and the Central Business District. Lots of old buildings from the early 1800’s surrounded by tall modern glass buildings reaching for the sky. Lots of the old buildings are made of sandstone and have been restored both the internally and externally to their former glory, particularly the old bank buildings which all have the old marble counters and look like the banking halls of old. Hyde Park where there is a beautiful avenue of trees with bronze fountains. Also went to look at Government House but it was closed, will have to leave that for another day. Went down to Circular Quay which is where all the ferries leave for various destinations around the harbour. There are many different types, big fast catamaran’s, what look like old green and yellow tug boats and then the normal cross channel looking ones. It is very much like Hong Kong with Star ferries going from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. Down here there are some Aborigine street musicians playing the didgeridoo and clapping sticks. Great sound. Had a wander around there and saw the Harbour Bridge and Opera house in all their glory. That’s another couple of things knocked off the bucket list. We ended up in a place called The Rocks which used to be a very rough area but is now geared up for the tourists, with lots of little shops and restaurants and that was our first day in Sydney. Really buzzing, love the place.

Day 2 - Sun was shining so we set off Cockle Bay and Darling Harbour, got down there quite early to find some dragon boat races in progress, for all ages, some a lot older than Al or I! Paid a visit to the Aquarium, saw a platypus, which completes all on the wildlife list I had. Very busy little critter, didn’t stop the whole time we were there. Then into some underwater tunnels, a couple of Dugongs (Manatees) and some very strange looking rays, beautiful coloured fish, many similar to the ones we saw in the WhitSundays. Then the shark tank, horrible things, a couple of them looked huge together with some very old turtles which were lovely. They had a number of exhibits about the various marine environments around the country which were very interesting; one had some very cute looking penguins. A couple of hours in there was sufficient. Then over the Pyrmont bridge, a swing bridge that opens a couple of times a day and out to Pyrmont Point where you get really good views of the Anzac bridge. On our way back I spied an America’s Cup boat mooring up so sent Al of to see whether they had any space on the afternoon sail, they did, he was faffing about deciding whether or not to go so I had a strop and booked it. Don’t know why he was hesitating as he loves sailing. He has been out on one of these boats in the Solent several times but I have always been working so haven’t yet made it. Had an hour to kill before it left so went and had lunch in a little place overlooking one of the wharves. Most of these have been restored and are now modern apartments. Fantastic food, on our way back we saw some large jellyfish in the water. Back to the boat, ‘Spirit of Australia’ she raced in the cup in 1992 and is 82ft long, with beautiful teak decks. Off we went, out under the Harbour Bridge, stopped to put the sails up and we were away. Most of the men went onto the grinders, to trim the sails as we tacked and they also took the helm. The women could as well but I was just happy sitting taking photos and enjoying the sailing. The harbour is massive with lots of inlets and promontories. I have never seen so many boats out sailing in one place, there were literally hundreds of them, the wind was good and lots of the big yachts had their spinnakers up, there were tiny little skiffs, small boats out fishing, gin palaces (motor cruisers) of all sizes, ferries going about their business, sea planes taking off and landing and several races were going on as well. We saw two marine rescue boats towing people back in. It was great. As the ferries go past you need to watch the wake, most of the time the boat rode through them and you weren’t even aware there had been one, however once the crew told us to be aware of one, we went through a couple of troughs, looked like it was clear so I turned back to put my legs over the side and whack, a small wave came up off the bow and hit me straight between the legs, will leave what it looked like to your imagination! Suffice to say my shorts were very damp, but I managed to keep the camera dry. Al found it all quite amusing. A brilliant afternoon’s sailing and when we come back here we shall be doing it again. Then resumed our walk, around the top of Dawes Point, under the Harbour Bridge and back to Circular Quay again. Went to have a drink in the Opera Bar, a typical touristy thing to do, but it was heaving and we were quite tired by this time as it was now early evening so headed back to the apartment. There was a huge Mardi Gras and Gay Pride parade in the city in the evening, we saw some bits of it on the tele, looked just like carnival in Rio, we could see the fireworks reflections in the buildings around us, we are on the 18th floor, and there was no danger of getting any sleep until they had finished. A day to remember.

Day 3 - Woke to grey, overcast skies, but still a lovely temperature outside. Late start as we needed to catch up on some admin, these blogs sure take some time to complete. We decided to go back out onto the water again and this time took a ferry out to Rose Bay and completed a walk along bits of the foreshore to Double Bay. This is where the seaplanes take off and land to do the scenic flights around the harbour. They seem to take forever to get up, once they have left the water, it’s as if they reach a hundred feet and then can’t go any higher for a bit and then finally manage to ascend and as for landing, well they seem to just thump along the top of the waves, not at all sure that I want to do this. Any way offered it to Al, fortunately he declined, that was a result, however he did mention that no doubt I would be taking him back to the Maldives and we can do it then, great! Had some lunch at Circular Quay and then off for a stroll around the Botanical Gardens and a visit to Government House. It looks like a small Scottish castle and is open to the public so we had a quick tour, everything in it has some connection to the UK but they are trying to change this. The governor no longer lives here but it is used for state functions etc. It was looking like rain so we headed back, the heavens opened but we managed not to get too wet. Then off to Darling harbour a bit later for dinner.

Day 4 - Well it definitely looks like rain today. We thought we would finish off a couple of the walks but first needed to visit a bookshop. The price of books here is extortionate. More than twice the full recommended price we pay at home. Went back to Hyde Park, which originally was a race track. Saw the Anzac memorial to the men who fought in WW1 but has now been extended to include all conflicts since then. Rain started to fall so we went back for the infamous sailing jackets. Then off on another ferry to Cremorne Point to do another walk around the foreshore. Arrived and it had started to rain, decided to walk anyway as we were picking the ferry up at another point, the rain got heavier and heavier and we got soaked, rain falling off the coat onto my shorts, which ended up drenched, wet legs, yuk I hate being wet. Managed to find another ferry stop and waited to go back. It would have been a lovely walk if it wasn’t raining, we passed lots of houses overlooking the inlet with gardens that dropped down to the water’s edge, lots of boats moored up leaving a passage for the ferries to get through and a couple of waterfalls. Stopped for something to eat as I was so cold and then headed back for a nice warm bath. Guess what it is still raining. This is the first day on the whole trip where the rain has really interfered with our plans. So shouldn’t really complain. Hence I have spent a couple of hours writing this lot up for you. Went to see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge this evening, all lit up, it was mainly dry but there weren’t many people about due to the inclement weather earlier on. There was nothing special about seeing them at night other than the odd fruit bat flying around, so we walked back and hit the deck.

Day 5 - Fortunately the rain seems to have stopped although there is still heavy cloud. Apparently there is a monsoon somewhere offshore which is why we are getting so wet. We set off to finish one of the other walks. Started at Woolloomooloo (great name for a place except when you have had a few too many to drink), another run down dock area where the buildings have been converted into modern apartments all with their own moorings. Then a walk along the foreshore round and back through the Botanic Gardens, good views of the Opera House and bridge, side by side. The gardens were beautiful, lots of cockatoos and flying foxes (these were sleeping upside in the trees) along with lots of unusual plants. The trees all had plaques identifying them which was great as we had seen quite a few unusual ones in our travels but hadn’t got a clue what they were. We then hopped on a bus and went out to see Bondi beach. A reasonable size bay with powder sand the colour of cream. Not sure why everyone raves about it though. There were a few brave people in the water, surfing, and the waves were a reasonable size. As we arrived it started to rain but soon stopped. We picked up fish (barramundi) and chips and ate this overlooking the beach. Really good, seagulls were a bit of a pain though. Then we did a 6km walk along the coast to Coogee. Light rain off and on and a lovely breeze. The coastline here wanders in and out of several bays and you climb up to several headlands and then down again, all good exercise. The waves are big and must be constantly eroding the coastline which is predominately sandstone. There are some beautiful overhangs in various shades of cream, rust and browns, they look really smooth but when you touch them the sand comes away in your hands. The footpath runs further down to La Perouse at the entrance to Botany Bay but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to do this as we had to get back to pack before dinner as we are going out to dinner with one of Alan’s ex work colleagues who is out here on a six month contract, a real hardship that must be. Off to Melbourne tomorrow and the Great Ocean Road.



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