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The Sydney Skyline
the view from our tour First of all, thanks everyone who has left a comment, it's nice to know that we're not forgotten. Also, apologies for the belated publication of this blog, but i thought it would be better to have all of Sydney in one blog, and write just before we leave. Turns out i can't remember a bloody thing that happened 3 weeks ago, so it's a bit sketchy in places, and several photos that i don't remember taking, let alone what they are of. Also, please ignore the date marks on the photos, i don't know why its started doing that, or why, more to the point, they're all wrong.
So, if you're all sitting comfortably, i'll begin:
After a first hectic week of travelling, we have slowed down a bit, we have just spent the last 2 and bit weeks trying to slowly see all that Sydney has to offer. On the 28th April we met up with Charlie in the morning and made our way down to Darling Harbour to see the Aquarium. I have the same difficulties describing this as i did the zoo, it was well worth a visit however and i would recommend it.
Check out the pictures below for some aquatic animal madness.
After leaving the Aquarium, we decided it would be a cracking idea to walk a couple of miles through town to have a closer look at the Opera house and later walk across the Harbour Bridge, it is possible to walk across the actual curves, right to the top of the bridge, but this costs about 70quid, so, needless to say, we weren't tempted.
First we walked round to the Opera house and had a close up look at that, it is quite an astonishing structure, i've heard from several people that the Opera house is a bit grimy when you get close up, but i would disagree. After that, we walked the mile or so to get to one end of the bridge, and then struck across. The bridge celebrated its 75th anniversary on the 18th March 2007, or this is what the guide books say. Whether it was actually the bridge celebrating, or the Aussies using it as an excuse to get drunk, i'm not quite sure. If ever you go to Sydney, it's one of the things that must be done, it offers some beautiful
views and only takes about half an hour to traverse.
My god, i hate this internet cafe, im surrounded by nerds gunning down light composed aliens and im hot and sweating like a pig. Anyhow, i digress.
The following few days we saved a bit of cash by staying in at Base, reading and silently witnessing the antics of the drunkards staggering in from the club next door. This ranged from two chaps who insisted on dancing and singing in the middle of the room, to the northern girl who had fallen over in the club and now took it upon herself to show the whole disinterested room the bruises on her backside and midriff. Classy bird.
After a few days of general slobbing around, we summoned the energy to see the best of the rest of Sydney before heading south. After a brief discussion we decided that this was principally the Sky Tower, a walk through the Botanic Gardens and the Goverment House.
On our way to the Sky Tower we stopped off at the old Sydney mint, it is out action now, and turned into a National Trust type house, and there is none of
the machinary on the site. While we were there, a exhibition of 1930's photo's was on display, showing happy Australians frollicking on the beach in their ridiculous all-over swimsuits. After a quick look round we headed off towards Sky Tower.
The Sydney Sky Tower is a fairly impressive structure, although from it's positioning it looks like it was built on a whim, and not thought through properly. It is situated about a mile from Darling Harbour and for a very tall building, it was quite hard to locate. It is the second tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, falling behind only the Auckland Sky Tower in terms of height. If memory serves, then the price was $19 to ascend the tower, and the price included the 'OZ trek' which was a not entirely worthwhile light generated little people talking to you type affair. Hmmm. It would probably have been slightly more enjoyable, if my headset had been offering a language that wasn't Korean or Mandarin, but still.
The views from the top of the tower are extraordinary, the one thing that spoiled it was that, at the time we were up there, the sun was setting, and was
at the exact level of the viewing gallery, so i have no idea what the west half of Sydney looks like, except that it is too bright to look at. We did, however, see the Barracks museum, and the adjacent church, as well as the 'pool of remembrance', a man made memorial to the victims of the 2 world wars. Again, well worth doing.
On our last day in Sydney before heading south, we headed to Circular Quay, and to the Botanic Gardens, inside of which is the Government House, which, as the name indicates, was the house of the first Governer of Sydney. It is possible to look round the inside of house, but it was closed for renovations for a few days, so we contented ourselves with walking the outside, all the while Sarah was valiently resisting the advancing hordes of snakes and spiders, i was unaware of the encroachment of these beasties, but im assured that they were 'everywhere'. Nuff said. The photos don't really show how beautiful the gardens are, not because of the overwhelming beauty of the gardens (although they do posess that) but because i'm a crap photographer, so my apologies.
That
evening we went on a harbour cruise, which was a bit of a let down, i don't think that it helped that we had seen most of the sights (namely the Opera House and the Bridge) more times than i care to mention, but also, the tour guide's voice had rather a soporific effect, and we may not have seen all that was on offer due to that sleep inducement.
The following day, we knew we were heading south to Wollongong, to see relatives, so we afforded ourselves an early night, and went home.
Sydney is a brilliant city, and a very interesting place to spend a week or so. But it is also very expensive (by OZ standards) and the appeal begins to wane after a short while. Well worth visiting, but i'm glad we're moving on.
Incidently, but for some slight swelling, Sarah's ankle is fully healed now, and she sends her condolences to the Cunningham family fish, who sadly passed away last week, and wishes this blog to be dedicated to his memory. Amen to that.
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neil nev and jackie
non-member comment
hi guys=message from dingles
Excellent blog entry always an interesting read following your amazing adventures.And the amuzing tales!!!!!!! Thinking of you both and have fun. Jack you take good quality pics after dodgy drinks and enjoy looking at them.Sarah your looking good in the pictures even though there dodgy pics lol. All our love