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Published: September 21st 2006
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The beautiful Opera House
It's difficult not to take a photo every time you see this building. Well, I hate to admit it because for 7 weeks I thought Melbourne was my favourite place in Australia, but Sydney is a helluva town. What with the beautiful harbour for a backdrop, two iconic landmarks, great shopping (always important), green spaces, beaches, a cheap and easy to navigate public transport system and a really lovely mixture of old and new buildings, it's pretty difficult to find any faults. Mind you, I didn't feel quite so pleased with Sydney when I first arrived - via a quick tour of the Hunter Valley wineries - as the driest continent on earth continued to defy this epithet with howling gales and torrential rain for my first four days in the city. The only good thing about the foul weather was that it forced me to kill time by doing all the indoor attractions that I would probably have overlooked had the weather been better. These included the Australia museum, which is quite dull, unless you're turned on by rocks, and the aquarium. The latter of these attractions was chock-full of school parties and families trying to keep the kids amused but despite this it was a surprisingly excellent way to pass two hours
or so. The duck-billed platypus alone is worth the entrance fee, let alone the sharks, sting-rays and fairy penguins, which are just too cute for words (the penguins that is, not the sharks and sting-rays). If you ever find yourself in Sydney trying to avoid getting wet, I'd also recommend a visit to the Art Gallery of New South Wales where I took shelter from a particularly violent downpour while wandering in the lovely Botanic Gardens. Not only is it free, but the permanent collection is really good, covering everything from aboriginal art to 18th century european stuff and modern sculpture. If the weather was against me that day, then luck wasn't as I happed to stumble into the gallery on the last day of a temporary Lewis Morley exhibition. He's the photographer who took
that picture of Christine Keeler straddling a chair as well as many other really iconic images of the 1960's. I love photography, particularly black and white photography, and particularly of people so this was a real treat and well worth the $6 entrance fee.
Gradually, thankfully, the weather improved until you could go several whole minutes without the need for a sowester and snorkle.
On the first of these days, I met up with my Uncle Dave, one of my mum's brothers who's lived in Sydney since 1961, for a tour of the city. I'd only met him twice before, once two days earlier when I visited him at home for a nice cup of tea, and once when I was seven and he was back in the UK for his first and only visit since emigrating. Luckily, blood really is thicker than water and we got on really well. He's seen many changes to the city in his 45 years in Australia and is well-travelled across the continent so it was really interesting to hear how things have developed over the years. As the leaden skies had more or less cleared by this point, we climbed one of the Harbour Bridge pylons to get fantastic 360 degree views of the city and harbour and then had lunch in the revolving restaurant of the Sydney skytower, 300-odd metres above the city. Then it was up George Street to the beautifully restored Queen Victoria Buildings for a flavour of old Sydney. The building has now been turned into a rather fancy and exclusive shopping mall,
linked by various sub-terranean 'streets' to the main shopping area in Pitt Street, but the good people of Sydney have retained all of the original features, from mosiac tile floors to vast clocks and beautiful stained glass windows. It's really lovely.
By Wednesday, the sky was blue and the sun was shining, giving the city a very different feel. Circular Quay, from where the curiously old-fashioned ferries (they look like something a boy would have got for Christmas in the 1950's) ply their trades across the harbour and the amazing Opera House is situated, went overnight from being a grey, wind-swept wasteland to a busy, colourful hive of activity. Now that the sun was out, I decided it was time to take to the water and see the famous harbour so I took a ferry out to Taronga Zoo. As a rule I'm not a big fan of zoos; the animals' enclosures always seem ridiculously small and there are always too many schoolkids creating a six-foot deep barrier between you and said enclosures. However, Taronga came highly recommended so off I went. As it turned out it was pretty good. The animals all looked relaxed and healthy (a bit
Sydney Skytower
Tall, isn't it? too relaxed actually as most of them were asleep), I saw a baby koala, and the views of the city from the harbour were worth the zoo entrance fee alone.
By now quite enamoured of the harbour, the next day I headed for Manly on the famous Manly ferry. Apparently, this trip is an architypal Sydney day out and something that families have been doing every weekend since the 1920's to escape the city and spend some time on the beach. During the week, it's very much a tourist attraction but still lovely nonetheless. The ferry trip takes about half an hour, during which you get stunning views of the Harbour Bridge, Opera House, city and eastern suburbs. Manly itself is a small town, mainly geared towards providing sustenance to it's daily influx of visitors. The beach is long, wide and clean but on the day I visited most people, like me, were content to just stroll along the esplanade, watch the surfers and soak up the atmosphere.
Of course the daddy of all Sydney beaches is Bondi, and this is where I headed on the Friday. It's the closest beach to the city centre and like Manly
has been providing a welcome escape for Sydney families since the 1920's. Although there were plenty of people on the beach, and more than enough surfers to live up to the town's cliched reputation, my main purpose for going to Bondi was to walk along the coast to Coogee a couple of miles to the south. Several people at the hostel had recommended I do this and as it turns out they were dead right; it really is a beautiful coastline and a lovely way to spend a couple of hours. The paths are well-worn and there were plenty of other people soaking up the warm sunshine so it was a rather jolly and social occasion, with lots of 'hellos', 'how ya goings?' and 'g'days' (yes, it's true, they really do say it.)
My last big touristy thing was a day out in the Blue Mountains with my friend Maria, who I'd met on the i-to-i programme in Santo Domingo. Maria lives just north of Sydney in a town called Gosford so knows the city and surrounding country very well. We'd hoped to meet up with another Santo Domingo alumni, Bryony, who was due to be arriving in Sydney
Mother and baby
Clue: the baby's underneath - you can only see it's face. that weekend but delayed flights and family commitments made this impossible. So disappointed but undaunted we headed for Katoomba, an old coal-mining town that is now the centre of the area's tourist industry. It isn't difficult to see why tourists and Sydney-siders are so attracted to the area. More temperate than the coast, it's an breathtakingly beautiful place. Round every corner is a stunning view across miles and miles of eucalypt forest, whose evaporating oils create the blue-tinged haze after which the mountains are named. A wonderful way to end my time in Sydney and, indeed, Australia.
It's been a long 8 weeks, but I've had a great time here. The north-eastern coast was a bit of a disappointment because with all the gap-year travellers out to get drunk every night it sometimes felt more like Magaluf than Australia. However, once the hot-spots of Cairns, Magnetic Island and Airlie Beach were behind me it was easier to avoid the crowds and while I haven't exactly been off the beaten track and haven't even touched the red interior (NOT a double entendre, even if it does sound like something Kenneth Williams would have said), I feel I've spent my time
here well. With hind-sight I probably should have gone to Uluru rather than just flown over it, and enough people have asked me whether I've been to Broome to make me feel that I might have missed something by not going to the Northern Territories but the way I look at it, this leaves at least two reasons to come back.
Next (and last) stop, New Zealand.
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Valerie
non-member comment
Wow!
Hey chick, glad you're having a great time - I have just applied for a visa to emigrate to Australia - so keep those addresses!