Saturday, November 20, 2010

Sydney, Australia

After too many flying hours to count, which included watching 7 movies, finishing 2 books, attempting 5 meals (chicken porridge shouldn't really be served to Americans), countless Sudoko and Nintendo games and a few hours of sleep, we arrived in Sydney during morning rush hour.  The views flying in were great as there are purple trees called jackerandas that are everywhere and are beautiful.

The apartment we rented is on the 29th floor and has great views of Darling Harbor, which is one of the main travel harbors in/out of the area and only a 10 minute walk for us.  The Harbor is full of restaurants, pubs and cafes, so it has been a great place to hang out at night.  We even got to enjoy fireworks from our balcony one evening.



We spent the first day wandering around getting acquainted with the area and then crashed for 12 hours of much needed sleep.

There are coffee shops in every block, as well as pubs/bars.  Business people, always dressed in blue suits, conduct their meetings in coffee shops all day and then promptly at 4:30 head to the pubs and are there for hours.  It's amazing!  Coffee is served much like in Europe, espresso or cappuccino, no bottomless black coffee as we're used to.  There are 4.4M people in Sydney so you can imagine the crowds in the bars.  For those of you that like to shop (Nancy) the stores and selections are amazing.  Fortunately I wasn't born with the shopping gene.

We spent a morning at the aquarium which houses some of the largest captive sharks in the world and it was pretty awesome.  There is an area called "The Rocks", because it  is built on sandstone, and houses an enormous number of pubs so we want on a pub tour, where they provided history of The Rocks, as well as indulging in the local beers.  Lots of fun.  The pictures shows the jackeranda trees I mentioned earlier.


Next stop is the Opera House which is truly amazing.  My first reaction is that it wasn't as pretty as when you see it on TV, but it looks different during diffent kinds of lighting.  There are a few pictures here to give you a perspective of the size, as it is monstrous.  We had bought tickets to see a Shakespere comedy, but only lasted through the first intermission as it wasn't any fun.  The Opera House is more beautiful at night and the number of people around is amazing.  There are bars and restaurants everywhere and people are indulging.  The harbor is large enough to house a cruise ship, which we encountered on one of our days through the area. 


View of City from boat


Sydney Harbor Bridge
The Sydney Harbor Bridge offers a $300 tour where you actually can walk along the top of the bridge, but you are not allowed to take pictures.  I of course am captivated by the idea, but looks like we will be passing on this adventure.


Very near the Opera House are the Botannical Gardens, which are full of beautiful flowers, trees, birds and statues.  The not so good side is what the Aussies call "flying foxes".  We call them fruit bats and there was one section where they were everywhere. 

Randy - this picture is for you.  He's turning into a tree hugger and for that he was banished to the gazebo prison!



The Taronga Zoo, which is a must see if you are in Sydney was one of the best zoos we have ever seen.  You take a ferry boat from Sydney Harbor, which is great because you get to see more city views,  and some beautiful homes.  There is a fort in the middle of the water, much like Alcatraz, where they housed prisoners.  You can stop and have lunch along the way if you like and take in more of the views.  The zoo housed some really cool animals, but one of the neat things is that you can watch the giraffes while you take in the view of the city as well.  I don't think the picture I have here has the opera house in the background, but you can see it as well from certain spots.  In the event you've never seen a Tasmanian Devil, which are native to Australia, I've attached that picture.









We next headed for an all day trip to the Blue Mountains.  They're named this because the eucalyptus trees emit a gas, which when mixed with cool air, form a blue haze which settles over the mountains.  It's noticeable, but not distracting from the beauty of the mountains.   There is also a 3 rock formation called 3 Sisters, which is said to have been formed by a father who turned his 3 daughters into rocks to avoid male suitors, but hadn't anticipated the suitors would kill him and he wouldn't be able to change them back to human form.  We took a cable car from the top of the mountains down into the rainforest below, which was beautiful.  You then took a specially designed "train" that brought you straight up the side of the mountain.  It was really cool, but pictures didn't work well as you were caged in.  There was an aboriginine man playing a didgeridoo at the top of the mountain which I captured as well.





3 Sisters Rock formation top left

Blue Mountains
On the way to the Blue Mountains we stopped at a Wildlife Preserve where we got to pet koala bears and feed kangaroos.  Definitely a highlight for me being an animal lover and now wondering if my cats ever found their way back to my aunts barn.



 in my glory



a little apprehensive maybe??


Today we're off to the Opera House for an inside tour  and then on to Bondi Beach for some sun and fun.  Tomorrow we fly to the Great Barrier Reef for another week of adventure.  

G'day Mates and no worries, we're having a blast.

1 comment:

  1. Oh it all looks so exciting! So wish I could be there with you! All your adventures out looks so much fun. I truly enjoy following your blog. I'm not sure if I will have the chance to comment very often when the next little one arrives, but I'll try!

    One update from Norway. My brother and his wife had their beautiful little girl yesterday!

    Hugs,
    Kristin

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