Bye, Sydney Mates!
So today I leave Sydney. I have greatly enjoyed seeing friends and getting to know this awesome city. I am actually sad at leaving it and wish I can come back some day soon. But I am off to see other friends in Melbourne and that is helping me depart.
I have packed all the stuff I brought plus all that I acquired here (souvenirs). It all fit so now let’s see how I do taking the bus and then the train to the airport. It will save me like $50 so I am willing to do a little work. Fortunately, the bus stop is very close to my friends’ apartment.
So how did Sydney end? Sunday we went to the nearby wine country: Hunter Valley. We visited 4 wineries and enjoyed sampling wine (we swallowed; well, except the driver – thanks Dave for taking one for the team!). It wasn’t a bad drive heading over though we did face some roadwork. Folks at the wineries were very pleasant and eager to talk about the wine – and pour for free. The most common wine as Semillon, which is fairly unfamiliar to me. It seemed a good summer wine or good for fishy fish (salmon comes to mind). We did also sample Pinot Noirs, Cab Merlots, Cab Sauvignon and Moscato. The latter was my favorite!
On Monday we decided to head to Chinatown where, after enjoying a stop at a Chinese bakery 
, we went shopping for souvenirs. Paddy Market (not to be confused with Paddington) has an incredible amount and variety of stuff for sale, including souvenirs, the same you find around town but much much cheaper (thanks Kelly for the tip!). I got to do some good shopping which, of course, wore me out (I really do not enjoy going shopping) so we went to the Lowenbrau restaurant at The Rocks to recover by sampling their pork knuckle and enjoying some beers. It was a great place to sit outside on a beautiful afternoon, relax, and soak life in.
Tuesday I visited the Blue Mountains and the Jenolan Caves. I went on a tour since the places would be at worst 3 hrs away. Unfortunately, though, we did not get to spend enough time doing the hikes around the Three Sisters area – I only got to spend like 45 minutes walking around the tropical forest near the old mines. Driving on the Blue Mountains gave me a good view of the local mountain towns and I also wish I had gotten to spend time in these small towns. They look like a delightful place to live. The Jenolan Caves were pretty spectacular (we visited the Lucas cave; I liked the “slide” cave). The tour we took was 1.5 hrs which was about the right amount of time to spend in caves. The temperature inside, as in any cave, was in the 60s which was extremely nice given it was much colder outside where I wore a cap and gloves! The Jenolan Caves also deserve more time so one can explore other caves (though I am told usually in this time of year there is only one cave open per day). Some other day…
My visit in Sydney ended with a dinner at the Belgian Beer Cafe in Harrington St. in The Rocks. A former school dining hall, it has a lot of charm and you can see the ruins under the building which probably date to close to the founding of Sydney by the British. There we enjoyed good Belgian beer as well as kangaroo loin, and mussels in white wine and cream sauce. The kangaroo meat was quite tender (cooked medium rare) and the sauce was delicious. I highly recommend it!
Now, I will wrap up my writing and posting of pix so I can head to the airport to my next stop in this great trip: Melbourne. Thanks to my Sydney friends for a truly memorable time and for the hospitality. Til next time!
A Perfect Day with Friends in Sydney
Saturday was a perfect day. Blue skies without a single cloud and a nice temperature neither too hot nor too cold. Just right for a day at the zoo with friends! The Taroonga Zoo is blessed with a location like no other zoo that I have been to: it sits sort of on a slope on the north shore of the Sydney harbor looking towards the city center, the harbor bridge and the opera house. It has a magnificent view that, by itself, is worth the visit to the zoo (the giraffe exhibit seemed to have the best view). Of course, the zoo has great displays of all sorts of animals including the native ones (koala, kangaroo, etc.) which are worth seeing.
I went with friends whom I had not seen in years and their 4 kids aged 12 to 2.5. The little ones (twins), of course, made the visit even more fun as I got to live the excitement of seeing the animals through their eyes. Oh, and the excitement at taking the sky lift!
After the zoo we visited a small beach called Balmoral close to where they live. It seemed a very local place which was nice after days of having been doing the “tourist thing”. We had ice cream and sat at the pier enjoying a gorgeous day with no other care (except making sure the twins didn’t jump in the water!).
That evening we got together with another friend and headed into the city for dinner. It must have been night out for many as it took several attempts to find a place that would take a reservation. As with the night before, the meal, the wine and the company did not disappoint!
It was neat to get to see my friends (who are American) and hear about their experience living in Australia. One has been here about 5 yrs and the other about half that time. It made me a little jealous they had gotten to live in such a magnificent place but I was glad they got such an opportunity!
So, a perfect day ended in Sydney. Let’s see what the next one brings!
Taming the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Alright, so I didn’t really rough it or suffered, but I did climb to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge today (134m from the top to the water). A pricey outing, but well worth it if you can part with the money!
10 years ago, this landmark bridge was opened to visitors who wanted to climb it. The RTA (local agency that manages many things including the bridge) apparently was very reluctant to allow this venture to be carried out but local businessmen addressed all the obstacles raised (e.g., where would people walk, how would you keep things from falling onto cars below, etc.) and launched this unique experience for those inclined to go up and get good views of this beautiful harbor and city.
They prep you well including a mock climb indoors. You also need to leave in a locker most everything you have on you: watch, wallet, items in your pocket, jackets, hairpins, etc. It is imperative nothing falls out from you. Sunglasses are allowed and they provide you a thingie that pins them to your suit. Oh yes, you just don’t go dressed as you are. They give you a jumpsuit you are to wear over your clothing that zips up completely. As far as caps, gloves or cold-weather headgear, they provide them to you and they also hook up to your suit. You may ask, “what if I need to blow my nose?” I am glad you ask: you can’t bring your little baggie of tissue either. They issue you a handkerchief that, you guessed it, hooks up to the sleeve of your very sexy (not!) jumpsuit. Cameras are also not allowed but they will take your picture (and your money) at a few spots along the route – but the pix are worth the money.
The climb, I found, was not terribly difficult but there are plenty of warnings for people with health issues, etc. I personally think you do not have to be in the best of shapes to do the climb but if you feel you are really out of shape, perhaps do a couple of days of walking around the city to get yourself stretched before the climb.
The views from up there are just magnificent. You could also go up the telecom tower (I forget its name) which is taller but you don’t get the same angle to view all of the harbor as you get from the top of the bridge. It was definitely weird looking down at 6 lanes of traffice plus extra lanes for buses, cycles and pedestrians!
The climb really drives home the beauty of this natural harbor and the impressive city that has grown up around it. For that reason, I highly recommend it!
Visiting Bondi Beach and Other Outlying Areas in Sydney
Day 2 began with many options on things to do. However, my legs felt like they needed some rest, and it was alternating between rain, drizzle, and no rain. So I opted to get on the Explorer buses that go on two different routes and that allow you to pay one fare and get on and off the bus at any of the designated stops along the way. This is a great way to get acquainted with the city so I decided it would be worth it. In addition, one of the 2 routes went all the way to Bondi beach (THE beach you always see when a beach in Australia is shown on TV) which was a must-see. The bus has a recording which highlights key city sights/sites along with some history and such things so one really does get good value from taking them (the bus drivers usually add more commentary as well). For me, the Explorer bus rides helped me identify areas of town that I definitely would want to explore more during my stay. The bus tours also allowed me to get out of the rain for a good bit of time (each route runs a 2-hr circuit)!
Along the way, I stopped at Watson’s Bay to have lunch at Doyle’s, a famous fish and chips place on the waterfront. It was very good and I had been hungry for a bit so the combination was a success. I did a short hike from there along the cliffs in that part of the coast which was good because 1. it was not raining, and 2. I got off the bus and got to stretch my legs…
Bondi Beach and Surfers
Bondi Beach
Once I got to Bondi beach, we were told there was a scenic trail connecting it to the next beach town over so I again decided to get off the bus though it was drizzling (I was wearing a rain jacket). The coastline was beautiful and the waves were roaring due to the weather. Of course, surfers were out in full force. I have never really paid attention to surfing but first, it seems a lot of fun if you don’t mind waves thrashing you about but, also, I realized surfers spend a lot of time just hanging out waiting for the right wave. As I was trying to take some action pix, it seemed to take forever for them to get on a wave. I stood on the roadside above one of the beaches (like 50 – 75 feet high) and I noticed how cars would slow down as they approached where I was standing. After a few of those, I realized those were surfers checking out the conditions of that beach to see if they would surf there. Some parked and changed right by their cars and some just kept going (I assume the conditions weren’t up to par for them). It was about 2 PM on Thursday so I wondered if these guys just take a break from work to surf, if they are on vacation, or if they just don’t work.
Typical homes in The Rocks area
So it’s the end of day 2 and my impressions of Sydney have gone from awe at the Opera House and the Bridge as unique structures to awe at the beauty of the city. The architecture can range from ultra-modern (Renzo Piano’s famous building) to the quaint buildings of the late 19th and early 20th century that you see not only in The Rocks area but elsewhere. The neighborhoods due east of the Central Business District all the way to the beaches all have distinct characters and unique charm. How would one choose where to live?? (Of course, property prices would take care of that as many of these seaside areas are quite pricey, precisely due to the seaside location and charm”.) I was expecting Sydney to be a modern city that was made pretty by its seaside location but my perspective changed dramatically today as I got a broader view at the different parts of town and realized there is a lot more to the beauty of the city than the seaside aspect to it.
Arrival in Sydney
View of the Opera House and the Central Business District from the Harbor Bridge
Modern travel is something amazing. To think that I traveled all the way around the world in about 24 hours when in ages past this trip would have taken months… Just getting to LA from Atlanta, by car, would have taken as long or more. Fortunately, it was around 4 hrs for me. The beginning leg of 3 legs I was to complete. A long layover in LAX (which was pretty bad as there is really not much to do in Terminal 2) and then the longest leg – the flight to Auckland which took about 12.5 hrs.
Flying Air New Zealand (as opposed, say, to United) was definitely a very good experience. The 747, workhorse of long haul flights for the last few decades, flew and you could barely tell there were engines on (yes, this could feel concerning to some). The food was actually quite good. Really. And the service, impeccable. For instance, flight attendants would walk up and down the aisles all throughout the flight with pitchers of water and cups not just during drink and meal services and not just once. Now that is service. American airlines (all of them) have a lot to learn from this airline. It seems airlines from this part of the world have figured out how to best treat their customers…
I slept about 6 hrs on the flight. I read. I got to watch movies like Pink Panther 2 (not top on my list but funny; “amburger”), The Reader (fantastic!) and another that escapes memory right now. The flight actually did not seem as long as it was. Oh, and was it a smooth flight! Loved it.
In Auckland, the connection was pretty short by comparison (1.5 hrs). The aiport was very manageable and efficient. We had to fill out a form stating we didn’t have cold/flu symptoms and even put down the seat we used and our contact info in case there is a need to contact passengers should someone develop H1N1 symptoms. Australia did the same thing when we landed. The flight was on a 767-300 that seemed sparkling new. The non-upholstery part of the seats was black which made the cabin feel pretty slick (still on Air New Zealand for this leg). Once again, great flight, great service.
Finally, I landed in Sydney! As my friend told me, you had to declare even medications you were bringing into the country. But the whole process of immigration and customs was smooth and fast (not the slow lines experienced at other airports that I have traveled to). Once done with that, I proceeded to get a local SIM card and a recharge card so I could use the phone locally and not pay outrageous fees for calls or texts. Just as my friend said, it was a very simple transaction.
Then I took the airport train line to the city center and switched trains to the North Shore Line which would take me to North Sydney, where my friends live. I followed the very good instructions my friend gave me to walk through a mall and then a couple of streets to get to their building. Mind you, I am carrying a large backpacker backpack and a small carry-on backpack. I was exhausted by the time I made it to their apartment!!
Sydney Harbor Bridge from the north shore's Luna Park
So, after a shower and a quick lunch, I had to explore! I meandered to Luna Park which has some of the best views of the Opera House, the Central Business District (CBD), and is right under the Sydney Harbor Bridge. I then walked across the bridge which provided great views of the harbor area. Tons of runners out jogging as it was around lunch time.
I decided to go see the Opera House after walking past Circular Quay. I took the one hour tour which allowed us to see the interior of the two largest halls for $35 Australian (about $28 US). It is not always guaranteed you can see the halls because there could be a show going on or a rehearsal. Luckily for us, one of the halls did have a rehearsal but it was for lights so we were allowed to sneak in and see the hall. The main hall itself was being used by someone rehearsing in the main organ (which is one of the largest in the world). The tour guide told us we were very lucky as the main organ is not used frequently (he said he has seen it in use 10 times over the last 4 yrs). It was very much a treat to see the hall with music actually playing. I took off one side of my headset (through which you hear the tour guide) so I could take in the music playing…
Outside the main hall at the Opera House
In the evening, we went to watch a key rugby league game (Queensland vs. New South Wales; I missed the “league” in the original posting and was called on it; this is serious stuff! ) at a local place. It was a good local experience for sure, I got to understand the game better (I have to say, more fun than sports back home), and it kept me up until 10:30PM, which considering the jet lag I had and no nap, made for a wonderful night sleep…
I have not decided where I am going today. That is the next step for me after posting this. Cheers from Sydney!
About
Part of the fun of traveling, besides the travel itself, is the experiences that happen along the way. Getting hopelessly lost in eastern France, getting stuck in a public restroom in Versailles, finding a tucked away neighborhood park in touristy Venice, being tossed into a stranger’s car in the Sinai peninsula, discovering the most mouth-watering wines in Mendoza, etc. all enhance the travel experience.
I have a passion for travel and seek to share the experiences and sights with others via this blog. And I hope it also gives others ideas of places to go or dream about going to someday! Other passions include dark chocolate and red wine – for the record!
Follow me on twitter @ilivetotravel or in Facebook www.facebook.com/ilivetotravel and drop me a note about your own travels any time – I love discovering new jewels for future travel opportunities!
My friend Chris, who also loves to travel, and others contribute on occasion to this blog to share their own experiences!
