Another look at the Opera House. Urban legend has it that a soccer ball, cut open at the seams, was the inspiration for the famous shell-like roof. The tiles actually clean themselves, which is how the roof stays nicely white.
New stores, an IMAX theater, playgrounds, museums, The Sydney Aquarium, and much more are located in and around Darling Harbor. The monorail runs into part of Sydney's business district.
This pedestrian bridge across the harbor swings open to allow tall sailboats and larger ships into Darling Harbor. The mono-rail can run even when the bridge is open.
A walkway through one of Sydney's many parks. This park stretches for about 4 city blocks, and is bordered by historic churches, museums, and some of Sydney's business district.
One of the denizens of the Botanic Gardens. This is just the start of this tree. The branches grow out almost horizontally, then some actually grown down to provide additional support (like extra trunks). The largest tree of this sort was reported to have covered 100 hectares (just for comparison, the Gardens, which we walked around for more than an hour, cover only 35 hectares). Kate's wingspan is about 5 1/2 feet.
Another shot of the same tree. I am standing on the ground at the center of the trunk. The picture covers about 2/3 of the overall tree width. |
The City Quite simply, Sydney was as every bit as nice as we had heard it was going to be. We generally felt like we were in a large town, and were both shocked to learn that Sydney is roughly the size of Philadelphia. Of course, nearly everyone asks "How was the trip?" For us, it was about 30 hours door to door, but that included a 7 hour layover in Chicago each way. The trip out was bearable, because the flight from Los Angeles to Sydney (13 hours in the air) was only half full, and we could sleep. I took John's sage advice and made a nest for myself on the airplane floor out of extra blankets and pillows. Nine hours of uninterrupted sleep BABY! The trip back was worse, because every seat on every flight was full. We had been up for 34 straight hours by the time we got home, but had a full day to sleep and lounge around before heading back to work. Sydney ended up being much more hilly than we expected. It drops quickly from the hills to the sea, and steep cliffs (some 300+ hundred feet tall) ring the city. A comparable city might be San Diego or San Francisco, but with cliffs. Driving in Sydney was quite an experience. Of course, there's the whole left-side- of-the-road thing, and driving on the right side of the car. Windshield wipers came on many times that turn signals were supposed to... Australian "highways," which compare to state highways in the US, stop at the outskirts of cities (sometimes actually with a traffic light), and then proceed on normal, city surface streets. Speed limits were generally followed (give or take 10-15 KPH), but the drivers were very aggressive. Overall, it gave Kate the impression of being in Europe. Fortunately, getting around Sydney was easy without a car. Bus lines are plentiful, even out into the suburbs, and the Harbor Ferries are synchronized with the bus lines to make sure people stay moving on the public transportation. Speaking of the harbor, it really is as clean as it appears in the pictures. During our harbor cruise, we could easily see to the bottom, even when it was many feet deep. The harbor water is so clean, and supports so much sea life, that large animals such as sharks survive and thrive. Sort of like the Hudson River..... or not. Crime must be almost non-existent in Sydney. We saw people get onto busses during rush hour and drop their brief-cases and bags at the front of the bus, then move to the back to get their seats. The stuff was still waiting for them when they got off the bus later. Wow. The Sydney Aquarium was a favorite for both of us. We were lucky to pick a rainy day to spend in the Darling Harbor Area, where we saw the IMAX Everest film and then hung with the fishes at the Aquarium. The huge tanks with walkthrough underwater galleries got us up close and personal with some exceptionally large fish, and more than one shark, ray, and sea turtle. With one notable exception, I've never been as close to sea life, even when SCUBA diving. Chinatown was interesting, but it was raining that day, so we didn't spend enough time wandering around to really find the good restaurants and cool little stores. Sydney is home to tons of little cafes and restaurants. We were shepherded around to wonderful little places we never would have found on our own (Goodonya to our local guides!!!). Kate scores HUGE with her recommendation to celebrate her 30th birthday at Riberries restaurant, which she actually found by watching the Food Network on cable TV. It turned out to be without question the most delicious meal either of us have ever eaten. We literally tried every item on the menu, and could have made a meal on any single choice. Who would have thought kangaroo is so delicious, let alone a quiche-like pie made from the meat of a GIANT pine cone and filled with Australian veggies? We were very entertained by the sight of hundreds of business men and women running up and down Sydney streets during lunch and after work. Really running, too. It didn't appear to a fitness fad, since everyone was still dressed in their suits and dresses. We asked John and Susan, but they hadn't noticed it. Maybe we just hit an odd couple of days when many many people were very late. One interesting side to Sydney is a general lack of central heat in any buildings. Even on relatively chilly mornings (40 - 50 F), when Sydney-siders were bundled up like it was February in Chicago, storefronts were completely open, and the only way to warm yourself was to grab a hot drink somewhere. Nevertheless, it sings praises for an entire city which does not cower behind AC and heat pumps. We were both surprised at the abundance of green space everywhere we turned. The Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens are huge (several hundred acres easily), and were lovely even in wintertime. Since many Australian trees do not lose their leaves in winter, the Gardens were lush and green. We made an entire day of a boat tour of Sydney Harbor, then a walk around the Opera House, and then a tour of the Gardens.
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