Sydney

Sydney

Our first stop in Australia was Sydney. It was never our intention to visit the interior of Australia, but neither of us had been to Sydney before, and it was a convenient stopover en route to Tasmania later. And a very enjoyable and interesting stopover it proved to be! Our hotel was close to the Darling Harbour complex, and we found the Marina area full of beautiful and expensive private boats of varying sizes. Sydney seemed to be an incredibly wealthy place. Then we realised it was the International Boat Show!

A tour of the main harbour is a must of course, so off we went. The replica of Captain Cook's 'Endeavour' was at home - how small it is/was! The Opera House of course is iconic as is the magnificent Harbour Bridge. Bridge walking is a pastime for the energetic! Other views of the Opera House and Bridge from Circular Quay. Finally a long shot showing both with the City skyline.

The superb Sydney Aquarium in Darling Harbour was also a must. The platypus, though difficult to find in the wild, was quite oblivious of spectators! This leafy sea dragon was absolutely beautiful in its camouflaging traceries. The animatronic Great White didn't scare me but I wouldn't want to meet the real thing! On the other hand the big Nurse Sharks close up in the underwater tunnel were a different story! The Dugongs were most engaging, and the huge tank with its vast variety of fish was absolutely fascinating.

The suburbs of Sydney stretch for miles around, but the centre, particularly the older part is quite compact and the obligatory bus tour gave us a good idea of the layout and what areas we would like to revisit in addition to the vibrant quaysides. Our hotel was only a short walk from Hyde Park which at one end is home for the Anzac memorial and at the other the Archibald Fountain with St Mary's Catholic Cathedral in the background. The cathedral has a magnificent frontage. Another beautiful church is St. Andrews Anglican Cathedral. This is quite close to the Town Hall and the statue of Queen Victoria. The statue was originally unveiled by King Edward VII in 1904 in Dublin, Ireland and stood outside Leinster House until 1947. It was re-commemorated in December 1987 after being erected in Sydney.

As we explored the town towards the bay we visited the Natural History Museum. An excellent dinosaur collection! Were they really that big? - yes, this skeleton dwarfed the visitors. Parliament House was open to visitors, and we were able to see some of the chambers. The Speaker's chair is magnificent! Although the older buildings were much more photogenic than modern skyscrapers, the Post Office tower stood out as a graceful spire. Observatory hill is situated near the Southern end of the Harbour Bridge, and we visited the Observatory then enjoyed another view of the bridge.

The Botanic gardens are well worth a visit, and we spent a very pleasant time there. Interesting flora (Tree Fern, Bottle Tree and Paperbark Tree) and sculptures.

Fauna as well! Semi tame Cockatoos are so abundant that they are a nuisance, several Ibis and there was a substantial colony of fruit bats.

But of course no stay in Sydney would be complete without a visit to the Opera House. We went on a tour one afternoon, and then enjoyed an opera in the evening. A superb building, cleverly constructed - at first the original sketches seemed to be impossible to turn into reality, until the architect hit on the idea of using sections of a sphere. Then it all came together. The main Concourse is impressive - the whole complex is much larger than it appears from a distance. A close up of the external structure and some of the thousands of tiles. The concert hall, and the Harbour Bridge at night from the Opera House.

Then after our interesting time in Sydney we flew on to Tasmania