We have been in the crowds in Sydney the last few days! We know that we have seen over a million
people just today! Sydney is a large
city in itself, but right now one of the happenings is a “Vivid Sydney”
celebration. At night there are light shows in two different areas – Darling
Harbour and Circular Quay (pronounced key). These are laser light programs
shining on the buildings and on the famous Opera House. People are everywhere! There is of course the Rotary convention, but
that 20,000 people is just a drop in the bucket!
Back to Thursday which
now seems like a long time ago! – First
thing we needed to do was figure out transportation. Our accommodations are 2 blocks from a ferry
stop, or so we thought!!! However at the
end of April they shut down the ferry wharf for updating repairs!! Oops! This plan is not going to work! The
next best way to ‘get there’ is by bus.
We are no more than 1 ½ blocks from the bus stops which go in all
directions. We figured out how to read
the bus info and we began riding! Our
first ride to Olympic Park, the site of the Rotary convention cost us a ticket,
but after we registered Thurs (1:00) all we need to do is show our Rotary name
tag and all public transportation on buses, ferries, light rail & trains in
and around Sydney is totally free. This
is saving a barrel of money!!
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| The Admiral Collingwood - Our Home In Sydney |
We arrived by bus at Olympic Park, which of course is a HUGE
area and we were not sure about which stop to disembark, but our guess was
right. We arrived before registration
was officially open, and they were still putting up signs, but we made it to
the right location, spotting several friends along the way. One was a couple we will be visiting later in
NZ. With a crowd of 20,000 people you never know if and when you will see who
you want to see.
After we registered we took the train down town the Town
Hall Station. We walked around the Old
Town Hall (under repair), stepped inside a cathedral, and then strolled around
in The Victoria Building, which is a shopping center of the VERY exclusive
stores. The building is beautiful both
inside and out, so it is definitely worth a stroll. While we were inside there was a short rain
shower (we had no umbrellas with us), but by the time we went outside again, it
had stopped raining.
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| St Anthony Cathedral |
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| Queen Victoria Building - QVB |
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| Inside the QVB |
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| Anyone for some Sweets |
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| The QVB |
We walked around a lot that afternoon, until it was time to go to Central Station to meet our new friends, our hosts in Wangaretta several weeks ago. They are big fans of Australia Rules Football (Footy as they call it). Tonight is a huge game, and so they have come to Sydney early to attend the game (they normally just attend games in Melbourne). He ordered two extra tickets for Cal & I. What a night! Australia Rules Football (this is not soccer) is a fast moving game with lots of scoring. Most games the scores are in the 60’s to 80’s, but at Thursday night’s game between Sydney and Geelong the score was 148 – 38. Geelong is actually ranked very high, but Sydney won this game big-time! It was an enjoyable evening as our friends were for Sydney, the winners. It was late until we arrived back at the B&B. Normally that would not have been so bad, but we needed to be up by 5:30 the next morning. It would be a short night!
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| At The Sydney Cricket Grounds - Australian Rules football |
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| Final Score - 100 Point Victory (6 points per goal) |
Friday was the
day for our 4x4 excursion to the Blue Mountains. The 3 Iowa couples who have
been together had booked a day excursion in a 4x4 with a driver/guide named
Paul. We had a wonderful day. Paul was
very knowledgeable about plant/trees, flowers, birds and animals. He wanted to leave early so we would be ahead
to the tour buses. When we arrived at a
Wildlife Park, to see native animals we were the first vehicle there. When we left the parking lot was full of buses,
etc. We saw cute little Koala’s again
(we were so lucky to find them in the wild the other week – not many Aussie
have seen that). I did not go to where
the snakes were located, but I guess that the world’s top 10 poisonous snakes
all live in Australia. We did some
off-roading on rough gravel back roads, and he took us to the scenic spots,
some of these are tourist spots and others were less traveled. For lunch he had private reservations at a
spot where we were overlooking mountain ranges.
It was a beautiful location that hosted weddings and wedding receptions.
We had a delightful meal of fish & chips (fries), salad, and apple pie. After lunch Paul showed us how to correctly
throw a boomerang so that it returns to you.
Earlier on this trip we had learned about boomerangs and how they were
used as a weapon in hunting animals.
They were thrown so that it would break/damage the legs of the animals
they were hunting giving the hunter time to capture the animal and kill it. It
was never meant as a toy!
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| Koala |
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| Koala with Friends |
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| Little Fairy Penguins - Same one we saw on Phillip Island |
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| Kookaburra |
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| Our Road |
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| One Laned Bridge |
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| Australian Parrot |
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| Crimson Rosella Parrot |
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| The Blue Mountains |
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| Banksia Shrub |
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| Banksia Fruit |
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| Isolated Rock Formation near the Three Sisters |
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| The Three Sisters |
By the time we returned to Sydney it was dark (almost
6:00pm). Paul dropped us where he had
picked us up in the morning which was located near Darling Harbour. This gave us the opportunity able to see the
6:00 light show at Darling Harbour. This light show is using water fountains shooting
water up in the harbor and laser light designs displayed on the water mist. Of
course this is all set to music. The shows are every hour, on the hour, for
about 12 minutes. People! People!
Saturday – We
slept in for a little while this morning, but then we were out exploring again. This time we went by bus to Darling Harbour
and from there a ferry to Circular Key where we began walking in the oldest
part of town around the harbor area.
Every Saturday there is an outdoor market in this area - some booths are
under permanent canopies. It was extremely interesting to see all the items
they had for sale, especially the unique Australian made items. This was also a
good area to find lunch.
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| Opera House from the Ferry going to Manley Beach |
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| Mt Pleasant Wine at Manley Beach Wine Tasting |
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| Wine and Lamb Ribs - Don't You Wish You Were Here |
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| Leaving Manley Beach |
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| Sydney Harbour bridge |
Before returning to the B & B tonight, we saw the light
shows at both locations again. One while
on the ferry in Circular Quay and we waited in Darling Harbour for that one to
start. We are tired tonight, but I had
to take time to write this blog, or I will forget what all we have done. Cal will post it in the morning.
Tomorrow are the Opening Ceremonies for the Rotary
Convention. We have ticket for the 1st seating at 11:30 am, after
which there is an Aussie BBQ. At this
point I do not know what we will do afterwards.
There are still several things we want to be sure and do while in
Sydney.
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