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FARFRUMWURKEN
We had an amazing day and covered so much ground. Again we started off early today. We needed to get on the HOHO bus before 11:00 a.m. because that's when our 24 hour ticket expired. We made it.
We headed downtown to Circular Quay as a starting point. I just needed to touch the Opera House at Bennelong Point (Architect Louis Kahn) and climb the 72 stairs up to the massive sails. Since the time this opened in 1973 this has always been an icon for me - there are just a few iconic structures in the world that can be identified by drawing just a few lines - the Sydney Opera House is just one of those structures. I didn't realize that these sails were covered in individual ceramic tiles.
Then we boarded the Choo-Choo train that toured the Royal Botanic Garden. We started off at the Queen Elizabeth II Gate and toured the 30 hectares of gardens in the heart of the city. The location of these gardens are one of the first areas settled and farmed by the new colony in 1788.
After the gardens, we headed over to Circular Quay again to board our rocket ferry tour of the towns and areas outside of Sydney proper. We visited Darling Harbour, Taronga Zoo, Fort Denison, Watsons Bay, Manly Jetty. The sun was blistering today and the harbour cruise made us lather up with sun block and ultimately retreat to the lower deck out of the sun. The harbour tour was about a two-hour round trip deal - total of $60AUD for the both of us, truly a great deal to be able to see the harbour areas.
Then we headed to The Rocks with it's cobbled courtyards and hand-hewn sandstone to the city lights shimmering on the water. Both The Rocks and Darling Harbour pay homage to Sydney, from European settlement to bicentenary and beyond. Given that we were within walking distance to the Sydney Harbour Bridge I told Deb that we were walking the bridge so that we can say that we'd done it. After all, it's the first New Year's fireworks that you see every year, I had to be on that bridge.
Contrasting with the Opera House's undulating sails, the dramatic street presence of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is impressive to say the least. We accessed it by foot from the stairs at Milsons Point and then head across. We opted not to do the Bridge Climb - just a little too expensive and maybe just as exhausting, given the three-hour climb it takes to get to the top.
We finished and headed over to the Metro train at Martin Place station for our one-stop subway ride ($4.00AUS PP) back to our hotel at Kings Cross. What a day. What pictures. It was a great day. I kept up with my leader step-by-step throughout the entire day. She's quite the Eveready bunny - I love traveling with my girl.
All day it seemed like we were on the wrong side of everything. Whether it was on an escalator, walking on the side walk or stairs, we always seem to hug the right side, apparently the wrong side here - we look up and realize that we're making our way on the WRONG side. It's weird how people get. I've just heard that Justin made it in with a majority - that'll surely get my buddy Terry live on Facebook. We arrived back home, flopped into bed and downloaded my pictures. It's now 7:27 p.m. and we're headed back out for dinner. Who knows where we can get fed in the "sex district" but we're on a mission.
We ended up at the Tropicana Cafe on Victoria. Again a little different concept that what we're used to, but when in Rome. Pretty good food for $50AUS and then headed back to the hotel. We're getting picked up by Ian tomorrow at 09:00 a.m. and we're really looking forward to seeing them again after our time on the Panama cruise. They've opened their home to us - such great people - can't wait to see them again.
Stay tuned - more tomorrow.
We headed downtown to Circular Quay as a starting point. I just needed to touch the Opera House at Bennelong Point (Architect Louis Kahn) and climb the 72 stairs up to the massive sails. Since the time this opened in 1973 this has always been an icon for me - there are just a few iconic structures in the world that can be identified by drawing just a few lines - the Sydney Opera House is just one of those structures. I didn't realize that these sails were covered in individual ceramic tiles.
Then we boarded the Choo-Choo train that toured the Royal Botanic Garden. We started off at the Queen Elizabeth II Gate and toured the 30 hectares of gardens in the heart of the city. The location of these gardens are one of the first areas settled and farmed by the new colony in 1788.
After the gardens, we headed over to Circular Quay again to board our rocket ferry tour of the towns and areas outside of Sydney proper. We visited Darling Harbour, Taronga Zoo, Fort Denison, Watsons Bay, Manly Jetty. The sun was blistering today and the harbour cruise made us lather up with sun block and ultimately retreat to the lower deck out of the sun. The harbour tour was about a two-hour round trip deal - total of $60AUD for the both of us, truly a great deal to be able to see the harbour areas.
Then we headed to The Rocks with it's cobbled courtyards and hand-hewn sandstone to the city lights shimmering on the water. Both The Rocks and Darling Harbour pay homage to Sydney, from European settlement to bicentenary and beyond. Given that we were within walking distance to the Sydney Harbour Bridge I told Deb that we were walking the bridge so that we can say that we'd done it. After all, it's the first New Year's fireworks that you see every year, I had to be on that bridge.
Contrasting with the Opera House's undulating sails, the dramatic street presence of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is impressive to say the least. We accessed it by foot from the stairs at Milsons Point and then head across. We opted not to do the Bridge Climb - just a little too expensive and maybe just as exhausting, given the three-hour climb it takes to get to the top.
We finished and headed over to the Metro train at Martin Place station for our one-stop subway ride ($4.00AUS PP) back to our hotel at Kings Cross. What a day. What pictures. It was a great day. I kept up with my leader step-by-step throughout the entire day. She's quite the Eveready bunny - I love traveling with my girl.
All day it seemed like we were on the wrong side of everything. Whether it was on an escalator, walking on the side walk or stairs, we always seem to hug the right side, apparently the wrong side here - we look up and realize that we're making our way on the WRONG side. It's weird how people get. I've just heard that Justin made it in with a majority - that'll surely get my buddy Terry live on Facebook. We arrived back home, flopped into bed and downloaded my pictures. It's now 7:27 p.m. and we're headed back out for dinner. Who knows where we can get fed in the "sex district" but we're on a mission.
We ended up at the Tropicana Cafe on Victoria. Again a little different concept that what we're used to, but when in Rome. Pretty good food for $50AUS and then headed back to the hotel. We're getting picked up by Ian tomorrow at 09:00 a.m. and we're really looking forward to seeing them again after our time on the Panama cruise. They've opened their home to us - such great people - can't wait to see them again.
Stay tuned - more tomorrow.
- comments
Tom n Jamie We can catch up on your travels today. Currently at Waikiki across from surfer Duke statue. Keep on bloggin
Robert Forster Hope you guys are having a great time in Hawai'i. We'll have to make sure that we get together after this is over to trade pictures. Take Care guys and thanks for following us on the blog.