Friday 29 December 2006

Arrived in Sydney to find it chucking it down! Got to the place where we were staying and then headed out to Newtown which was nearby and had a thai meal at a place called "Khoa San" washed down with red wine of course.

Saturday 30 December 2006

Little wander around Sydney city centre to see some old buildings and the landmarks. We walked around the Botanic Gardens and onto Mrs Maquaries Point and Mrs Macquaries Chair which is a chair carved into the rock where Mrs Macquarie used to sit for views over the harbour. It's a great vantage point for views across the harbour towards the bridge.

Sunday 31 December 2006

We sorted ourselves a little picnic and then headed to Mrs Macquaries point where we queued for hours to get in. Loads of people go there as it's a good place to view the new year's fireworks from. We arrived around 11am and queued until 1:15pm to get in!

The weather was dry, but blustery, and we sat around under a tree all day eating sandwiches and drinking beer! There were some fireworks at 9pm for families with kids so we could get rid of 'em for the main thing at midnight! The fireworks at 9 were amazing anyway, but the real thing at midnight was more so! Apparently they cost $4million and were supposed to be extra special as the bridge is 75 in 2007.

Monday 1 January 2007

Another morning of it absolutely chucking it down with rain! We had the bridge climb booked in for later that day and it didn't look promising! Fortunately, the weather cleared up and we walked up to the Opera House. On the way, walked through Hyde Park and looked at the Anzac Memorial and walked past some other buildings along Macquarie Street: The Mint, St Mary's Cathedral, Hyde Park Barracks and the Parliament Building for New South Wales.

The Opera House was an amazing sight, it's strange looking at it close up and seeing that it's covered in tiles. Wouldn't like to regrout it as it would hurt my thumb!

We had some lunch in the area called "The Rocks" which is full of pubs and restaurants and close to the harbour bridge so then we set off on our bridge climb (after a quick look round the Observatory). Got kitted out in the silly suits and "trained up" on how to attach yourself and climb ladders. The weather was perfect as not too hot but the sun was out so there were great views across. Apparently on new year's day 2006 it was over 40 degrees in Sydney so we were lucky to escape that. We got the obligatory certificate and photos!!

A bit later, we decided to walk across the bridge. Again, the heavens opened so we gave up and went to the pub instead!

Tuesday 2 January 2007

We checked out of where we were staying and sorted out a few things in town in the morning. We headed up to Darling Harbour where we saw a big submarine and a big ship, although didn't go on them as you had to pay lots of money to get into the National Maritime Museum! There's lots of restaurants etc. on the waterfront at Darling Harbour as well as the aquarium, wildlife world, maritime museum etc. We were about to walk to the nearby Chinese Garden of Friendship but, again, it started raining heavily so we didn't get there!

Later, we met up with Lindsay (Lisa's friend Sarah's sister Kate's friend..... now try and work that one out!) who very kindly put us up at her very nice place in Coogee for the rest of our time in Sydney.

Wednesday 3 January 2007

We walked along the coast from Coogee to Bondi Beach. The walk was along the cliffs and very scenic, passing through some other beaches on the way (Bronte Beach, Tamarama Beach). Bondi was busy, although not packed as we were expecting. But... nothing that special really! We grabbed some lunch at a pavement cafe there and started to walk back to Cogee when it started raining again! I'm sure it's a myth that the weather is good in Oz!!

Saturday 6 January 2007

Got ferry from Circular Quay in Sydney over to Manly where there was a pretty busy beach. Guess the great weather had brought the crowds out. We didn't stay too long in Manly as, apart from the beach, there was not that much to see. So we got the ferry back to Circular Quay and then had a guided tour of the Opera House. It was interesting to see the bare concrete construction on the inside and how they fit the concert halls into the space... basically they are just other buildings within the shell of the Opera House building itself.

Sunday 7 January 2007

We headed to "The Rocks" where there was an open air market on and we had quite a relaxed time sitting outside a pub called the Mercantile. We met up with Rita and Steve from Lisa's work there! After a few hours there, we did manage to walk across the harbour bridge without it raining on us!

Monday 8 January 2007

Went to King's Cross, scruffy backpacker area, just to have a look! Then on to Woolloomooloo which is a restored wharf area and the home of Harry's Cafe de Wheels which is famous for pies, so we had fish n chips! Not really... we had a pie.

That was about it for Sydney. We headed for the airport for our flight to Melbourne.