Flew down Jetstar from Hamilton to Sydney, cheap airline, but super no hassle service. Got E exit seats, took our own picnic on board, arrived on time and got our luggage back in the quickest time so far, even before Lin came back from the loo! Finally got the hang of packing the cases, so they both weigh about the same.
Used the train to get to the centre of Sydney, 2 deck train and in about 20mins - $5. We are staying in Regent St, just by Chinatown, so Asian is the grub style. Had Thai and Vietnamese so far. Hotel is OK, bit like the city Travelodges, modern, clean, but not too many frills.
We have wandered about the CBD, been to Darling Harbour, like docklands but with life. Maritime museum, Hyde Park, Kings Cross, Paddington, could have stayed in London. Opera House is nice, bars, live music, next to the botanical gardens. The architecture of the Opera House is interesting, it really looks something from the harbour, but not much from the land side. Tried to book a night at the opera - no seats for Swan Lake, didn't fancy Moving Target and high tea is $145 each. So, very groucho, we made our marx and didn't go.
Bought a Red Rover that covers bus, boats and trains, but not automobiles and planes! You can also get a hop on-hop off circular tour. This takes you to lots of famous houses and spots around Sydney. No good tho' , as they are all closed in the week! It is also twice the price so not a good deal. We took a bus out to Vaucluse, nice spot overlooking the harbour, and then on to Bondi. I would like to tell you about Bondi, but it's nothing to write home about. We came back to Circular Quay and took the ferry out Manly, this is a nice trip that takes about 30mins and you get super views of the Opera, Bridge and bays. Manly itself is very nice, much, much better than Bondi. It has a nice relaxed atmosphere, great beach, great proms, lovely shops and restaurants. We stayed and ate dinner on The Corso, a tree lined, pedestrian prom with, bars, shops and hotels - great.
We had v. heavy showers today - Aus weather is not all its cracked up to be, but as you guys are having snow, I guess I mustn't grumble too much.
Its odd that the ANZAC's are so hot on the environment when they have traffic congestion, drive huge gas guzzlers, air-con like mad, all smoke and drink like fish and throw the remains all over the street. The smoking is interesting - who would have thought that the Indians smoke as little as the Aussie smoke so much!
Spent the last couple of days walking around city centre. There was a memorial service going on at their Cenotoph, lots of school children taking part. It was run by the Returned Services League, a bit like our British Legion. The Botanic Gardens are great, free entry, delightful park, plantings, art. There are nice lakes - with lots of large eels - yum yum! Got bats as well, Grey Headed Fruit Bats, big buggers, 1.5m wingspan, noisy and you don't want to be below when they poo.
The Rocks is very nice area, lying between the Opera and the bridge, it is where the original landings took place in Sydney. It has been nicely gentrified, a bit like the Shambles, for those of you who know York. Spent time at Darling Harbour, nice docklands like place, plenty going on, you can spend time there at the cafes watching the world go by. Linda wanted to do the walk over the Bridge, but I couldn't handle it - the vertigo was really vicious - what a whimp!
I can recommend Sydney for a weeks stay, lots to do, easy to walk round, public transport pretty good.
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