9/3: Sydney: Here we come!

Were Steven and I ever glad that we decided to break up the trip from Denver with a couple of days in Hawaii as otherwise the trip from the west coast of the US all the way to Sydney would have been hellacious, we thought. As it was, it was about a 10 hour flight from Honolulu on Jetstar Airways, and thanks to our marvelous planning, we were not given one sip of water or any food on board the entire trip. 

Turns out we needed to prepay for anything and everything  we might want on board when booking which, guess what, we obviously hadn't done when reserving the flights a good many months ago. We had brought sandwiches and snacks in our 7kg allotment each of carry on bags so didn't starve but the scents of all the yummy hot meals enjoyed by our seatmates made our repasts look rather unappetising by comparison especially when hours 6 & 7 rolled around!

We got to our hotel easily enough courtesy of a Samoan shuttle driver - now, that was an interesting conversation as we had never spoken to a Samoan before. He was so proud of the Samoans playing in the NFL.

We were rather tired and punch drunk by then as we had lost a day traveling across the Inter'l Date Line; all of a sudden it was no longer the 1st but the 2nd. Able to adjust our internal clocks and our watches easily enough but changing the camera clock took longer!

One thing Steven and I have really enjoyed since traveling internationally is taking 'free' walking tours in new cities whenever possible. So called 'free' walking tours worldwide are, in our experience, normally led by university students or fairly recent graduates who rely exclusively on tips for payment. 

So off we were to meet our guide and begin our adventures in Sydney but first we had to get to the meeting spot and that meant seeing some of Sydney en route.

Natalie: Thought of you, hon, when we saw this iconic Australian store!

St Mary’s Cathedral: Walked in as we had some extra time before having to be at the Walking Tour starting point. Construction began in 1868 but didn’t end til 2000, the year the Olympics were held in Sydney! The reason for the long delay: the builders would have to pay taxes on the completed building and didn’t want to!

Long time readers of our blogs know that our travels have taken us into many, many religious institutions of all denominations and faiths over the past 2 years. This is but the first of what will no doubt be many more this trip as well.

Was moving to see those who died in war so honored in the Cathedral.

Taking a shortcut through Hyde Park, we noticed the Jewish temple; nothing like getting both of our faiths taken care of in a matter of a few minutes!

What an unusual tribute.

Yikes!

You see these all around Sydney - we found out a few days later
these are called Australian White Ibises.

Really nice having that reminder on the street in front of the curb as traffic here in Australia is on the left side of the road. Hard getting used to it and especially always walking on the left hand side of the sidewalk too. I hope Steven gets the hang of how to drive here when we hit Uluru, our destination in a week's time, as we'll be renting a car there!

1st photo from the tour: a ceiling shot I liked from the Queen Victoria Building aka the QVB.

At the beginning of the tour we met a young man, Meysam, who had emigrated a few years ago from Tehran hoping to find a better life for himself in Australia. He told us that after seeing Sydney for a few days, he was relocating to Melbourne on the country’s South Coast to look for another mechanical engineering job after having lived in Brisbane on the East Coast for several years. Good luck, Meysam, in your job search and also in soon finding the woman of your dreams. We really enjoyed chatting with you and hope you'll keep in touch.

Photo of Meysam in Hyde Park (yes, named after the park of the same name in London) in front of  the Archibald Memorial Fountain which featured Greek mythological figures.

Steven, holding a flag commemorating 100 years of women serving in the Sydney Police Force,
standing in front of the Hyde Park Barracks. Spoiler alert: more on that later!

The parade complete with mounted horsewomen too.

Plastic Money: Australia, in 1988, was the first country to develop plastic bills. Now 25 other countries have adopted plastic bills for their currency. I remember commenting in last year’s blog (or was it the previous year’s?!) on the novelty, to me, of plastic money when coming across it for the 1^st time. I know there has been discussion of the US adopting it too because it is so much cheaper and environmentally friendlier but don’t think it has reached anything beyond the discussion stage.

Martin Place: Studded with imposing buildings and closed to traffic since 1971, and now a terraced pedestrian mall. Today was National Flag Day and the organizer of the event celebrating the occasion kindly asked the tour group to attend the ceremony due to begin shortly but our guide begged off saying she had other places to take us.

The Australian Coat of Arms has both a kangaroo and an emu; they were chosen because they were the only 2 legged animals in the country and were thus considered civilized. In addition, they could only walk forward, not backward which signified that Australia too was looking forward as a nation. Our guide told us about a nearby hotel where you can order a Coat of Arms Pizza: if you guessed it would be half kangaroo and half emu, YOU would get the prize!

Wattles: The national flower of Australia. If you notice Australian teams competing in international events, look for them wearing gold and green, the colors of the wattle.

Forgotten Songs: The birdcages played recordings from bird species
that once sang in Sydney before European settled and gradually forced them away.
Some of the birds can still be heard on the city’s outskirts though.

Life imitating art.

Meysam joking at the statue.

Our tour guide in front of the 3 sided statue commemorating days of yore.

The Sydney Opera House: I can’t tell you how flabbergasted Steven, I and other people we talked to were seeing it for the 1^st time as the ‘sails’ were not white at all as we had seen in a gazillion pictures but were very creamy/beige in color instead. You'll see what I mean in later photos where the true color is easy to easy.

One of the highlights of any visit to Sydney is taking ferries from Circular Quay (pronounced Key to Sydneysiders, i.e residents of Sydney) to lots of places on Sydney’s North Shore. The Quay has been the center of Sydney life since the First Fleet dropped anchor here in 1788. 

Upon arriving at the Sydney airport a few days ago, we immediately each bought Opal Cards, a discounted travel card that we could load with a minimum of $AUD 10 and top up as needed. The cards are good on any form of public transportation: ferries, buses and also on the city’s great subway system. Perhaps you already know that Australia is justifiably famous for its beautiful opals? The symbol of the Opal Card reminded me of the opal gem.

After the almost 3 hour walking tour, we decided to head over to Manly on the outer harbor, the only ferry destination that boasts an ocean beach. You may have heard of Manly as it’s known worldwide for its incredible surfing. It was a 30 minute journey each way costing, with the Opal card, $AUD 15.60 return. Certainly worth every penny for the gorgeous sites on the way over, at Manly itself and especially returning to Sydney close to sunset.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge completed in 1932 is 3,772 feet long and accommodates pedestrian walkways, 2 railway lines and an 8 lane road. Seeing it rise among the waters of the harbor with its blue Australian and  red New South Wales state flags flapping in the wind is a sight to behold.

After getting off the ferry, we walked up the Corso, the area’s 
pedestrian mall for the last 100 years or so. Just a scream seeing this sign as soon
 as we got on the Corso! Certainly a new form of recycling, don't you think!

First time seeing a sign advocating safe needle disposal; this was located in the restroom.

Really neat seeing the surfers all clad  in wetsuits riding the waves at 
Manly Beach. Steven put his feet in the water and said it was 
really cold; we did see some brave (or foolish?) swimmers though.

 Then walked the narrow, coastal walk to Shelly Beach, a nice area for swimming and snorkeling. How incredibly relaxing walking the serene path after being on an almost 3 hour walking tour of the city’s downtown highlights.

Returning to Circular Quay via the ferry, I braved sitting outside in the very cool wind so I could get some nice shots of the skyline. I think the photos were worth being chilled! Seeing a large P & O Boat brought back memories of stories my English mother told of her father who had spent most of his life at sea working on and eventually being captain of a P & O boat all around the world.

Downtown Sydney skyline from the ferry.

I didn't realize how very British Australia is in many ways, paricularly the language of course, but also city sights and street names too. Far, far more so than my native Canada, also a member of the Commonwealth. Any Brit must feel totally welcome here as soon as they step off the plane.

My apologies for not getting my 1st post out til just now - I do vow to post more frequently so I am not posting so many days after we actually see and do these fun things. 

Good night to each of you from chilly Sydney and environs on 9/6.