Yesterday ended rather uneventfully. We grabbed a quick dinner at Hungry Jack's (their Burger King....don't know why the name change) and got some provisions at a grocery store just outside our hotel. I only bought two yogurts, but it cost me nearly 6 dollars. When I saw the total ring up, unable to control myself, I blurted "Jesus Christ", which the Arab dude running the place (from Libya, he told me) found pretty funny. Other than that, we called it in early, and passed out to jet-lag fueled dreams (I did at least).
Today....well, today we did a lot. Despite forecasts to the contrary, today started out bright and sunny. We emerged from the hotel just as the city was getting ready for the workday, and the first destination was Circular Quay, yet again. I wanted to see the Opera House up close in nice weather, having missed the chance yesterday. Being early, the crowds had yet to hit the area, and the only people coming off the ferries were commuters coming into the city for work. We did a stroll around the Opera House, which really is a marvelous structure. I look forward to checking out the interior, possibly tomorrow. Feeling satisfied with that, we headed south deep into Downtown.
We first walked along Macquarie Street, which is lined with a number of old, historic buildings, including the oldest parliament building in the world. The street eventually led into Hyde Park, a large green space covered by a tree canopy. There weren't too many people in the park, but I can see it being a nice place for a jog or to take your lunch break (on a park bench, for instance). After walking through, I quickly checked out the war memorial at the other end, dedicated to the men from New South Wales (the state that Sydney resides in) that died in Australia's conflicts. From there, the girls wanted to check out Chinatown, so we did just that.
It wasn't that far of a walk from where we were. The Chinatown here is not that large, and apparently it is best visited on a Friday, when there is a large open market. To its credit though, it still does feel like an ethnic enclave, with Chinese the predominant language on the street (I've been in some Chinatowns that are just that in name only; none of the residents seem to speak Chinese. The ones in Buenos Aires and Montreal come to mind). In one of the shops the girls went into, one of the attendants, who was pretty cute, said to the other that she thought I was cute, not knowing I can speak the lingo. What can I say? Anyway, we spent some time, not too long, strolling about. By now it was getting close to lunch, so food was on our minds. Unfortunately things didn't look much cheaper in this area. We eventually just grabbed something in the food court of this small mall (don't worry, the food court was all Asian fare-I got honey chicken, but it wasn't very good. What is it with overseas Chinese? They are awful cooks).
From there we headed to Darling Harbor, another section of the overall Sydney Harbor that abuts Chinatown. I actually liked Darling better than Circular Quay. The water is surround by a boardwalk that is lined with places to eat/shop, and it seemed to be a popular place with locals. There was also some artwork to beautify the space a bit. After hanging out for a while, we headed back to the hotel to rest the dogs for a bit.
I queried the hotel front desk about the location of large supermarket where we might be able to get food without having to mortgage our homes. Luckily, there is a Woolworth's not too far from us, so we went there first after our break. We bought quite a bit, and the bill was only 53 bucks. Not great, but not bank-breaking either. I bought a loaf of bread and peanut butter. Wanna know what lunch is gonna be the next few days? Anyway, after that, we went for the next big thing, and walked across the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Walking the bridge takes between 20-30 minutes, longer if you stop to take pictures, of course. There is a walkway that runs along the edge, which is covered by a large fence, which helped ease my fear of heights. Its quite a popular thing to do, apparently, we had lots of company, and constantly had to dodge joggers. The bridge lets off into a suburb of Sydney called Kirribilli. Its a nice, quiet part of town, with little cafes and bars, and residential areas packed with beautiful homes. We walked around for a bit, but unfortunately we were joined by the rain. We eventually ducked into a little bar, where the girls got a round of drinks for themselves and we sat down for some conversation.
What we were really hoping for was for darkness to begin to settle in, so we can see the other side of the harbor (Opera House, etc), lite up at night. It was quite dark enough when we made it to a viewing platform, but we killed the time by taking photos, and me by chatting with an English fella who took a photo of all four of us. Eventually it did get dark enough, and, I have to say, the Circular Quay area looks stunning at night. I have provided some images here to give you an idea. Having taking it all it, the girls wanted to head back, as a chill came along with the night. Our walk back to the bridge included seeing several bats spring from the trees above. They were either bats or flying jackals, because these guys were massive. When Justine screamed at the sudden appearance of one above us, I knew it was time to hurry along. We made it across the bridge, and back into our room. All four of us agree that Sydney is impressive, expenses aside. Come back tomorrow to see what else the city has to offer.
Photos: Your Correspondent looking like a boss in front of the Opera House; entrance into Hyde Park; Gateway into Sydney Chinatown; Your Correspondent in Darling Harbor; dusk settles onto Sydney; Sydney Opera House at night (no, that is not a post card....I'm just that good); lost in contemplation.
Today....well, today we did a lot. Despite forecasts to the contrary, today started out bright and sunny. We emerged from the hotel just as the city was getting ready for the workday, and the first destination was Circular Quay, yet again. I wanted to see the Opera House up close in nice weather, having missed the chance yesterday. Being early, the crowds had yet to hit the area, and the only people coming off the ferries were commuters coming into the city for work. We did a stroll around the Opera House, which really is a marvelous structure. I look forward to checking out the interior, possibly tomorrow. Feeling satisfied with that, we headed south deep into Downtown.
We first walked along Macquarie Street, which is lined with a number of old, historic buildings, including the oldest parliament building in the world. The street eventually led into Hyde Park, a large green space covered by a tree canopy. There weren't too many people in the park, but I can see it being a nice place for a jog or to take your lunch break (on a park bench, for instance). After walking through, I quickly checked out the war memorial at the other end, dedicated to the men from New South Wales (the state that Sydney resides in) that died in Australia's conflicts. From there, the girls wanted to check out Chinatown, so we did just that.
It wasn't that far of a walk from where we were. The Chinatown here is not that large, and apparently it is best visited on a Friday, when there is a large open market. To its credit though, it still does feel like an ethnic enclave, with Chinese the predominant language on the street (I've been in some Chinatowns that are just that in name only; none of the residents seem to speak Chinese. The ones in Buenos Aires and Montreal come to mind). In one of the shops the girls went into, one of the attendants, who was pretty cute, said to the other that she thought I was cute, not knowing I can speak the lingo. What can I say? Anyway, we spent some time, not too long, strolling about. By now it was getting close to lunch, so food was on our minds. Unfortunately things didn't look much cheaper in this area. We eventually just grabbed something in the food court of this small mall (don't worry, the food court was all Asian fare-I got honey chicken, but it wasn't very good. What is it with overseas Chinese? They are awful cooks).
From there we headed to Darling Harbor, another section of the overall Sydney Harbor that abuts Chinatown. I actually liked Darling better than Circular Quay. The water is surround by a boardwalk that is lined with places to eat/shop, and it seemed to be a popular place with locals. There was also some artwork to beautify the space a bit. After hanging out for a while, we headed back to the hotel to rest the dogs for a bit.
I queried the hotel front desk about the location of large supermarket where we might be able to get food without having to mortgage our homes. Luckily, there is a Woolworth's not too far from us, so we went there first after our break. We bought quite a bit, and the bill was only 53 bucks. Not great, but not bank-breaking either. I bought a loaf of bread and peanut butter. Wanna know what lunch is gonna be the next few days? Anyway, after that, we went for the next big thing, and walked across the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Walking the bridge takes between 20-30 minutes, longer if you stop to take pictures, of course. There is a walkway that runs along the edge, which is covered by a large fence, which helped ease my fear of heights. Its quite a popular thing to do, apparently, we had lots of company, and constantly had to dodge joggers. The bridge lets off into a suburb of Sydney called Kirribilli. Its a nice, quiet part of town, with little cafes and bars, and residential areas packed with beautiful homes. We walked around for a bit, but unfortunately we were joined by the rain. We eventually ducked into a little bar, where the girls got a round of drinks for themselves and we sat down for some conversation.
What we were really hoping for was for darkness to begin to settle in, so we can see the other side of the harbor (Opera House, etc), lite up at night. It was quite dark enough when we made it to a viewing platform, but we killed the time by taking photos, and me by chatting with an English fella who took a photo of all four of us. Eventually it did get dark enough, and, I have to say, the Circular Quay area looks stunning at night. I have provided some images here to give you an idea. Having taking it all it, the girls wanted to head back, as a chill came along with the night. Our walk back to the bridge included seeing several bats spring from the trees above. They were either bats or flying jackals, because these guys were massive. When Justine screamed at the sudden appearance of one above us, I knew it was time to hurry along. We made it across the bridge, and back into our room. All four of us agree that Sydney is impressive, expenses aside. Come back tomorrow to see what else the city has to offer.
Photos: Your Correspondent looking like a boss in front of the Opera House; entrance into Hyde Park; Gateway into Sydney Chinatown; Your Correspondent in Darling Harbor; dusk settles onto Sydney; Sydney Opera House at night (no, that is not a post card....I'm just that good); lost in contemplation.
Okay a couple things here:
ReplyDelete1) I see you have figured out how to post photos with your blog. This is very nice. A big improvement.
2) So a cute Chinese girl thinks you are cute and you just walk away without saying anything... This would have never happened if i was there.
3) You still have a fear of heights? I thought the barbed wire path on table mountain squashed that fear?
ReplyDelete4) I see it is also dangerous at night in Sydney. Where as in Cape Town we had to dodge muggers and shanks, you have to dodge giant bats. Which do you prefer?