We arrived in Sydney after a flight that was too short to be an overnight flight but too long to be a short hop so we felt the effects for a few days. We were lucky enough to have rented an apartment off family friends in a nice area of Sydney and, for the first time in seven months, we had our own kitchen and lounge. It was absolutely fantastic and we ate our first proper home cooked meal since we left the UK. (I haven't included a map as Sydney is pretty easy to find...)
We were only in Sydney for four days but managed to get a bit of a feel for what the city was like and we were joined by Euan's brother Rob, who flew down from Brisbane to stay with us for a few days. It was great to see him for the first time in nearly a year!
We were only in Sydney for four days but managed to get a bit of a feel for what the city was like and we were joined by Euan's brother Rob, who flew down from Brisbane to stay with us for a few days. It was great to see him for the first time in nearly a year!
Some Sydney suburb names reflected the UK and Paddington was one, with quaint tree-lined streets full of pretty wooden houses with wrought iron balconies.
Sydney even has a Hyde Park.
I was surprised by the Sydney Harbour and the bridge and (I hope I don’t offend anyone from Sydney by saying this!) I was rather under-whelmed. There is absolutely no doubting that the Sydney Opera house is a great piece of architecture and the setting spectacular.
We toured the Opera House and learnt that they’re planning an AU$400 million refurbishment, something we thought was quite ambitious given the financial state of things! The chap who designed the Opera House was Danish and had left Australia before it was completed. A real shame as, for a building designed in the 1960’s it was a real inspiration and way ahead of its time. As it turned out, he died the day after we visited so never got to see the structure he designed.
The Harbour Bridge was a lot smaller than I expected and was also a lot more boxy.
but I’m comparing it to the Auckland Harbour bridge that is a lot longer and doesn’t have the huge concrete stands at either end that seems to give it a boxy look. I’ll take a photo of the Auckland bridge and compare when we’re up there in January.
What did surprise me though was the amount of real estate actually on the Sydney Harbour, more than I’ve seen on any harbour elsewhere in my travels and I’m guessing that is all part of the appeal of living there.
We opted out of the AU$200+ Harbour Bridge climb but it was funny to see people heading up there, all kitted out like they were climbing some large mountain. It looked like they’d given them survival packs or parachutes judging by the bulky backpacks they had! If you look really closely at the second photo down you’ll see ant-like sticks walking on the top of the bridge.
I’ll be completely honest and let on that if it hadn’t have been for Rob, we wouldn’t have gone to a matinee performance of the ballet, Manon, at the Sydney Opera House which was actually really, really good! I really enjoyed it but wasn’t in floods of tears at the end like the English lady next to me. I was chatting to her and she’d moved from England to Manly and went to all the ballets at the Opera House. I think she knew her stuff so could tell me how this performance compared to others she’d seen.
We saw a slightly different performance shortly after we left the Opera House…. This lady was English and did quite a good performance that ended in her squeezing herself into this silly-sized box. She had some good banter but some of the jokes had people around us squirming – one very non-pc joke about Heather Mills didn’t go down too well with the crowd… there was a lot of squirming people around us mumbling disapproval.
Sydney has some interesting buildings
Darling Harbour is a great place to chill out on a nice day and while we were too late to visit the Navel Museum, there was a submarine and a few other boats moored up.
There was a sign and information on a lifeboat and I turned to Euan and “am I being stupid or is there meant to be a life boat moored here?” and wondered why he creased up with laughter. It was hanging above my head, as life boats do (not!).
It was difficult for me (with NZ being the next stop) to stay focused on what Sydney has to offer – I just wanted to get home! Next time, it I reckon it might be worth stopping off there on a trip heading north rather than south!
Sydney even has a Hyde Park.
I was surprised by the Sydney Harbour and the bridge and (I hope I don’t offend anyone from Sydney by saying this!) I was rather under-whelmed. There is absolutely no doubting that the Sydney Opera house is a great piece of architecture and the setting spectacular.
We toured the Opera House and learnt that they’re planning an AU$400 million refurbishment, something we thought was quite ambitious given the financial state of things! The chap who designed the Opera House was Danish and had left Australia before it was completed. A real shame as, for a building designed in the 1960’s it was a real inspiration and way ahead of its time. As it turned out, he died the day after we visited so never got to see the structure he designed.
The Harbour Bridge was a lot smaller than I expected and was also a lot more boxy.
but I’m comparing it to the Auckland Harbour bridge that is a lot longer and doesn’t have the huge concrete stands at either end that seems to give it a boxy look. I’ll take a photo of the Auckland bridge and compare when we’re up there in January.
What did surprise me though was the amount of real estate actually on the Sydney Harbour, more than I’ve seen on any harbour elsewhere in my travels and I’m guessing that is all part of the appeal of living there.
We opted out of the AU$200+ Harbour Bridge climb but it was funny to see people heading up there, all kitted out like they were climbing some large mountain. It looked like they’d given them survival packs or parachutes judging by the bulky backpacks they had! If you look really closely at the second photo down you’ll see ant-like sticks walking on the top of the bridge.
I’ll be completely honest and let on that if it hadn’t have been for Rob, we wouldn’t have gone to a matinee performance of the ballet, Manon, at the Sydney Opera House which was actually really, really good! I really enjoyed it but wasn’t in floods of tears at the end like the English lady next to me. I was chatting to her and she’d moved from England to Manly and went to all the ballets at the Opera House. I think she knew her stuff so could tell me how this performance compared to others she’d seen.
We saw a slightly different performance shortly after we left the Opera House…. This lady was English and did quite a good performance that ended in her squeezing herself into this silly-sized box. She had some good banter but some of the jokes had people around us squirming – one very non-pc joke about Heather Mills didn’t go down too well with the crowd… there was a lot of squirming people around us mumbling disapproval.
Sydney has some interesting buildings
Darling Harbour is a great place to chill out on a nice day and while we were too late to visit the Navel Museum, there was a submarine and a few other boats moored up.
There was a sign and information on a lifeboat and I turned to Euan and “am I being stupid or is there meant to be a life boat moored here?” and wondered why he creased up with laughter. It was hanging above my head, as life boats do (not!).
It was difficult for me (with NZ being the next stop) to stay focused on what Sydney has to offer – I just wanted to get home! Next time, it I reckon it might be worth stopping off there on a trip heading north rather than south!
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