Sydney (for Laura’s birthday – Have a happy one, Laura!)

We went to bed late last night so, by the time we got going and figured out what we were going to do, we didn’t get out of the hotel until 10:30. Shortly after 11, we caught the Sydney Explorer bus, a two hour tour of points of interest in the downtown area. It was not a tour bus in the usual sense, but a city bus aimed at the tourist trade. It stopped at 26 places where you could get off if you wanted to and catch another bus on that route later.



We rode most of the way around and got off under the Harbour Bridge on the opposite side of Sydney Cove from the Sydney Opera House. We took some pictures and toured a trendy shopping area called “The Rocks” where they also had a street market on Saturday. We grabbed lunch at an outdoor square that had excellent live entertainment, then continued to work our way around the cove toward the Opera House. The whole area was filled with throngs of people and hundreds of shops of all description, especially outdoor cafes. We found a statue of William Bligh, captain of the Bounty, that said he was really a great guy who had been misunderstood, and a Didgeridoo band. The ferry terminal and harbour cruise terminal are here and there is a steady stream of large boats in and out.
We decided that, since we had already toured the major points of interest, we would skip the harbour cruise. The main attraction we wanted to take in was the Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour, so we started working our way back in that direction, with a detour back toward the Harbour Bridge, so I could get a picture in better light than when we first got off.

The aquarium was open until 10, so we decided to try the National Maritime Museum a short distance away. Unfortunately, we only got there 15 minutes before it closed at 5, so we toured some of the outside exhibits, including replicas of Captain Cook’s ship, the Endeavour, and the Bounty, of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. Then it was back to the aquarium at 5:30.
The Sydney Aquarium was everything we hoped it would be. The only disappointment was that the seal exhibit was closed for a private function. How can they justify charging the public the full price of admission, and then close an exhibit for a private function? Ron Sprung knows how I feel – ripped off. The highlight was the Oceanarium, in which you walk through a Plexiglas tunnel and the fish, big scary ones, swim by you. Very cool.


Another highlight was the Great Barrier Reef exhibit. There was a huge tank filled with the larger fish, big scary ones again, as well as smaller tanks filled with all the most colourful small reef fish you might find in a salt water aquarium.

By the time we got out at 8:30 it was dark and we were starving. Another throng of people had descended on this area. The perimeter of the bay is wall to wall eating establishments, virtually every one with a lineup. We finally found a place with a table and ate at 9. We then toured the harbour again, soaking up the atmosphere. It was a ‘happening’ place on a Saturday night.



We had planned to ride the monorail earlier in the day, but things didn’t work out. It is a 4 km above ground circuit around the Darling Harbour area. We rode all the way around, and then part way a second time to a stop near our hotel. A few short blocks later we were finally back in our room just before 11. By the time I wrote the day’s story and culled some of the 154 pictures we took, it was after 12:30 when I hit the sack. We are tired puppies. Should sleep well tonight.