Sunday May 8th 2005. Touring Around Sydney City Centre

Sydney, Australia May 7 to may 14, 2005

After breakfast we decided to utilize our Sydney Pass. We caught the Sydney Explorer at a station close to the hotel. We got off at the Sydney Maritime Museum, near Darling Harbour. The Sydney Aquarium and Sydney Convention Centre are also close by. There are also other attractions, like the IMAX 3D Theatre, boardwalk, bridge walk, restaurants, and various shops. The place seems to be very well organized, with modern buildings and facilities, most of the buildings are with glass façade. The are also looks very touristy.

After spending sometime at the Darling Harbour area, we caught the Sydney Explorer and got off at an area called the Rocks. In contrast to Darling Harbour the buildings here are old buildings. However, the buildings may be old but they are properly maintained and are very pleasing to see. As it was Sunday, part of the road was closed for traders to set up their stalls and sell all sorts of stuff. We took time to browse around and bought some souvenir items to take home. From here we walked slowly by the harbourside, along the Rocks and proceeded to the adjacent area called Circular Quay where ferries plying across the river, harbour cruise ships and other water services begin from. We walked along the promenade and noticed many street performers, jugglers, statue dancers and others, doing their stuff and hoping to fill up their kitty. Across the wharf stands the unmistakingly familiar Sydney Opera House, standing majestically out of the bay. From a distance the building, with its vertical cupped-leaves or some called them ship sail, designed by a Dutch Architect, appear to be rising out of the sea. It is a massive structure and it seems the builders took 14 years to complete it.

We spent some time browsing in the area, had lunch of fish and chips (what else, and isn’t it common food in any touristy wharf or harbour anywhere in the world?) while waiting for the scheduled Sydney Harbour cruise.

The cruise took two and a half hours and passes through the Sydney Bay, crosses to the north side and passed by many suburban beaches and beach housing areas. When crossing over to the north side, the ship passed by the entrance of the bay which opens to the Pacific Ocean. They say that there are sharks in the area but I did not get to see any. One of the beaches that we passed by was a nudist beach and yes, it was. Although we were quite a distance from the beach, it was distinctly clear that they were nude men and women. Some of them even waved to the cruise ship, using their hands of course heh heh. As we went along we could see many beachfront houses of all shapes and designs. There were also marinas with all sorts of pleasure boats of all sizes. It was a beautiful sight to see. This cruise is a narrative one, so along the way descriptions of the area and some history of the place were narrated. It was very informative.

After the cruise we took the train and returned to the hotel for a short rest and got out later to continue browsing around circular quay. This time we went up close to the Sydney Opera House. It is a huge complex, and to walk around the building will take one more than half an hour. We then continue to take a stroll along the boardwalk near the wharf. We thought of taking the ferry across to a place called Manly, but they had cancelled the ferry, due to some technical problems, and provided buses instead, so we dropped the idea of crossing over. We instead walked through to the Rocks area to see the place at night. It is interesting to see the shops, restaurants, cafes and bars and compare them during the day and night. In the daytime the crowd is usually better behaved than at night.

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Sydney, Australia