From a short tour around downtown, I’m finding that the city is built on rock and HILLS. That wasn’t exactly what I had expected for some unknown reason. But it certainly is pretty from what we are seeing. We are staying at the ANA Hotel, which has to be a 5* hotel. It’s located in "The Rocks" area. There are beautiful views of the Harbour Bridge! AND it has the most gorgeous bathroom! <I know, but it’s a "woman" thing>. Because there is a 2-hour time change, we are a little tired, but did go for a short walk, and found there was a HILL between the hotel, George Street (a main street) and Circular Quay (pronounced as "key"). It seems there is a LOT happening in the area. This part of Sydney started out as a makeshift camp for convicts, sailors and soldiers. The Harbour Bridge is amazing. It is one of the world’s longest and heaviest single-arch span bridges. It carries two rail tracks, eight lanes of highway, a bicycle track and pedestrian walkway. You can walk across it, climb into it, or even do a BridgeClimb. (We were told that to climb the bridge, you must wear protective overalls, and harness attached to the bridge and take a breathalyzer test. If you have a head for heights, it’s a fantastic accomplishment)

The next morning the group all meet to do a city tour on our Australia Pacific Tours bus. There are some lovely buildings, magnificient homes and some fantastic scenery around the city, including Kings Cross, Hyde Park, the Royal Botanic Gardens and the famous Bondi Beach.

The Royal Botanic Gardens is actually a collection of gardens, in the heart of the city. It was the site of Sydney’s first farm. Governor Macquarie implemented his wife’s plan for a road looping around what is known now as Mrs Macquarie’s Point. It is said that she enjoyed sitting on the point with its panoramic views of the habour.

Bondi Beach is actually rather wide and curved rather than straight. It certainly does have a "British" feel, but since it was spring in Australia, the beach wasn’t crowded. Again we made several photo stops. Then it was time for a luncheon cruise around the Sydney Harbour on the Captain Cook line. The cruise has LOTS of photo opportunities. We are even able to see part of a Paraolympic boat race.  Later we make a stop at Gemtec to see a video on mining opals. Of course they have some available for purchase. I’m doing my best to help the Australian economy as well. ;o)

This evening is a tour and dinner at the Sydney Opera House. The story of the Opera House is a drama in itself. Danish architect Joern Utzon won an international prize in 1957 to design the center, however construction brings many problems. The costs soar, there is political debate, and Urzon claims he can no longer continue, resigns in 1966 and leaves Australia (taking the plans with him). A new team of architects completes the exterior and redesigns the interior. Construction costs $102 million and 16 years. However the Opera House remains one of the world’s most recognizable buildings, and is the most visited and admired tourist attraction in Australia. The tour guide hows us some of the more than a million individual tiles, made in Sweden that cover the roof. There is a concert hall, opera theatre, a drama theatre playhouse and studio. Along with many other facilities, there are two restaurants, one of which we are dining in this evening.

We have a free day, and decide to do a few other things rather than take a tour. In the morning we walk to Circular Quay, browse through a few shops and then take the ferry to Toronga Zoo. This is the place to see all the native Australian animals. You start with a Sky Lift to the top of the zoo, and work your way down through easy trails. We saw wallaby, kangaroos, and koalas, as well as many other animals. After about 4 hours we returned by ferry to Circular Quay. Since we had promised to bring back Sydney "Hard Rock" shirts, we proceed to find the Hard Rock Café. After making our purchases, we decided to walk some. And kept walking and walking. We were close to the AMP Tower which is the tallest building in Australia, and then found ourselves in Hyde Park. Lots of interesting sights, including a lady feeding pigeons…..LOTS of pigeons. Since we’d had our share of exercise for the day, we headed back to our fantastic hotel, and relaxation. Unfortunately this is almost the end of our stay in Sydney. I think we could have used many more days to really look around.

For more information on our Australian Pacific Tours, Qantas Airlines, Expedia, and the ANA hotel, as well as some of the places we visited, please see below.

Questions or comments?