Tuesday, November 13

Shaun was arriving back at the airport at 0715 this morning, so we headed out at 6 ish to meet him and leave him the car, and we grabbed the train into the city. 

Big giant christmas tree outside the international arrivals are at SYD.  It still seems funny to me to see all the christmas decorations in a very warm climate.

Our first stop was to the YHA travel office to book all of our arrangements for Melbourne.  Then we sprinted up to the Town Hall to catch a free walking tour of Sydney.  A three hour walking tour!  We did pretty much all of the CBD, with the guide pointing out important buildings along the way, and giving alot of history of the city. 

Queen Elizabeth Building.  Very posh shops in here.  Through the two archways in the background is a tree that goes the whole three stories up!  It completely filled the space.

And quirky things, too.  We ducked through an archway in Martin Place to a back alley, where there was an art installation of bird cages, suspeded on wires between the two buildings. 

 On the ground were noted the names of various bird species that used to be in Sydney, but are either extinct or have been pushed to outlying areas. And a recording played with various bird calls. Things like this are interesting to me, and we would have never known it was here if it wasn't for a local, knowledgeable guide.

Our guide pointed out the Sydney Tower, a popular place to go for a drink in the revolving restaurant. BUT... at a minimum charge of $25 per person, it ends up being an expensive view! She gave us an alternative at Australia Place, another big building with a revolving restaurant on top with a minimum charge of only $8 per person! We intended to go later, but it's one of the things that we just couldn't fit in. In the Customs House, there is a scale model of the Sydney CBD, set under thick glass in the floor. Interesting to walk over top of Sydney! We went into the Rocks and looked at all the old alleyways and houses dating back to the very early 1800s... old by Australian standards! 

Drew with a familiar little pig outside the Sydney Hospital.

After our walking tour, we were both pretty nackered since we were up at 5, so we took in a harbour cruise so we could get off our feet. I had done two harbour cruises the last time I was in Sydney, so I knew it would be worthwhile for Drew. We did a 2 hour 'coffee' cruise to the tune of $78 for both of us, thanks to the YHA discount. The cruise went way, way out to the North and South heads, where Sydney Harbour opens up to the South Pacific. Cook missed this entrance on his way to Botany Bay... and he was the worlds best navigator for his time! We popped up into the bay south of Manly and had the 'coffee'... undoubtedly the worst coffee I have ever had in my life! Yuck. At least the views were spectacular! The narrator pointed out the expensive real estate in the Eastern Suburbs... one house listed for about $34M. Some of the houses were on cliffsides so steep that they had little trams on rails to get to the lower levels of the lot, or down to their boat houses. 

An interesting shaped house.

Fort Dennison, in the harbour.  HA-ba.

Check out the monorail between the two white houses.  This is common for the houses in this neighbourhood.  I can't even imagine what real estate prices would have been.

At one point on the cruise, I heard Drew snoring... yup, he fell asleep.
 

 Sunny view of the Harbour Bridge as we left for the cruise. 

(pronounced HA-ba if you're in Sydney!)

 Sunny view of the Opera House as we left on the cruise.

 

 

Not so sunny view of the two as we returned.  It was pretty windy, and even a bit cold.  Drew had a coat.  I did not.  And my face got windburned.

Once the cruise ended, we headed to the hotel to check in and crash.  Later that night we went out in search of dinner, and grabbed some Korean food in a plaza in the theatre district.