Evening: Rethink Plan -- Wed., Nov. 7

The temperature today was a balmy 76 degrees with 73% humidity. Weather was overcast with a prediction for 30% chance of rain or thunderstorms. All we received during the day were a few welcome sprinkles.

After a whole day of walking, we hobbled back to the hotel, decided to rest for an hour then head back up to Circular Quay to do a 1.5 hour evening walk around "The Rocks" area of Sydney.

I should never have sat down! As soon as I stood up all my leg and butt muscles protested. It's been a long time since I've done much physical activity and I think I am rebuilding muscle. Ouch.

We rested for an hour and a half. I changed my shoes from comfy walking shoes to something a little more stylish and put on a nicer top because we would be walking in an area known for its nightlife. Off we went.

I didn't take a coat or umbrella because it had been so balmy when we went to our room. Oops. When we walked out the door of the hotel, it was sprinkling with a nice breeze. First whack on the side of the head: it might get cold. We kept walking to make the 6:00 p.m. walking tour.

The rain picked up in intensity. At this point we were about halfway to the start point. We tried to walk under awnings to stay out of the rain. I told Bob, "Walking 1.5 hours in this rain would not be pleasant. I do not want to be wet with the wind blowing on us. We could just go eat dinner and take this tour tomorrow night."

Second whack on the side of the head: We haven't had dinner yet, we walked all day and I'm hungry!

The rain fell harder. People around us had umbrellas and raincoats.

Abort 1.5 hour walk, find restaurant. Sydney is a cosmopolitan city with MANY exotic food choices. We opted for Lees Malaysian on Hunter St.

Functional decor, nothing fancy.

Huinan chicken with chili sauce, rice, and chicken broth.

Gado gado--skewered chicken, veggies, peanut sauce.

No rain after dinner, but too late for guided walk. We meandered back to our hotel, stopping for photos along the way. Both of us are thoroughly enjoying Sydney.

Supreme Court of New South Wales

Supreme Court of New South Wales

 Hyde Park sights. (Hyde Park is across the street from our hotel.)

St. Mary's Cathedral.

Beautiful blooms of unknown plant.

 

Jacaranda tree blooms.

The Labours and Beauty of Pioneering Mankind statue.

Unique bloom on a tree.

Trunk of tree with bloom in previous photo.

Fountain in garden with St. Marys Cathedral in background.

About this time of the evening, the biggest "bats" I've ever seen were flying about. (Bob showed me a photo of a gray headed flying fox which also looks like a bat. So I'm not sure what we saw at dusk.) Try as I might, I could not get a photo of said "bat." They were just too fast.


Australian Museum. This place looks huge!

Statue of Captain Cook.

Captain Cook "Established this Territory in 1770. Killed at Owyhee 1779." Owyhee = Hawaii.

ANZAC War Memorial. (ANZAC = Australia/New Zealand Army Corps.)

From here, we crossed the street, went to a convenience store and bought a few toiletries and snacks. Then we headed back to the hotel. I immediately removed my nicer shoes and put on Skechers Shape Ups flip flops to soothe my weary feet.

Interesting factoid: 80% of Australia's animals and birds are found nowhere else in the world. It's no wonder I don't know what kind of birds, trees, flowers and animals I've been seeing. Luckily, through the internet, I have been able to identify the birds we saw today.

So ends our first day in Australia.

Travel Bug worn out. You must be too after the two-part blog!