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!



Daytime: I'm Free Tours -- Wed., Nov. 7

Okay, now we're bushed, tired, worn out. The morning started with continental breakfast in the Y Hotel Cafe. After breakfast we walked to the start point of I'm Free Walking Tours at Town Hall Square at 10:30 a.m. in downtown Sydney. The walk lasts three hours and visits The Rocks, Hyde Park Barracks, Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay, and tours through downtown shopping and financial areas.

Our tour guide, Lisa.

The weather was overcast and very bright, so these pictures did not turn out very crisp. Here's what we saw...

Queen Victoria statue in front of QVB (Queen Victoria Building)

Islay, the talking dog statue.

Australian clock in QVB.

Lisa told us there are two clocks, one in each hall of the QVB. Pictured above is the Australian-themed clock. We did not get to see the English-themed clock, but apparently every hour on the hour, the clock replicates the beheading of King Charles including his head falling off. We plan to go back to the QVB to watch this unusual clock do its thing. [Aside: The Australians love their abbreviations and shortened words...Oz for Australia, QVB, CBD=Central Business District, footy for Australian rules football. I'm sure we'll learn lots more.]

Sydney cityscape with unknown people

This is the outside wall of a building downtown.

Australian white ibis.

The Sydney Tower Eye, also called the Golden Bucket by the locals, has a 160,000 gallon water tank on top of it to counterbalance the tower.



Sydney Tower Eye

About 30 people on our tour today!!



GPO (General Post Office)

Popular artwork here (see photo below)--bird cages hang between buildings. This art is called "Forgotten Songs." When you walk under the cages, birdsong from native Australian birds start playing. In the daytime, birdcalls from daytime birds plays. At night, birdcalls from nighttime birds plays. On the street is this information: "These recordings are from bird species that once sang in central Sydney before Europeans settled and gradually forced them away. Some of these birds can still be  heard on the city margins where they find food and shelter in native vegetation." There are no birds in the cages.

Customs House

In the floor of the Customs House is a 3-D diorama of downtown Sydney. Way cool.

Harbour Bridge and Circular Quay are very popular!

Bob with a Harbour Bridge backdrop. This was the end of our guided tour.

Water fountain as art.

Veddy British.

On the way up to walk across the Harbour Bridge.

Our tour guide told us it's only 1.3 km one way across the Harbour Bridge. Well, you know us: let's do it. So up we went and did a trip across the bridge and back. Great experience. We DID NOT do the bridge climb which our guide informed us cost about $200.00 Australian.

Our first view of a rainbow lorikeet.

Pedestrian walkway on the Harbour Bridge.

From the bridge we were able to take some excellent photos of the harbour.

Sydney Opera House

Inviting neighborhood on NE side of Harbour Bridge

These eateries and shops are on the north end of the bridge.

A bakery display we couldn't resist

Apricot crumble and a chocolate mint slice.

Rainbow lorikeet.

Rainbow lorikeet.

People doing the Harbour Bridge Climb.

Okay, these are adorable.

Great graphics!

A three-story Apple store!!

Here's where we're staying for our first three nights until our timeshare kicks in. We don't yet have a timeshare for our fourth week in Melbourne. If we can't get a timeshare in Melbourne, we plan to spend our last week traveling the coast and staying in motels or inns. 

 

Our humble abode in downtown Sydney.

Bob and I found these crosswalk signs rather unusual.

I am breaking today into two parts because this blog is already so long!



 

Travel Bug bravely continuing on to Part 2 for today...Please see next blog for how our evening went.