Seriously Sydney

I could ride the ferries on Sydney Harbour forever.  Gazing out over the water, waves sparkling in the sunlight, sailboats flying by, the wind whipping my hair back, the spray making my lips taste slightly salty on my tongue.  Standing and constantly adjusting to the to rolling of the boat, the swell of the sea, confined in this bay.  It becomes a sort of meditation - very peaceful.

Sydney is one of the most fantastic cities I have ever seen. Although I haven't been to many cosmopolitan cities in the U.S. (San Franscisco, as I grew up in the Bay Area, Washington D.C., Boston, New York - which I don't remember well, as I was a child), and only Mexico City outside, Sydney was really something.

The public transportation is terrific.  We were able to take the train from the airport to within walking distance of our accommodations at the Blue's Point Hotel, and then water taxis/ferries or walk everywhere else.

The Blue's Point Hotel had character - I'll give it that.  Our rooms were located over a pub and were tiny, tiny, with a shared shower and toilet down the hall.  We slept fairly well, but it wasn't the kind of place in which you'd want to hang out all day, which was fine, 'cause there was plenty to do outside!

That's it.  Our room.  There was also a small sink in the corner but pretty much, what you see is what you get.  That's cool.  The hotel itself was located in a sort of trendy 'hood with some pretty good restaurants and we could walk to the McMahon's Point ferry dock within minutes.  So, we did!

Steve and Bri at ferry dock.

Waiting for the ferry.  The Sydney Opera House and the buttress for the Harbour Bridge are in the background.  As an aside, I did one of my runs across the Harbour Bridge - three laps for six transits.  One side of the bridge is pedestrians only, the other side is for bikes.  The train goes right down the middle and the rest of the traffic goes in between.  There are several "reverse" lanes for rush hour.  It was a great run and I was joined by lots of other Sydney runners.

After catching the ferry, we disembarked at Darling Harbour and started our exploration of the City.  It's simply a beautiful place; modern architecture melding with historic buildings.  Such character.  Every now and again, I'd be reminded of the encroachment of power-wielding conglomerates by signs for things such as "Hungry Jack," which is the Aussie version of "Burger King."  (No, I did not eat there!)

Brian and Steve near Darling Harbour.

Beautiful!

As sunset approached we decided to head towards the Royal Botanic Gardens.  There, we were encouraged to "Walk on the Grass" (how cool is that!?), and enjoy the plants and animals.  I was amazed at the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, which hang out in flocks like pigeons!  And their screeching is way loud (and could become annoying, given enough time).  Apparently, these birds can live to be 100 years old.  Yegads!

  Me and a couple of Cockatoos.  They were ripping up the grass.  Nice birdies!

In the garden.  That's likely some sort of fig on the left.

 The little bundles hanging from the tree in this photo are actually Grey-headed Flying-foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus), roosting for the day.  The Flying-fox is one of the largest species of bat in the world, weighing up to 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds).  At night, they feed on the fruits of rain forest trees, especially figs, and the nectar and pollen of eucalypts and melalucas.  They look so cute all wrapped up in their wings!

Down Under, they call this a "gum tree."

Walking back towards Blue's Point, (named in honor of Billy Blue, which I believe I failed to mention earlier), the bats took flight.  The sky was filled with bats heading off to forage for fruit, nectar, and pollen.  It was something to see, but difficult to capture on pixels with my little point-and-shoot.

 Our second day in Sydney we attended the "Message Sticks" Indigenous Film Festival at the Sydney Opera House.  We chose the "Shorts" program which included six films, one of which, "Shimasani," was about a young Navajo girl.  It was really interesting and the director's of a couple of the films were on hand to answer questions, which was quite cool, as well.

Outside the Sydney Opera House looking at the "Upcoming Events" and towards the Circular Quay.

Your's truly outside the Sydney Opera House.

And, of course, my view of the Opera House, itself.  After the film festival, we walked back through the Royal Botanic Garden and Domain, along Mrs. Macquaries Road, and ended up with an hour to spend in the Art Gallery of New South Wales.  It was a lovely gallery with interesting Indigenous art as well as works by several Masters.  We walked back, again, across the Harbour Bridge to our accommodations at Blue's Point. (I'm tellin' you - a lot of walking!  I was eating and drinking aplenty and still lost three pounds!  Who knew?!)

The Art Gallery of New South Wales, featuring Michael Angelo and his brother, Billy Angelo (WTF?)

Our last day in Sydney we decided to go to the zoo and see all the animals that we just knew we would never actually see in the wild (and, gee, amazingly, we were right).  We focused on the natives and skipped stuff like, African Safari, 'cause, like, hey, no lions in Aus!  We did see the platypus, wallaby, kangaroo, Tasmanian devil (they are soooo cute!), koala (not koala bear, just plain koala, it's not a bear, jus' sayin'), crocodile (except it was really, really small - I think I could've wrestled it!), and lots of snakes and lizards and little rat-like hopping things, the name of which eludes me at the moment.  Very cool, though.  The zoo did a nice job with their exhibits.

Requisite koala shot.

Two 'roos and a wallaby (smaller, darker).  All that's missing from this picture is some beer, a couple of playboy magazines, and a tv remote.

Yee haw!  Fortunately, I got off the giant lizard thing before zoo personnel had to forcefully remove me.  After we'd had our fill of screaming children and rude adults at the zoo, we hopped back on the ferry, transferred at the Circular Quay to a Super Duper Jet Ferry, and took off towards Watson's Bay, which is at the tip of the southern peninsula that separates Sydney Harbour from the Tasman Sea.

When we arrived I couldn't believe the long line of people waiting to get back on the ferry.  I thought, "Holy Shit it's gonna be a long day!"  Que sera, sera, and off we went to hike towards the Hornby Lighthouse.

That, my friends, is the Tasman Sea, crashing against the coast of Australia.  It is beautiful!

Hornby Headlamp (Lighthouse).  Love the paint job - how the white stripe flares into a "Y" at the top.  Coolness.

We slogged back to ferry with only a ten minute wait and relatively short line - which made me very, very happy.  It was a quick trip back to the Circular Quay, where we disembarked and headed to the Fortune of War, Sydney's oldest pub, established in 1828 (how can you say "no" to that?).

Lots to choose from on tap at the Fortune of War - Amen and amen!

Sydney at night is dazzling.  Our last night, we took the ferry back rather than walk, and it was lovely on the water.  The stop right before ours was Luna Park - an amusement park - with this totally creepy entrance (well, I thought it was creepy - it's the eyes: don't look at the eyes!).

Luna Park at Milson's Point.

This photo is actually looking down on the Circular Quay from the Harbour Bridge one of the nights we walked back to Blue's Point Hotel.  The views from the bridge are tremendous, and if you've got the money and the inclination, you can pay to climb to the top of the bridge.  We skipped that.

Sydney Opera House from the Harbour Bridge.  I know, I know, you've only seen this view like a million times, but, well, here it is again.

Next Up:  It's either gonna be the food or the Great Barrier Reef.  Haven't decided, yet, so it'll be a surprise for all of us!  And if you haven't checked out my "Gratuitous Photos of New Zealand," you can do so here (click on the "here" and it will take you "there."  Where the photos are.  You know you want to.)