a beautiful day in sydney

Saturday, December 3, 2011

We woke up to a beautiful, sunny, warm day, and headed out after making breakfast and coffee in our suite. The only thing we had on our agenda for the day was our 5:00 tour booking at the Opera House, so we made our way up from our timeshare to the Harbor on a leisurely hour-long stroll through Hyde Park and up George Street, stopping along the way wherever we found something interesting. One of the stops we made was at the shopping mall, thinking we would find some great Australian stores, but actually found that they were all the same stores we have at home, but most of the clothes, shoes, etc. were priced much higher than they are at home. That said, we didn’t do much shopping, since we could get better prices at home and wouldn’t have to schlep anything back in already-full suitcases! The major streets and shopping areas were decorated for the holidays and we saw some beautiful Christmas trees in some of the plazas, reminding us that Christmas would be soon upon us when we got home. The feeling of Christmas here in much the same as it is at home in that the stores and shopping centers are all decorated for the season, but the sun is shinning and the weather is warm, making it hard to believe that it is the holiday season.

After walking around the stores, we made our way up George Street to eventually arrive at an area of town called “The Rocks,” which is right between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, with incredible views of both landmarks on each side! We sat here to have lunch and enjoy the sun and great people watching…until the seagulls started eyeing our snacks! We watched them swoop down on several other groups enjoying their lunch, which made our decision to continue with our day an easy one! We walked over to the ferry terminal and purchased our tickets to go over to Manly Beach. The ferry ride over was very pleasant and we had incredible views of the Bridge and Opera House from our seats outside, at the front, top section of the ferry. We docked in Manly 45 minutes later and made our way through the cute city to the beach. The water was so clear, with incredible shades of blues and greens – Tim was in photo-taking heaven! We were able to spend just a short time in Manly, however, because we had to get back to the Opera House to make our 5:00 tour, so we got on the ferry and headed back.

The tour of the Opera House was wonderful and we would highly recommend it to anyone going to Sydney – it is a “must do” in our book, but does take some planning as you have to make the booking in advance. The tour was about an hour long and the tour guide took us through the history of the Opera House, including the controversy with its architect, design, and construction. The Opera House is a true architectural wonder and took quite a bit of  “outside the box” thinking to complete the complicated design. The tour also took us through the various theaters that make up the Opera House, with the size and acoustics of each theater dictating the types of performances taking place in specific theaters. We learned that ballets, rock concerts, classical concerts, operas, plays and dance performances all have their specific requirements taken care of between the various theaters. The grandeur and sophistication of both the inside and outside of the Opera House is truly impressive and cannot be fully appreciated without physically experiencing them – photos and videos cannot do it justice. After our tour was complete, we spent some additional time walking around outside to take some photos, then decided to get a drink at the Opera Bar, which is located along the walkway to the Opera House. The bar is outdoors next to the harbor, with panoramic views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. The bar was extremely crowded, as it is a popular spot for after-work drinks for those living and working in Sydney, but we were fortunate enough to score a high-top table. We were there for about 30 minutes, when we were asked by a guy if he and his girlfriend could join us at our table since they weren’t able get a table. Of course we said they were more than welcome to join us. We got to talking to them and found out that they both live and work in Sydney and are about the same ages as we are. We had a great time talking to them for about 3 hours and covered many topics about Australia, New Zealand and the US. He traveled quite extensively through New Zealand and had been to the States a few times, but never to San Diego. We were able to answer some questions they had about the States and they answered some of our questions about Australia, plus gave us some great tips on things to see and do in Sydney. By the time we left the Opera Bar and took the subway back to Surry Hills, it was nearly 10 and we went out in search of a dinner spot. We found a Spanish tapas restaurant and shared some nibbles and a great pizza, and each enjoyed a glass of sangria. We had a great first day in Sydney and both really enjoyed the city. We looked forward to continuing to explore the city the following day.

Photos to come in a later post as the current internet connection is too slow to upload photos - sorry!