Sunday, 10/31/93, 9:00am
Where do I start? How about yesterday? Did I mention that the flight was on a 747? With lots and lots of people? Our first indication that Sydney would be considerably different from Cairns was its size. Landing was spectacular. You could see (on the left) the coastline, and then the entire city, the Opera House, the Royal Botanical Garden, the Harbour Bridge and much, much more. It was slightly overcast, but not enough to cause worry.
We caught our bus to the Cambridge hotel. This is where we noticed the second major difference between Cairns and Sydney. In Cairns, temperatures ranged from 38C in mid-day down to 24C at night. Here we were at 10am, and it was barely 22 outside, even with the sun shining. I forgot how easy it was to get used to tropical weather, and for the first time on this trip, I’ll have to wear long pants.
We were able to check in early, and took a two hour nap (remember we were up at 4am). Then off exploring. Our hotel is about 1 1/2 miles behind (south) the Opera House, right in the middle of Southern Sydney. We walked up and saw the ANZAC memorial, and then went up in the Sydney Tower for a look around the city. The tower is like the Space Needle in Seattle, or the Sky Tower in San Antonio. It’s 1000 feet tall, and must have been designed by an American. Why? Because an Aussie would have made it 300 meters tall, not 1000 feet tall. You could see for miles, and we got a good feel for the layout of the city. The tower is reported to be the tallest building in the southern hemisphere.
We then walked up towards the harbor, and noticed a third difference. There were people everywhere! Thousands of them, all roaming around, trying to spend money. We found the “El Shoppo Cheapo” district where they sell all kinds of garbage for only $2.00. Then on to a slightly higher quality store where shirts and stuff run $20.00, and then finally to a half mile of $200+ shops. All fairly close to each other. It wasn’t my idea of a good time.
Eventually we came out at a place called Circular Quay, just behind and to the left of the Opera House. I didn’t think we’d make it that far, but voila! Since it was in a cloud shadow at the time we decided not to take too many pictures yet, but to wait until Monday when we’ll be on the tour busses. We went up George Street, and ran into a little trinket market set up in the middle of the road. It kind of reminded me of the Sunday shop on Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara. Lots of local artists presenting some of their good work.
We walked around some more, stopped at a pub and had a schooner of Retsch [sic?] and started walking home, looking for a place to get dinner. We didn’t really want a restaurant, but more like a pub or diner type meal. The people in the hotel recommended the Court House about eight blocks away. It was an interesting walk into the fringes of the King’s Cross area, which we found out later from a tour book “is no longer a center of top hotels and restaurants. Instead there are one sleazy bar and eating spot after another, a parade of pimps, homosexuals and prostitutes.” We did notice this change as we were walking, but I think our next visit will be during daylight hours.
We’re both sitting here in the hotel, updating journals, and looking forward to a quiet day. We’ll buy a public transportation pass good for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so there will be much more to say then.
Sunday, 10/31/93, 8:30pm
We had a productive day, just taking it easy and walking around. We got started with our free buffet breakfast. Very high in cholesterol, but hey, we’re on vacation. Then we walked north up to a park called The Domain where the public preachers are supposed to hang out and preach. It turned out that there was a touch-rugby tournament. We watched for the better part of an hour, and still don’t understand the rules.
We then headed further into the park, working our way towards the harbour area. We found a series of tents (big party-type tents, not camping) and we were standing around wondering what was going on when somebody started counting “5”, “4”, . . . Bill and I walked around the back of the tents, where a small crowd had gathered behind a large truck. “3”. . . “2” I grabbed my camera: “1” . . . “NOW”. A big clang, and probably 500 homing pigeons came zooming out of the truck. I managed to get a picture, but I’m not sure what it’s of. In talking with a man there, we found out that the pigeons are affected by cellular phones, so they don’t allow them around the launching area. Talk about obscure facts.
From there, we walked further north through the Royal Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful. We walked up Mrs. Macquaries Road to Mrs. Macquaries Point, to see what Mrs. Macquaries chair was. Yes, there was something called Mrs. Macquaries chair. It’s a bench that is eroded from and embedded in the limestone bluff looking northeast over Sydney Harbour. I don’t know who she was, but if that was the view from her house, she was one lucky lady.
Whilst we were walking back through the garden on the way to the Opera House, we came across an interesting tree. If any part of it breaks off, it can re-sprout from it, but it CAN NOT grow vertically, only horizontally. So if the tree falls for some reason, the ground around it turns to spaghetti with all the little sprouts growing horizontally. Only the seeds are able to grow vertically. We’ve seen some really unique examples of weirdness and diversity from old Mother Nature down here.
We continued around the Botanical Gardens to the Opera House. It’s a lot bigger than it looks. We walked in and got an actual look at the inside of the Concert Hall. There are three main rooms in the Opera House: the Concert Hall, the Opera Hall, and the recording studio. The Concert hall was very large and gorgeous. A small symphony (full size symphony, but small size kids) was getting ready for a performance. Since we were slightly under dressed in our jeans and T-shirts for a formal concert, we left the Concert Hall and continued walking around and through any door that was open. It was a really neat place.
Down by the gift store, we took a look at the original plans. Imagine a small kid with a spirograph and a compass. Let the kid draw about 50 interconnected circles and ovals, all connected. Shade in about four of the two or three hundred intersecting shapes, and you’ve got the silhouette for the roof. Imagine the same exercise in 3-D, and you’ve got the actual shapes. Glue them together with cement and little 6″ by 6″ tiles, and you’ve got yourself an Opera House, as well as an architectural migraine. From the Opera House, we walked back through the shopping district, and pigged out at a Chinese buffet.
We’re sitting here in the hotel now, watching a World Cup prep game between Argentina and Australia, happening about 1/2 mile from here. It was really quite exciting, since countries in the Southern Hemisphere are very into their Football games. The game ended in a tie at 1 to 1, but the Aussies could have won. They made some really bad shots on goal.
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