The Journey of A Lifetime in Australia and New Zealand: Sydney City Tour

Friday morning was our scheduled City Tour. In nearly 4 hours, we were able to cover a whole lot of territory in this city of nearly 5 million. We went to "The Rocks", where it all began in the early 1800s. Many of the old buildings are still there and are pubs, restaurants and antique shops. We visited the Royal Botanic Gardens where they were setting up for a huge triathlon race this weekend. In the midst of all the confusion, at the Macquarie Point Bob was able to capture this pair of lorikeets in the tree. He was also able to compose one more photo of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.

Lydia and Joyce at Mrs. Macquaries Point. We visited many of the neighborhoods in Sydney proper, then went out toward the beach and the headlands where the harbour meets the river. This is called the Gap and we are on the south headlands, looking toward the north. We went on to Bondi Beach and watched the surfers. Our guide told us this house recently sold for $8M.

Bob wouldn't trust his new Aussie hat to get lost in the wind at the water, so Joyce "sat" with the hat. We finished our tour by noon and decided to hop on a ferry to Watson's Bay to eat at Doyle's, famous for 125 years since 1885. When we returned to Circular Quay Wharf, we decided to take a tour of the inside of the Opera House. The story is truly a great one and way too long to cover in this blog, but we really enjoyed the tour. The vision for the Opera House came to the architect, Jorn Utzon, from this spherical piece. We were not allowed to take photos in any of the performing venues, which was a disappointment. There are over 2400 performances a year in 5 venues. The largest holds 1550 people. There are stage shows, opera, ballet, symphony, famous singing artists, and even sumo wrestling. The ballet season is 97% sold out. We didn't try to find tickets for any performances. This photo was from the parking area under the steps.