First we went to Sydney Tower. It is 309m (1,014ft) high, roughly twice as high as Blackpool Tower, and from the observation deck you get a 360o view of Sydney and the waterways that surround it. I never realised how many bays and inlets surround Sydney. There are boats and ferries constantly too-ing and fro-ing across the waters. Linda and Kevin pointed out different landmarks as we walked round the deck.
Sydney Tower
Having lunch in the towerApparently there is a 'sky walk' where people can walk along a platform out in the open. They are dressed in special suits and safety harnesses. I decided to give that one a miss!
We went down to the cafe on the next floor and sat by the window having coffee and a very large Lamington, a traditional Australian chocolate and coconut coated cake, relaxing and watching the tiny world go by beneath us.
Next stop was the Queen Victoria Building, a large Victorian arcade of shops and cafes, with all it's original architecture and features including a huge sandstone clock depicting the history of the discovery of Australia.
Queen Victoria BuildingWe then took the Green Bus down to the Sydney Opera House. There were far too many steps for me to climb so I just took pictures from below.The sun was out and it was wonderful sitting on the quayside eating our butties with the Harbour Bridge across from us. It was almost too hot and it was still winter!
We watched a an Aborigine man playing didgeridoos to recorded beat music. It sounded very good. It added to the bustling atmosphere of being down on Circular Quay.
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| Sydney Opera House |
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| A weighty problem! |
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| Circular Quay |
On board the ferry sailing away from Circular Quay
It was late afternoon so we took the bus to the Metro hotel where we were staying for the night.
This gave us chance to freshen up and have a rest until we went out for our evening meal. The rooms were lovely and we had a complimentary bottle of wine in each room.
We did not have far to go for our evening meal as we had chosen to go to China Town which was round the corner from the hotel.
We walked down Dixon Street which is full of Chinese Restaurants. We were accosted all the way by young Chinese girls trying to persuade us to eat at their restaurant. We stopped off at the Dixon and chose a banquet meal each and we shared the beef, chicken and pork meals.
StartersWendy trying to eat with chop sticks
Dixon Restaurant
China Town, Sydney
Then we went for a walk to burn off some of the calories. We walked towards Darling Harbour and saw the skyscrapers lighting up the night sky and then back to the hotel where we spent a restful night.
We had breakfast in the hotel and it was a buffet style so we 'filled our boots'. Then we packed up our back packs. We can now say we have back-packed round Sydney!
We went to Darling Harbour which looked so impressive in the daylight. The buildings are very modern and one side of the harbour is full of restaurants and cafes. The Maritime Museum was a place we decided to visit. When we got inside we saw that there was a Scott of the Antarctic Exhibition. So we chose to wait for the tour guide to take us round. The volunteer guide spent an hour taking us around the exhibition. He was so interesting that it didn't feel like it. He said that he reads up about the subject so he can give as much imformation as possible. I certainly found out a lot more information than I had learnt at school. After we stopped off for a bite to eat and I had a fantastic banana, strawberry and mango smoothie with cream, ice cream and yoghurt. Yum! Yum!
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| Darling Harbour |
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| Sydney Tower from Darling Harbour |
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| Darling Harbour |
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| Pyremont Bridge |
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