Sydney

Hello, and welcome back.

Last week we visited Sydney, Australia. We have previously been lucky enough to have traveled to six continents, so we got up early so I could take a picture of my finger arriving in the seventh and final continent. (Mission accomplished!)

Pulling into Sydney Harbor at sunrise was spectacular. This is definitely a city that worked on their first impressions. It’s a city with just over 5 million residences, but it is on-par with cities 4-5 times its size. Definitely a wow factor factory of a town!

Most recognizable by its beautiful port (it’s a Harbour, not a harbor) which is home of its highly recognizable Opera House As well as the Harbour Bridge. It’s WHARF (tell ya about this later) is always abuzz with excited visitors, vendors and other random people who just appear to be happy to be here with the rest of the in crowd.

We had done a bit of research before visiting and had a list of places that we hoped to see. A year or so earlier, we had booked a HOHO (Hop-On Hop-Off bus), which we boarded from underneath the famous Harbour Bridge. As we waited to board, we could see the eerie Luna waterfront amusement park. I think that to enter this circus, one must be willing to walk into a spooky clown’s mouth! Eek!

The open-top double-decker HOHO had a dozen-and-a-half stops, hitting all the highlights the city has to offer. We were up on top, and we made the entire loop. As we listened to the narration of the various locations, I took note of the topology and the locations that were on our “must see” list.  

Strategically, we stayed on,  and looped back around to the 4th stop, exiting at Kings Cross. This section of town is the hotspot for nightlife, and the home of the oldest pubs in town. (Home sweet home.) As we found a nice open-air pub, and sat down for lunch, I explained to Karen that we were at the top of the city, and I had mapped out a downhill trek that visited all the places on our list, and allowed us the walk much of the way through the various parks (which were also on our list). The only downside was that I had used much of my phone’s battery life figuring this out using its GPS while on a moving bus.

I took a few screen shots, copied a few directions and bookmarks, and powered down. This would be good test of my ability to recall such things, in order, while wandering around in a strange city.

To assist in ensuring my success, I had a few local beers with lunch. What could possibly go wrong…

Australia is a cool place with a colorful history. It is the only place in the world where one country occupies the entire continent. The population is a mere 23 million. (Approximately the population of NYC.)

The Aboriginal people have been in Australia for some 50,000 years. They were joined by Dutch explorers in the 1600s. In the 17 and 1800s, the British had a great idea how to clean up their act, and exported some 160,000 of their criminal convicts from English prisons to Australia. Ironically, they stopped this practice in the mid 1800s when gold was discovered on the continent. (Told ya! colorful history.) The country is made up of 80% outback (but, doesn’t it just figure, the ship won’t be stopping there, probably the 20-80 rule…).

Being in a port city, I leaned a few things today. Did you know that the word “wharf” originated in Australia. It turns out that this was originally an acronym, that stood for “Warehouse At [the] River Front”. Over the year, it has been expanded to also be applicable to ocean fronts, and sometimes is used to describe (warehouse-less) piers, as well as my favorite character on Star Trek!

The “Ausies” have many fun phrases and pronunciations. The call beers “coldies” and pronounce algie “al-gee” (without the j sound). Great bunch of mates those folks! And boy can they down some coldies!

So, as we left the café, we meandered a half-mile or so down crowded city streets to the stunning St. Mary’s Cathedral.

I forget between visits, but the inside of cathedrals always gives me a feeling I can’t quite put my finger on. Google says they make people feel “otherly”. I sometimes have no idea what Google is talking about, but I think if it makes other people feel otherly, it must mean that it makes them feel like me. I was mostly just glad that the air conditioning was working. And so we sat for a while, and felt otherly until we cooled off.

Next stop, across the street to the famed Hyde Park. What a nice place. Every tree. Every bird. Like nothing we had ever seen before.

After sitting and enjoying the fountains for a bit, we walked through the park, exiting just a few blocks above the Sydney Tower Eye, the city’s tallest building and highest point.

This building is also built over the city’s swankiest shopping mall, but even better, the street directly behind it is the famed Pitt Street Mall, which was at the top of our list.

Now I’m not exactly sure how to describe this street. It’s outdoors but partially covered. Somehow, it reminded me of Las Vegas’ Fremont Street Experience, merged with Opryland, with just a touch of New Orleans. It is one of those indescribable places that you kinda got to see it to believe it. (If you ever get to Sydney, this is a must see location!)

Now’ we are not really shoppers, but the window shopping, the people, and the street entertainers made it well worth the trip. Although there did not appear to be any homelessness in the city, we did stumble across one thing of interest. Hands down the oddest thing we observed while on Pitt Street and in Sydney was a little cubby tucked away right on Pitt Street’s thoroughfare. It contained a homeless person’s little one-person encampment.

Basically, it consisted of a tiny inflatable mattress, a blanket, and a pillow, as well as a little TV tray (like you would use while lying in bed). The table (TV tray) contained a plate, a small wine glass, and a set of silverware set out on a napkin. An ashtray, candle, and matches rounded out the living quarters, which could not have been more than 3×5’. What made it unique was that it was so well organized. I swear the fella must have just washed and ironed his blanket and pillow, and the table was set!

No homeless persons were around, so we assumed he must have been out getting a shave and a haircut… (Or maybe it was not a “him”, but I’m not going there!)

After cursing the shortage of battery power, we moved into the Grass is Brown on the Other Side Too portion of the adventure, but after a swift kick in my rear map pocket, Karen got us back on track. (Yet another “and that is all I have to say about that” subject.) Eventually we made our way alongside the botanical gardens, and down to the harbour.

After having a couple of coldies on the wharf (see how I slipped those in there mates) we explored the Opera House.

One of the things that made Sydney extra special was that the ship (which was docked a block away) was not scheduled to depart until midnight. (Leaving a port this late is a rarity.) During a recent onboard lecture, we had learned that one is not to miss taking the ferry ride while in Sydney, and it did not disappoint.

After a really enjoyable evening ride, we docked at Manly Beach, a port town just across the harbour.

This little town is neat. It reminded me of Manhattan Beach (in LA) in the 1980s. The Main Street has several blocks of grass parks stretching along the beaches in front of the swimming lagoon. We were there on a Saturday night, and all the young people were out, laying on their picnic blankets under the trees. While their children swam, the adults were drinking wine and eating delicacies.

We noted that several of them had these cool TV trays (just a step up from the homeless guy’s) which had little cutouts to hold the stems of their wine glasses, which was great because they had wine in ice buckets. (Wow, what a life! Who the hell brings ice buckets to the beach? Right?)

Meanwhile, just yards away, folks on festive bicycles (and the likes) were cruise the main street looking for their own brand of adventures.

As for us, we enjoyed some wine and a pizza at a “hip” café on the wharf. (i.e. The old people’s section…)

After several hours, we boarded the ferry to return to Sydney Harbour at sunset. (Definitely the best time to sail into the Harbour.)

Taking advantage of the extra time the ship was docked, we explored the nightlife in the Harbour area before returning to the ship. This was definitely a day to remember.

The following day, we awoke Newcastle, AU. Back in the day, this was the location that them dang old Brit’s dumped their meanest, nastiest convicts from their prisons. It’s grew into a rough and tumble cowboy town.

But that, my (edge of your seat) friends, is another story… Come back tomorrow, and I’ll tell you more.

Thanks for dropping by.

– Mike

“for some reason, dying men always ask the question they know the answer to. perhaps it’s so they can die being right.” – from “The Book Thief” by (Australian author) Marcus Zusak

PS: I’ll give you a big-ole life hint. If you only read one book, this is the one you want to read. Tell your friends. If your friends don’t read it, get new friends. You can thank me later…