Part 3 - Sydney, New South Wales

 

Before she left for Magnetic Island, Lorna had invited me to stay at her place when I arrived in Sydney, so after the three-hour flight, I booked into a hotel until I could contact her. On my first full day, I went out to explore, taking the monorail down to the quayside. Sydney had a nice feel about it, and I was struck by the Chinese influence, having flown in to Australia from Hong Kong. That afternoon, I was able to contact Lorna at work, and she said that I could come and collect the keys to her car and drive to her house in Manly, on the other side of the bay. It took a while for me to find her car, but it was located eventually, and I found out that the journey to her house involved crossing the spectacular Sydney Harbour Bridge. Lorna's house was shared with friends, and it was a comfortable place to lay my hat while I was there. I was surprised by how much Manly reminded me of built-up areas in the UK.

Lorna would be working while I was there, so I organised my own itinerary with her help. Firstly, I was advised to avoid rush hour traffic by taking the Jetcat ferry across the bay from Manly to Circular Quay. This was an excellent idea because the Jetcat, as well as being the quickest way between two points, also offered spectacular views of the city, the Opera House and the bridge I had driven across the day before. Circular Quay makes sightseeing easy, with the fantastic architectural feat of the Sydney Opera House, and rail, bus and ferry terminals all within easy walking distance. I headed straight for the Opera House, which apart from being interesting in itself, is built out over the bay in a promontory resembling the prow of a ship. Of course, once again, the views across Circular Quay and the bay are magic. On my way to the hotel, on my first day in Sydney, I had noticed a strange tower with an onion on the top, similar to one I'd seen in Berlin. Well, I decided that the best view of all would be from the top, so up I went on the 45 second ride in a lift and snapped this photo from the top. Next, as far as I was concerned, no trip to Sydney would be complete without seeing the famous Bondi Beach, so off I went by bus. This was one of the few disappointments I faced during my time down under. The beach area seemed rundown and there were signs of drug abuse (used syringes) on the sand. I did my best to take a composite photo to show I'd been there, and then headed back to town. On the way, in order to recover from the unsatisfactory feeling I'd had at Bondi, I stopped for a beer in King's Cross. After a few beers there, I felt much better as it reminded me of past visits to an area of the same name in London. Then, once again, the ferry home.

After an enjoyable night out with Lorna and her friends in Manly, the next day I planned to visit the Blue Mountains, and Lorna said "Why don't you borrow my car?", "Ok", I replied, so after breakfast the next day I was off on another 'Walkabout'.

The drive out to the Blue Mountains went without incident, and I parked and explored, enjoying the spectacular views and particular geology, which reminded me a bit of one of the places I found so special in Catalunya - Montserrat. I walked around to a viewing platform for the 'three sisters' and after taking a snap of them myself, asked a fellow tourist to take a photo with me in it as well. The drive back to Sydney, including a last crossing of the Harbour Bridge, in the evening sunset was wonderful to behold. I would be leaving Sydney the next day, travelling overnight by coach to Melbourne, but the capital of New South Wales, and most famous of Australian cities would still hold one last surprise. I decided to visit the zoo on my last day, and at the time I hadn't realised that I'd clicked a photo of this location from the monorail on my first day! Going to the zoo, enabled me to get a closer look at the Chinese architecture I'd noticed before. I had a feeling that this would be my last opportunity to see some of the strange animals which only exist on the Australian continent, like koalas and wombats. As it turned out, the animals which caught my attention the most were the Arabian Oryx, which I had travelled so far to see when my mum visited me in the Sultanate of Oman.

At about 10pm that night, I said 'goodbye' to my Australian friends, and took an overnight coach, which would see me arriving in Melbourne and a new state early the next morning.