October
6, Saturday & October 7, Sunday
Hyde Park & the Army Memorial
A statue of Captain Cook in Hyde Park
I went into St. Mary’s Cathedral (no pictures inside)
then returned to Hyde Park
and it's fantastic fountain.
I stopped in to visit the old convicts barracks, constructed under the orders of the first Governor, Lachlan Macquarie. I’ve read many historical novels about Australia so it’s great to actually see some of these historical sites. Not only was it used to house male and female convicts, but at one point it housed girl orphans from Ireland who were brought over to be maids and other workers. Very sad stories. In later years the building was used as an asylum and then to house administrative government offices.
From the third floor I got a great show of the cement walls below. Check out the intersecting open gate; very symbolic. It could be interpreted as being the convicts' gateway to a new life in a new world, or the fact that they were jailed and would not be free until their sentence had been served doing hard labour.
On the third floor of the building, they have reconstructed what it would have looked like at the time. There would have been a second level of hammocks above this one.
Sydney's downtown skyline from the Botanic Gardens
A huge "Bottle Tree" from Queensland
More of a big park than Botanic Gardens, but full of people enjoying the day.
From Farm Cove I got my first sight of the Sydney Opera House
I made my way around the waterfront to the Opera House and went in to book a tour.
While I waited for the tour I spotted climbers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Wow, that’s REALLY high.
Can you see the people standing between the two flags. NO ! Not going to try that
We were not allowed to take pictures during the tour, so I unfortunately cannot show you the main hall.
This however was the ticketing area, where we were allowed to take photos
and the supporting structures of the great arches
and this one from outside the main concert hall, looking across the bay to a trendy area where housing is VERY expensive.
After the tour I decided to treat myself to a nice glass of wine at the outside Opera Café and join then hundreds of people who were also there enjoying this gorgeous day.
Outside, at the Opera Café area
looking over to Circle Quay, where all the ferries depart from
CHEERS ! Another check mark on my bucket list !
So many people out, enjoying this bright sunny day.
It was getting late in the afternoon so I decided to walk to Circular Quay to get some information about the various ferries.I purchased a 1-week pass that would allow me to ride buses, ferries and trains within the central part of Sydney.
There is a free shuttle bus that does a loop of some of the downtown streets and I decided to catch that bus to get back to Oxford street.Since it was Sunday, the regular bus would not be coming by often, and it was still sunny so I decided to keep walking back to the hotel.
Oxford Street in Paddington
Arts Hotel where I am staying. My room is at the back, looking into a quiet courtyard.
Saturday: Gloomy
rainy day and I’m really tired from that long drive yesterday so I’ve decided
to just relax and walk around the Paddington neighborhood where the Arts Hotel
is located. I located a nice deli
during my walk and purchased a turkey and cranberry sandwich on sourdough
bread. That’s the closest I’m going to
get to a Thanksgiving Dinner.
Sunday: They have
daylight savings time here so I’ve “sprung ahead” another hour. I’m now officially 15 hours ahead of Ottawa
time. By 11 am I had my maps in hand and
had obtained some information from the hotel manager/owner who was at the desk
this morning. He confirms that I can
easily walk to the Australian Museum which I was planning to visit today. It is such a beautiful sunny day however
that I don’t want to be indoors. I
walked all the way up Oxford to College.
A statue of Captain Cook in Hyde Park
I went into St. Mary’s Cathedral (no pictures inside)
then returned to Hyde Park
and it's fantastic fountain.
I stopped in to visit the old convicts barracks, constructed under the orders of the first Governor, Lachlan Macquarie. I’ve read many historical novels about Australia so it’s great to actually see some of these historical sites. Not only was it used to house male and female convicts, but at one point it housed girl orphans from Ireland who were brought over to be maids and other workers. Very sad stories. In later years the building was used as an asylum and then to house administrative government offices.
From the third floor I got a great show of the cement walls below. Check out the intersecting open gate; very symbolic. It could be interpreted as being the convicts' gateway to a new life in a new world, or the fact that they were jailed and would not be free until their sentence had been served doing hard labour.
On the third floor of the building, they have reconstructed what it would have looked like at the time. There would have been a second level of hammocks above this one.
There were a lot of archeological items which were found in the building
and are on display.
I kept walking down Macquarie street past the Parliament
Buildings and the National Library and entered the Royal Botanic Gardens
Sydney's downtown skyline from the Botanic Gardens
A huge "Bottle Tree" from Queensland
More of a big park than Botanic Gardens, but full of people enjoying the day.
From Farm Cove I got my first sight of the Sydney Opera House
I made my way around the waterfront to the Opera House and went in to book a tour.
While I waited for the tour I spotted climbers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Wow, that’s REALLY high.
Can you see the people standing between the two flags. NO ! Not going to try that
We were not allowed to take pictures during the tour, so I unfortunately cannot show you the main hall.
This however was the ticketing area, where we were allowed to take photos
and the supporting structures of the great arches
and this one from outside the main concert hall, looking across the bay to a trendy area where housing is VERY expensive.
After the tour I decided to treat myself to a nice glass of wine at the outside Opera Café and join then hundreds of people who were also there enjoying this gorgeous day.
Outside, at the Opera Café area
looking over to Circle Quay, where all the ferries depart from
So many people out, enjoying this bright sunny day.
It was getting late in the afternoon so I decided to walk to Circular Quay to get some information about the various ferries.I purchased a 1-week pass that would allow me to ride buses, ferries and trains within the central part of Sydney.
There is a free shuttle bus that does a loop of some of the downtown streets and I decided to catch that bus to get back to Oxford street.Since it was Sunday, the regular bus would not be coming by often, and it was still sunny so I decided to keep walking back to the hotel.
Oxford Street in Paddington
Arts Hotel where I am staying. My room is at the back, looking into a quiet courtyard.
I think I may have overdone it a bit today. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT ! ! !
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