Sydney-- Part II

This is my second blog post about our fabulous fall break trip to Sydney.  Other than the Sydney Opera House, Harbor (or Harbour) Bridge, and Cremorne Point, this is what we did.

Savannah and I did some shopping while the boys found a pub.  This is the Queen Victoria Building. This gorgeous building was slated for demolition before before restored in the 1980's.

There were lots of beautiful stores, perfect for window shopping.

City art

Sydney's oldest pub.  We didn't go in since it was morning, but Joe went later in the week.  This was the Rocks section of Sydney, where the city was first settled.  

This whimsical alley was called Angel Place.  It is off George Street, but you kind of need to know it is back there.  Not very easy to see from street.  Those are all birdcages.

Here is Sydney's most famous beach-- Bondi Beach!  It was spring in Sydney, and a little cool.  We actually had quite the range of weather this week, from highs in the upper 60's to upper 80's.  Anyways, the only people in the water were mainly surfers in wet suits.  They were fun to watch. 

Here is is, the third thing of my top three favorites for this trip to Sydney: the walk from Bondi to Coogee beach!  This is a six km walk, with lots of steps and hills.  Wear good shoes!  Not a lot of shade, so sunscreen and a hat are also recommended.  While the Bridge Climb was easier than I expected, this was more strenuous than I expected.  But you don't have to do the whole thing.  There are several bus stops along the path. 

This is the start of the path, at the Icebergs pool complex.  How cool is that pool??

There are also plenty of benches along the way, with views like this.

Lots of interesting rock formations

The path in many parts is pretty fancy.  Can you believe that is a cemetery further ahead??

We passed several beaches, each interesting in its own way.  The walk ended at Coogee beach.  You can catch a bus back to Sydney from there. 

The next day we bought a pass that included entrance to Toronga Zoo and a ferry ride to Manly beach.  Buying the combo ticket was a lot cheaper.  We took a ferry ride to the zoo.  We boarded the cable car to the top part of the zoo and worked our way back down to the ferry wharf.  Look at those views!

We passed right over the elephants.

It is hard to tell, but those are mama and baby koalas!  You just have to trust me on that.

I am looking at these pictures, and keep thinking what a beautiful week it was.

Kind of looks like a postcard!

We had to see the kangaroos!  I heard some school kids talking behind me.  One of them said, "Look, kangaroos."  The other kid said, "So what?  I see them every day in my back yard."

After the zoo, we took another ferry ride to Manly Beach.  It was a chilly, windy ride.

We had lunch outdoors.  Fish and chips from a prize-winning restaurant.  See that seagull in the air?  Well, we were surrounded by them.  One stole Savannah's french fry from her hand.  I had a bite of fish on my fork and was about to eat it.  A seagull swooped in from behind me, over my head, and stole my fish!  We saw one knock a sandwich out of a guy's hand.  In KL, you need to be mindful of monkeys.  In Sydney, it's the seagulls!

After lunch, we started walking.  There is another walk from Manly beach.  This path is 9 km.

More stunning views.

We came across this Bible verse at one of the lookouts! What a treat!

"Mightier than the thunder of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty!"   Psalm 93:4

Sculpture by the sea.  I gotta confess.  We did not do all 9 km.  We had done the zoo in the morning and got a later start in Manly.  Next time, and there will be a next time, I will get to Manly first thing in the morning.

When I originally bought the airline tickets to Sydney, I had thought we would spend some time in Brisbane or elsewhere in Australia.  But the kids had school work to do on the trip and wanted it to be more relaxing.  So we spent our whole time in Sydney.  On this day, Joe and I went on a wine tour in Hunter Valley, while the kids did homework and relaxed.  

Hunter Valley was about two hours from Sydney.  It is not a large valley.  Most Australian wine is produced in other parts of Australia.  But it still made for a nice day.

On our last day, we split up.  Joe and Savannah went whale watching.  Austin and I went to a museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens.  Here are some whales they spotted.

We saw these giant trees everywhere.  Like nothing I had ever seen before.  Hard to tell, but that is Austin in front of the tree.  We found out it is a mountain fig tree.

New view for us of opera house and bridge!

We saw a couple of weddings in progress and a couple more being set up for.  Can you imagine this setting for a wedding?

On the other side of the garden is a naval base.

Spring wildflowers.  This was a wonderful introduction to Australia!!  Joe spends a lot of time in Australia, so I will definitely be back.  The next picture will put the fabulousness of this vacation into perspective...

This is what I came home to.  This is life in Kuala Lumpur.  Has been for the last couple of months, and will probably be for a few more months.  Don't take your clean air for granted!!

Sydney-- Opera House and Bridge Climb

Last week we spent our fall break in Sydney, Australia.  Just in time for Spring.  What a spectacular week!!

I had never been to Australia, so I didn't know exactly where to stay.  When we go on a family vacation, I usually prefer to go with Airbnb and rent an entire house or apartment.  There were a lot of high-rise options available, but that is how we live now in KL. I chose a waterfront apartment, and we loved it.  This was the view that greeted me on our first morning.

We had a short walk to the wharf to catch a ferry to Circular Quay.  The path had amazing views!  That is the opera house in the distance.

Our ferry.  We all bought Opal cards, which worked on the ferries and buses.  We just topped them up as needed.

Closer view of the opera house!

Selfie at Circular Quay!  This is where we spent a lot of time throughout the week.  It is the main ferry wharf, home to the opera house and Harbor Bridge. 

We scheduled a tour of the opera house at 1:00 and bought tickets to the matinee performance of the musical Anything Goes.  That timing worked very well.

You have probably seen lots of pictures of the outside of the opera house, but this is the inside.

Although it is called Sydney Opera House, it is really a performance arts center.  There are three separate structures, and six theaters

Here we are inside one structure, looking out to another.  The exterior is not actually white.  The architect knew that would be too bright in the sunlight.  It is a mixture of beige and light tan tiles.  Over a million porcelain tiles from Sweden.

Jorn Utzon was the architect who designed the opera house.  He won an international competition in 1957.  His design was chosen even though the technology to build it did not exist.  Let's just say, it was one challenge after another.  He actually left the project before its completion.  A lot of the interior was not built to his design.  But this room was-- the Utzon room.  He even designed the wool tapestry hanging behind Austin and Savannah.  This room is rented out for all sorts of occasions and just happened to be empty at the time of our tour.

A close up took at the tiles on the exterior.

Like I said, we were in this area almost every day for one reason or another.  Here we are at sunset.

A couple of days later we did the Bridge Climb.  I was so excited to do do this!  I first heard about this when Oprah took her audience to Australia years ago.

We had a perfect day!  Temperature was in the low 70s with lots of sunshine.  You are not allowed to take anything up with you.  You are provided with jumpsuits, hats that attach to jumpsuit, a clip for your sunglasses so you can attach them, and even a handkerchief you clip to your wrist.  Since it was warm enough, our guide told us she didn't recommend wearing jeans or long pants under the jumpsuits.  There were changing rooms and lockers available.

I included several pictures of the climb, not only to show you the views, but I bought the pictures, and I will use them!  It was about $40 (US) for a flash drive with 10 photos of your group.  I have to tell you, this whole bridge climb was less strenuous than I expected.  You will climb a couple of ladders, but then most of the steps are shallow.  You will take plenty of breaks while the guide takes pictures of each set of people in your group.  There are also water fountains along the way and even a misting fan.

We are attached to the cables along the bridge.  I felt very safe at all times.  But of course I do like heights.  The views were amazing and this climb was one of my top three things I did in Sydney.  The  opera house was one and the third thing will be in the next blog post.

Here is a picture of  Vivid Sydney.  It was included in the flash drive we purchased.  "Vivid Sydney is a unique annual event of light, music and ideas, featuring an outdoor gallery of extraordinary lighting."  It is held every winter.  (June)

I have included these pictures of Cremorne Point, where we stayed.  There is a path that goes around the point, and we took all these pictures on that walk.  There were birds of paradise everywhere in Sydney.  One quick fact about Cremorne Point.  It is the last ferry stop going to Circular Quay and the first stop coming bak.  Very convenient.

This picture was taken on a stormy afternoon.  We had this afternoon and one day of rain.  The rest of the week was sunny.  Unusual for the Holmes family to have such good vacation weather!

I end this blog post with fireworks over the harbor, seen from our living room window.  Video credit goes to Miss Savannah.