Not really, of course, although it was a few degrees warmer and once again we got lucky with the weather; it only rained once during the week - but that did happen to be the day we went to the beach!
While I've been to Sydney before Amanda had not so we thought we take the opportunity to pop over since it was a relatively short 3 hours flight away. We also both have friends who have emigrated to Oz and live in Sydney and took the opportunity to catch up.
BTW, Did you know?
If you click on the photos on our blog you can view a larger version. :0)
And, if you press and hold Ctrl on the keyboard when you click it, it will open in a new window.
Arrival
In fact our very first night we met up with an old Uni friend of mine, Russell, who has since become a bona-fide Australian Citizen, but still lacks an Aussie accent even after 8 years - so maybe there is hope for us too :0)
Monday - Tourists for the Day
Started the trip proper with some touristy stuff, starting with the Sydney Tower. There is something like 1500 steps to the top, but I was a little disappointed to learn that they were not an option. The guides were adamant that we had to take the lift and refused to believe that I actually wanted to take the stairs. Looking back, perhaps they were doing me a favour though!
After taking in the views, (including our residence for the week - circled) back at ground level, we strolled through the historic QVB shopping mall and then met a friend of Amanda's for lunch at Circular Quay with a view of the Opera House. Very hot and sunny we even had to shelter from the sun! After that we strolled back to the BnB via the botanical gardens, taking plenty of photographs of of the Opera House.
Factoid: The coldest ever temperature recorded in Sydney is 2.1C!!!?
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Tuesday - Blue Mountains
Thought we would make the most of the existing hot spell to visit the Blue Mountains a 2 hour train ride away. Good job we did as it was markedly colder up there, especially with the wind.Named after the blue haze that hangs in the air we got some wonderful views of them from the train, a dense fog hanging in the valley, so thick it looked like a river. Sadly we got no photos of this, but plenty later in the day.
Started with a quick walk to the viewing platform over the valley and then a quick descent down some steep steps to the famous Three Sisters pinnacles. You could really feel the wind here as it whistled though a narrow gap between the cliff and the pinnacles. The bridge across to the Three Sisters was rather exposed and I can easily believe that people have been blown away. I wasn't, obviously, and Amanda did not risk it!
From this point a further track called the "The Giant Stairway" led down to the valley floor. The pathway is over 100 years old and built by convicts (hey this is Australia!). A lot of the steps are very worn and in many places replaced with steel. Very steep and in some places very exposed. Amanda gave it a go but had to turn back at one point as her legs were getting a bit wobbly. Good job she did as the very next stretch of steps, were the new steel ones, basically grates which you can see through - and there was nothing underneath - check out the video below!
While Amanda stopped to gather herself before heading back to the top I continued down; 20 minutes later I was still only about 2/3 of the way down and so headed back myself to check on Amanda.
Completed our day by walking several kilometres along the cliff edge to one of the waterfalls. I even took the chance to try a bit of proper barefoot walking and found it actually quite comfortable - if a little cold, especially on the rocks. It also made puddles and muddle a lot easier to navigate - just stride on through. Amanda even gave it a go and I think quite enjoyed it; but after a a few minutes the cold got the better of her and her feet were soon wrapped up again.
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MOV03011 from Rich & Amanda on Vimeo.
Wednesday - Manly
You have to spend some time on the water in Sydney harbour and so we took the 30 minute ferry to Manly. Another gorgeous day and barely a ripple on the water so Amanda was not struck down with sea-sickness. Spent the afternoon chilling on the beach.
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Caught the ferry back to the city just before sunset and saw was able to get some cool photos of the opera house (what else) as the light changed.
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In the evening we had dinner (or more precisely we were kindly taken to dinner by Malcom, Amanda's second cousin). Had a great evening enjoying Malcom's stories and the food and ale of the famous old Lord Nelson Hotel. I finally found some Ale, called Annihilation no less :0). Then after dinner, Malcom took us for a quick spin across the bridge and back to see Sydney at night and point our various landmarks. The perfect host and very proud of his adopted homeland.
Thursday - Bondi & Opera
Headed to Bondi beach, just 15 minutes by train and bus. The rain started literally as soon as we got off the bus which made our walk along the beach a little less pleasant. Our only day of poor weather and it cleared up within less than an hour anyway! I was hoping to get in some surfing at Bondi, but, deja vu, my back was playing up and decided it was best not to risk it. :0(We did however check out some local surfers who were ripping it up; so maybe it was a good thing as I would probably have embarrassed myself! After being humbled by said locals we followed the coastal walk from Bondi to Bronte. Great views, fresh sea air and an impressive(?) cliffside cemetery at the end of the walk.
Get the impression the Aussies don't know what a cold spell is. As we took a coffee in Bronte, a (senior) local informed us that this was the coldest day he had seen in over 45 years. Think it was about 15C! I think his memory might be a little rusty, but still, you get the point.
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Quick bite to eat then home to get ready for a spot of culture - we were attending an Opera at the Sydney Opera House (err, well, yeah). A first for both of us. We had a choice of two or three to see but plumped for the shortest! So Bizet's The Pearlfishers was our entertainment for the evening.
Had relatively cheap seats so we were up in the gods; as luck would have it there were several empty seats in front of us and so at the first interval we moved several rows and around a $100 closer. :0)
Impression? Well personally, I found the stagecraft pretty impressive - lots of complementary blue and orange lighting with depth added by layers of translucent curtains. Very clever and at times it was hard to tell if you were looking at performers or a projection.
Being inside the opera house we could appreciate another view of the architecture and were also rewarded with some excellent views of the harbour and the bridge. As for the Opera itself, meh, I can take it or leave it. Could not help but find two people conversing through song quite amusing. Must be a philistine!
As for Amanda - she enjoyed it, but would not rush to see another one - particularly if there are any women singing - she can't stand the warbling!
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Friday - He rises!
And boy was it large. Was a little worried that it might actually be too big- I mean it is 30m high and 36m wide! With seats near the back it turned out not to be a problem and the time whizzed by, all 166 minutes of it. Won't say another word good or bad in case you are off to see it yourselves!
Not much else to report Friday so here are some phots of Sydney...
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Saturday - Food, Drum and Bass
Took the (soon to be shut down) Monorail to one of Sydney's oldest and largest markets, around 1800 stalls apparently (think some were hiding). Spent an hour so strolling around, but not much to see really. Headed to Chinatown afterwards for some yummy Yum Cha and came across this dude called Catfish The Bottleman. A Sydney busker who was not only very good but had a permanent smile on his face as he drummer away - reminded us of a friend back home. :0)He even had some impromptu company as a lady from the audience, started break dancing in front of him, not much style but full of nonchalance; yeah what, what!?
Also saw this sign in Chinatown and just had to snappety-snap...
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The main event today however was Russell, Pete and Stretch's liquid funk, d n b and house night.
Russell was coming out of "retirement" after 8 years away from the decks; DJ Switchback was to be reborn at this event and supported by Pete and Stretch, the latter of whom was an old colleague of mine and so another chance to catch up.
Amanda was less than impressed by the music being played but spent the entire night chatting away with Amie so don't think it was too much of a chore. Meanwhile a foot injury sustained earlier in the week meant there was no rug cutting by Rich, perhaps it was for the best...
