Sydney - The Good Stuff!

So the start of me and Sean's week in Sydney was going brilliantly and our week of touring continued. He surprised me by creating an agenda for our time together and booked some tours, which makes him the greatest boyfriend ever (you can all gag now).

After a relaxing day touring the southern beaches of Sydney, we took a tea and coffee cruise on the harbour. From Surrey Hills, we hopped a train to Circular Quay, where all ferry and harbour cruise services begin and terminate. The train ride was only 10 minutes and the train was the cleanest and smoothest ride of any PT system I've been on. I was like, "Holy shit, are we moving?!?" A welcome change from SEPTA's rickety regional rails. Once we got to the pier and boarded our boat, we noticed we were definitely the youngest people on the boat, which was refreshing because I'm still scarred from the booze cruise I was put on in the Whitsundays. As we enjoyed our coffee and muffins with all the old folks, our guide pointed out the multitudes of million dollar homes in all the bays and we even saw a few nudie beaches as well. There is so much water front property and the houses are still zillions of dollars. This place makes NYC look affordable! It looked as if some of the homes were ready to fall into the water as well. I guess they don't get bad storms, ever. We continued to cruise on the crystal clear water for two more hours and it was a welcome alternative to just pounding the pavement around town.



Once we returned to Circular Quay and had some lunch, we headed to the Opera House for a guided tour of the guts of the buildings and for some history on it's development. The Opera House design by Danish architect Jorn Utzon was chosen from over 200 entries in a worldwide contest. It took 14 years to build and halfway thru there was a falling out between Jorn and the Sydney government and Jorn left Australia, never to return to see his masterpiece completed. How sad is that?
Inside the Opera House, I was slightly disappointed with how ordinary it all was. The theaters were nice enough, but the entrance and hallways somehow didn't match up with the grandeur of the exterior. Maybe after 14 years of building it, everyone was just like, "Can we just finish this thing, for the love of St. Jerome?" Don't get me wrong, the entire building is spectacular and shouldn't be missed when visiting Sydney. One thing that stands out is how timeless the building is. The unique design will ensure it will never look dated, no matter how old it gets, which very few buildings can boast. I must have a zillion pics of the opera house!



The next day Sean and I took yet another ferry to Taronga Zoo to spend some time with the animals. The zoo is situated across from Circular Quay on a hillside so in addition to having the usual animals and exhibits, it was all back dropped by the Sydney Skyline. Fantastic! Sean told me that developers have been keen to move the zoo for years so the land can be used for building more million dollar homes. I don't think that will happen, but the nerve! Can't the common folk have a little something? Anyway, while we were there, we watched a python try to eat a small pig, went to the zookeeper talk about the giraffes (my favorites!), watched the chimps frolic and saw an amazing bird show. Most zoos try to get you to donate money for conservation efforts and this one was no different, but they added a twist. If you walk up to a specific bird handler holding some sort of eagle type bird and hold up a dollar coin, it would take it out of your hand and drop it in the collection bucket. Sold! Very fun. One thing I am sad about is I'm going to miss out on getting a picture of me holding a koala. I've been to numerous places where you could do it, but kept putting it off, thinking I could do it at Taronga Zoo. Wrong! You could take a picture standing next to a koala, but not holding one, so I'm a bit upset that I waited. Lesson learned I guess.



After the zoo, we headed back to Circular Quay to yet again catch another ferry to Manly beach, on the north head of the harbour. There wasn't a service that took you directly to Manly so back we went and then headed back out to Manly Beach, considered Sydney's best beach by many. By the time we got there, it was about 4pm so we were running out of daylight and it was getting a bit breezy. Sean played in the water as always and I took some pics of the surrounding areas and of the lifeguards practicing their skills. It was a bit more relaxed than Bondi, but then again, it was a Tuesday afternoon and most people were at work, which was fine with me! We stopped and had a beer and some snacks before heading back to Sydney and to our new luxurious digs.

What digs are those you say? Sean and I decided to book a hotel room for two days so we could give his brother his room back (thanks so much Anthony!) and we could have some private time in a nice hotel. We stayed at the Novotel in Darling Harbour - prime location! Sean found a great deal that wouldn't bankrupt us, me traveling for another 6 weeks and he who has no job yet. We checked in, showered and headed out for some grub by the water and then hit up the Star Casino, where I found out my boyfriend was a pokies fanatic! We drank and gambled small bits of money and just leisurely drifted around before tiring and heading back to the hotel for some TV in bed (wheeeee!) and then sleep. We treated ourselves to a full breakfast in bed the next day (so super awesome, worth every penny) and lounged around in the morning before we headed out for the grand finale - the Harbour Bridge Climb! The must do activity for when you are in Sydney, hands down. Will Smith did the Bridge Climb! Philadelphia, represent. I don't have any pics of this adventure except for the free picture of our group at the summit of the bridge as we both looked retarded in all the individual shots on the bridge, but that doesn't matter. It was 3.5 hours long and one of the most exhilarating experiences ever! It is really hard to put it into words. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed (nothing was actually...) to be taken to the top for safety reasons, but I'll remember it until the day I die. If I get a chance to scan the picture from the top, I will post it for y'all.

So those were all the major highlights of Sydney. You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned much about the nightlife. Frankly, after running around all day sightseeing, we were usually too tired to get all dolled up and go out. Anthony and Zac BBQ'd or cooked each night so we eat and drank wine each night we stayed with him and that was just perfect. It's been awhile since I've hung out with people like that so it was a real treat! Sean and I did go out for a few beers at the local pub for St. Patty's Day, have some beers at the casino and even visited the Waratahs Club for celebratory beers after the bridge climb, but other than that, we didn't go out a rage every night. I never would have woken up the next day! I'm old.

Below are the pics I took around town from various sections of the city and from the observation deck. I couldn't figure out a way to organize then so I just made one big slideshow. It may take a while to get thru, but it's not like you're doing work anyway...