Sydney

Sydney is a beautiful city. It doesn't have the same charm as Melbourne. But there is beauty here, to be sure, and lots that is interesting.

Our bus tour of the city this morning took us around some of that. First stop was "Mrs. Macquarie's Seat." The wife of one of the first governors of New South Wales -- back when it was a penal colony -- used to take a short walk from her home, down to a point overlooking the harbor, where she would sit and watch the ships going in and out.

Also in this area, known as "The Domain," because it was the private domain of the governor (but now in the public domain), is an Olympic-sized swimming pool overlooking the main base of the Royal Australian Navy. There are swimming pools everywhere, and it's very unusual to find an Aussie who can't swim. Lap swimming is a very popular form of exercise. 

Also here is the quintessential view of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We drove on from there through the Rose Bay neighborhood, where multi-million dollar homes have great views of the harbor.

Next stop was Bondi Beach, one of Sydney's many excellent beaches, and certainly the most famous. So many tourists get pulled out to sea by rip tides here that there is even a TV series about Bondi Beach lifeguards.

There were also lots of really ripped Australian guys lifting weights and acting macho, hoping to be noticed by female tourists (we presume).

On this beautiful Sunday morning there were various runs taking place on the beach. We happened to arrive in time for the "Nippers 1k Run." Nippers are kids. There were several age groups running, and all ran barefoot on the sand beach.

Or course, a bit race event demands food, and the local "life saving club" had a tent where they were making and selling "Sausage Sizzles." This is something like a Polish sausage, grilled and served in a hot dog bun (or sometimes just in bread), and often with bacon and grilled onions.

The bus took us on to an area known as "The Gap," which is the entrance to Sydney Harbor. Steep cliffs here have been the scene of many suicides, so fencing and CCTV cameras are everywhere.

We walked through Gap Park down to Watson's Bay, an area famous for fish and chips take-aways. This is where we had an included lunch. The fish was quite good. The chips were just French fries, and there wasn't even anything good to put on them or dip them in.

Part of Sydney's public transportation system is a large fleet of ferryboats. Our tour leader gave us "Opal Cards" with about $15 AUS on each, and we rode the ferry over to Circle Quay where the famous Sydney Opera House is located.

OAT had arranged for us a private tour of the Opera House, just for our group. Even though this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first performances here, it still looks very modern, inside and out.

We weren't allow in all of the five performance spaces, and in others we were not allowed to take photos. But it's a beautiful building inside, as well as outside.

Something we hadn't realized is that the white exterior of the shells are covered with ceramic tiles made in Sweden.

We also hadn't recalled the drama surrounding the construction. Commissioned in 1955, it was supposed to take 3 years to build and cost $20 million AUS. It wound up taking 16 years and costing six times as much.

Politics played a big role. The government that commissioned the project was voted out. A conservative government changed the design parameters and stopped paying the Danish architect. Drama ensued.

But the result is a truly iconic building that is even more remarkable when seen up close.

After our tour, we walked back to the Circle Quay transportation station. We wanted to walk across the Harbor Bridge, but one can't get onto it from here. We had to take the tram two stops south, then get on a train going back north to the first station on the north side of the bridge. Thankfully, our Opal Card works on all public transport.

The walk across the bridge turned out not to be as daunting as it, at first, appeared. It's only a little less than 3/4 of a mile, not as steep as it looks, and the views are stunning. The only challenge was the wind, which was blowing at 25 mph and gusting higher. We had to hang onto our hats.

At the end of the bridge, we only got a little bit lost finding our way east to Macquarie Street. It's not easy when street curve and twist, and some don't go through more than a couple blocks before one has to shift to a different street.

We finally made it the Botanical Gardens and Macquarie Street. We didn't go into the Gardens because we'll be back here tomorrow with the whole group. But we walked toward the hotel on Macquarie, passing  the State Library, the New South Wales state Parliament, and the "Rum Hospital" (a medical facility built in the 1800s from proceeds from a tax on rum). 

Walking on, we passed the Hyde Park Barracks, which housed criminals shipped to Australia from Britain, and strolled through Hyde Park itself, which is prettier than its namesake in London.

We got lost one more time walking from Hyde Park to the hotel, but it only took us a couple blocks out of the way. When we finally made it back to the room, our devices indicated that we had walked more than seven miles for the day. We were ready for showers and wine.