Sydney Exploration Day 1
We headed to the train station about a kilometre away to catch the train into the city for our first day of exploration. On arrival, we were confronted by two scary choices to descend into the bowels of the earth to the platform. The first was a series of two escalators that were about 100 metres long each.
The second option was a glass fronted elevator straight down. Hmmm. Holding the handrail and staring at the floor, I made it down alive. First stop was the ticket office where the customer service was excellent and we ended up purchasing a weekly ticket that we can use anywhere, anytime on anything. It might not turn out cheaper in the end but the convenience is worth it. After the novelty of posting the tickets through the gates and walking through, the kids nearly wet themselves when the train arrives and it's a DOUBLE DECKER!!!
We chose the downstairs as it was less crowded and then discovered that the seats FLIP!! so they can face forward or backward. The start of our trip was through a very long tunnel but once we were out, the kids were glued to the windows. The harbour bridge crossing was not so exciting as we couldn't actually see the bridge while we were on it but OH MY GOODNESS MUM!!! THERE'S THE OPERA HOUSE!!! I'm pretty sure the entire carriage could tell we were tourists. At one stage I even considered moving myself to the upstairs area. At least a couple of the other passengers seemed to get some amusement from us so the embarrassment was all for a good cause.
The opera house was our focus today so we walked towards Circular Quay. As we approached, we saw the most humungous cruise ship docked at the terminal. The kids stared in awe and nearly forgot to look across at the opera house.
We walked right up next to it marvelling at its size and the fact it had two waterslides right at the top and then spotted a visitor information centre up the street. A quick detour there saw us armed with maps and brochures, but best of all, right at the exit, was a shop called the Candymaker. So our first hour being tourists in Sydney was mostly spent watching boiled lollies being made! We finally persuaded the kids to move on and we entered the Rocks Discovery Museum. The kids were provided with a sheet of riddles that they had to answer using the information in the displays. It was a great way to encourage them to stop and really look at the information. The museum covered the history of the rocks area from before European settlement through to about the 1950s.
After the museum we wandered through a couple of streets before we came across a little square with a variety of eating places around it and tables and games in the middle. The kids played with the large chess set while we waited for our lunch and again afterwards.
Much to our surprise, Sarah ran into a friend she had just made the previous week at a science workshop day at Aspley State School. What a small world! As we were leaving, the kids noticed a game of table soccer so we had a couple of games of that as well before continuing on our way. We followed more little laneways, reading the plaques in Greenway Lane, Nurses Walk and Suez Canal. I'm glad we live now and not back then.
The Opera House was now our focus. Through Circular Quay we walked, pausing at each busker and reading many of the Writers of Reknown and 1788 shoreline marker plaques set in the ground. Before reaching the Opera House, we stopped to admire and take photos of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (with part of big cruise ship).
The bridge and opera house are sights that I don't think I could ever tire of. Unfortunately, there was a lot of construction happening all around the opera house and the scaffolding somewhat detracted from the aesthetics of the building. We walked all the way around it and then headed inside to see the roof from a different perspective. Such a stunning building.
From the opera house we walked alongside the botanic gardens towards Mrs Macquarie's Chair. The walk was enjoyable with stunning eroded sandstone,
beautifully laid out gardens and lovely views out over the water. The kids went for a little rock hop at the end of the point before reaching the Chair and discovered their own piece of history in the form of a broken clay bottle. After that, the actual reason for the walk was a bit of a let down for them but it gave me the chance to claim a cache and give them another history lesson. Mumblings were starting to be heard about sore feet so we headed across the gardens towards the city. We walked through the cottage garden, herb garden and begonia garden and eventually found our way out onto the streets. A welcomed downhill walk all the way across town back to the station before we flopped down onto the train seats (upstairs, this time).
Not having had enough of the city, we decided to drive in after dinner. Navigation was a little exciting, especially as we were trying to avoid tolls, but we didn't actually get lost. We drove through Darling Harbour, back out to Mrs Macquarie's road for a fabulous view of the bridge and opera house by night,
and then through Kings Cross (at the request of the kids!). Sadly, the Cross did not deliver and all we saw were a number of bouncers outside clubs. Back at the caravan park we all fell, tired, straight into bed. A great first day.
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