November 12-15

Ah, yes, Sydney.

A flight from Christchurch brought me to the city I've longed to visit (and, hey, the country) since I was about 12. Bear in mind that at 12 Australia largely meant "home to Air Supply and Tristan Rogers of General Hospital" -- I still wanted to go. It just took a few more years than I expected.
 
Typical Sydney and Melbourne architecture (at least in the older districts). Not unlike New Orleans, this particular design -- with the very ornate balconies -- indicated wealth back in the day. The iron for the balconies came from cast-off deadweight ships carrying cargo (or ferrying it away, which would make more sense) would dump on the shores of the city.





Now, seriously, the room is not usually the highlight of the city. And really, it's Sydney so, of course, my place in the Shangri-La Hotel was not truly the highlight. But it was the BEST room on the WHOLE TRIP.

The other two photos are my VIEW from MY WINDOW. Plus, the room was very large and I almost went downstairs to confirm that this was actually my place for two full nights. I didn't, and it was. 

Shangri-La was really the best of all the hotels for many reasons, not the least of which was the room -- and the free Wi-Fi downstairs. You rock, Sydney Shangri-La!




Next morning, we all got up early for BREAKFAST WITH KOALAS. 

Capital letters are important here. First of all, I got to touch one, on his back haunch, with the backs of two fingers. Fur. Very nice. Second, koalas -- at least these koalas -- do not smell funny. A lot of people told me they'd reek. They were just sluggish and sweet looking when I was there, not mean little buggers, which I've also heard. 

We didn't literally eat in the same enclosure as the koalas; we all got our pictures taken with the beasts and then went downstairs for a so-so breakfast at Sydney Wildlife World.

KOALAS!





Following breakfast we all hurried to a nearby port for a cruise around the harbor. Check out the changing weather; it's practically stormy as we head under the bridge, but by the time we're swinging back toward the Opera House, it's blue-ing up. Look at the top of the bridge; it is possible for a (large) fee to climb to the top, whcih initially I was going to do, but it felt like a big chunk taken out of the day to essentially get to the top of something, and a big chunk out of my wallet. So I passed. But we waved at the folks up there.

The photo with all the waterside homes is the really ritzy part of Sydney. Very pretty architecture. 
 

 






Following the cruise, it was time to get up close and personal with the Opera House. (So much for the nice weather). The first photo is the interior, the others are just more close-ups of the exterior. I was suprised to see that the tiles of the Opera House alternated in shades of beige and white, and that some were matte while others were gloss. 

Inside we learned how difficult it was to get the place made, and how the architect -- Jorn Utzon -- apparently got inspired after witnessing how an orange's segments folded into a sphere. Or something like that. 

I asked if the shape was meant to be sails or wings or something else, and we were told it could mean many things, that nothing was for certain.

Shocking trivia (at least to me): It's only been open since 1973.






Surfers plotz right about now: This is Bondi Beach (pronounced like bond-eye). Not all that warm still, but I had to head down to the surf to dip my toes into Bondi Bay. A truly lovely area, and apparently quite shark-infested. 


That night I headed out to an area called King's Cross (notorious for its somewhat shady reputation but also of course the hotbed of great stuff to do) to catch a play I knew nothing about called "Strange Attractor." Great show, small theater, exciting performances. 

After, I turned to two women who had been sitting near me and asked if there was a subway nearby. I knew there was -- I'd seen a map -- but I wanted to make sure I was heading in the right direction, and I'd taken a cab to get out there. They looked confused a moment and then pointed me to ... a Subway sub shop. "Uh, no," I said. "What do you call it here? The Underground? Metro? Tube?"

"Um, just trains," they said.

There are many nice things to say about Sydney, but originality is not one of them. Here's the inside of the subway. Or the trains.
 









The next day we had entirely to ourselves, which -- finally! -- meant I could explore the city. A friend had recommended some trendy shopping neighborhoods but I failed to be impressed and found the repetition of cheap electronics/clothing and meat pie shops to be a little depressing. So I headed to more obvious touristy things -- Hyde Park and St. Mary's Cathedral within. They were wrapping up Mass in the Cathedral, so I sat quietly and listened to the sermon delivered in that delicious Aussie accent.

The bird, if I'm writing it correctly, is an ibis and they hang around the park like pigeons do -- but if pigeons were the size of poodles. They seem fairly gentle but I did hear that if you leave your sandwich out, they will just nab it.

On the way through the park I passed by a small group of folks dressed up as zombies (why?) and paused as a protest filled up one of the main streets as I headed to the hotel.
 














But before heading home, I came across The Queen Victoria Market -- once a government and small business home, and now basically a shopping mall.

But what a mall! It was simply breathtaking, and I loved just wandering around among the people and the stores. 

Outside, the little dog statue was of Queen Victoria's Skye Terrier (looked a lot like a Cairn to me) named Islay. A prerecorded voice came from the well and asked for you to donate money, which goes to charity. So of course I wished and tossed in a coin.

Inside toward the center, the clock pictured at left  is called The Great Australian Clock, and it was pretty great.
 

Being that it was November there was a Christmas tree up, but the weather was so fine I had to remind myself that this is how it goes in this part of the world.

 
Celebrating my birthday at the Sydney Tower Restaurant -- which rotated, of course! -- was a lovely way to end the day. (Thanks, Louis!)

(The tour group actually sang Happy Birthday to me, too. On the bus. Thanks, guys!)