Sydney, Australia

After saying goodbye to beautiful New Zealand our next flight took us into Sydney, Australia the biggest place we have visited so far this trip. Sydney with a population of 5 and half million is the capital of New South Wales. It has a great public transit system so after buying our Opal card which would get us around for a week we took the airport train to Kings Cross Station and our new place.

The neighbourhood called Potts Point was quite nice...

Lots of wide sidewalks and places to eat and drink...

Beautiful terraced houses with wrought iron railings that reminded us of New Orleans...

Lots of parks,  this one with a unique fountain hosted a Saturday Farmers Market...

Hyde Park in the Center of the city was quite large...

At one end of Hyde Park is the Anzac War Memorial, solemn in its’ size and position in front of the reflecting pool...

And there is James Cook again, who not only circumnavigated New Zealand but also in 1770 he spotted the east coast of Australia and called it New South Wales which it is still called today.

And just by the park is St. Mary’s Cathedral which was started in 1866 and is a Sydney landmark amid all the high rises...

The day we visited it was golden from all the sun shining through its’ windows...

Don lighting his candle...

Some of the skyline with the Sydney Tower being the tallest structure in the city and the second tallest  tower in the Southern Hemisphere...

The Royal Botanic Garden is a heritage listed 30 hectare gardens just to the east of the business district. We passed through it most days on our walks and like many others enjoyed the beauty of it...

One of the gates to the Gardens...

Lots of beautiful flowers but I was taken with this beauty which looked like a giant iris...

Lots of wide open green spaces..



And shaded places to sit...

Giant koalas...

And wishing trees...

People enjoying the park and around the corner is the iconic building in Sydney which is the Opera House...

The Sydney Opera house designed by a Danish architect was opened in 1973 and is recognized as one of the most distinctive buildings of the 20th century and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also a huge building! 

This area of the Sydney waterfront is always busy...

Further on there is Circular Quay the main area for ferries that go back and forth around Sydney and one of the best ways to get great views of the city...

The Sydney Bridge...

Also huge ferries dock here...

Travelling away from the middle of the city it was easy to see how much people enjoy the outdoors here...

Sailing boats everywhere...

Lots of paths for walking and cycling...

Also lots of big properties along the water...

Sydney has a lot of waterfront from naval bases...



To a great sculpture walk...

It is also a city with great beaches which we saw as we took a coastal walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach on an absolutely lovely day...

Coogee Beach...

Along the coast there are a number of natural baths, shallow areas that are exposed to the sea...

Surf was up...

Lots of people on the path...

Great views...

Our destination in sight...Bondi Beach, one of Australia’s famous beaches and often on the list of one of the best beaches in the world...

One of our day trips was to take the train to the Blue Mountains which is a rugged mountainous area west of Sydney. Here we were greeted by Laura, a young woman we met 12 years ago in Vietnam and this is the first time we have seen each other since. It was so nice to see her again and she was a great tour guide! 

Some of the views of the Blue Mountains...

There are large sandstone cliffs and deep valleys...

Tall waterfalls, 880 meters high and here you can see how high the bush fires reached on the burnt rocks...

One of the most famous sights in this area are the Three Sisters, stacks of stand alone sandstone...

We walked down to the base, it was a long way down...

Much of this area was affected by the bushfires but it was nice to see how the trees were quickly regenerating...

It was a great day and Don had his first taste of Kangaroo pie which he declared was delicious!

There was so much to see in Sydney...

Great street art...

Heritage buildings...

Lots of markets...

Our favourite place for a beer after a long day of exploring...

Sydney is hosting the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras which is a big event so everywhere we went there were rainbows including at the Kings Cross Hotel which was renamed the Queens Cross Hotel during the celebration. 

We really enjoyed Sydney thinking that it is a very interesting and dynamic city and even after being here for a week was still so much to see. It was a great introduction to Australia and now on to our next stop, Brisbane.