Sydney

20/12/11-23/12/11

On my first day in Sydney there was only one place I could visit – the harbour area. I made my way straight to the harbour bridge, one of the most iconic structures of Oz. I had planned on doing the bridge climb but on learning that you couldn’t take your own camera along and seeing the price I instead decided to just climb up one of the pylons where I could take as many pictures as I wanted with the same view as the climb. Heading back down I visited the Rocks, part of the first settlement area where colonial buildings have been luckily saved after a programme of demolition during the last century. Here I also popped into the Contempary Art Gallery to check out an interactive exhibition where all the pieces involve yourself – the one I liked the most was a room filled with light bulbs flashing to the heart rate of visitors, as another person gets there heart rate measured it is added to the nearest bulb as others are moved down one bulb. Next I went to the Justice and Prison museum before wandering down to get a few snaps of the Opera house, a building with a very sad construction history. That evening for dinner I picked up some kangaroo burgers to try out, they turned out to be quite nice!

Another day another harbour as I ventured to the city’s new entrainment complex – Darling harbour. After a quick wander through I visited the maritime museum before heading into Paddy’s Markets to pick up a boomerang for the travel shelf back home. Later in the afternoon I joined a free walking tour of the city to see some sights often missed by tourists.

Today I awoke to find rain pouring down outside. After spending the morning doing bits and pieces in the hostel I ventured out in the afternoon first visiting Hyde Park Barracks, a building that used to house convicts. Next I continued down to the botanical gardens to grab some views of the Harbour Bridge and opera house together. Here I was alarmed to be confronted by extremely large bats which reside in the park. Making my way back I found time to visit the Gallery of New South Wales before heading home for an early dinner. That evening I had bought a ticket to watch Sydney FC play Adelaide, throughout my time in Oz I had been trying to see some live sport but the dates had never matched with where I was staying. I was able to get a sense of Aussie atmosphere as the game finished 2-2.