leyton.org

It’s been a while since I made an effort to write up more of our 2004 tour of Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia. A lot’s happened, and the time to sit down and summarise our travels has been hard to come by. But I’ve finally managed the time to transcribe the highlights of our visit to Sydney…

We flew down to Sydney, from Tokyo, on a long overnight flight, arriving on 14th April, 2004. As always we both found it difficult to sleep, so we landed in Sydney the worse for wear, but very much looking forward to seeing some of this fabulous city. We passed through customs with no trouble (having ditched a few sweets in the customs bins: The Australians are very strict on food imports). We located a cheap bus, something like A$15 return to our hotel: Definitely a good bargain considering cabs would be rather expensive. The early time of 8.30am meant that our hotel couldn’t give us our room just yet.

First Impressions of Sydney

Our hotel was located on the very fringes of the red-light district (if that’s what you call it) of Kings Cross in Sydney. Tame by Shinjuku standards, but convenient for getting in to town, which is what we did: In search of a coffee.

We located a nice coffee shop just opening at the Hyde Park Barracks museum, and simply relaxed and let the caffeine do its work of reviving us whilst we planned our first day. After two weeks in Japan, it was surprisingly enjoyable to find ourselves able to talk to the restaurant staff!

Our first plan was to walk down to harbour through the Royal Botanic Gardens. We were loving the experience, until we noticed the ominous noise from the fruit bats roosting in the trees above us! Rather intimidating at first, but fascinating to watch once we realised they were more interested in getting some sleep, and biting each other than anything else. It was the spiders we suddenly spotted that spooked us the most: Huge monstrous fat beasts! A body diameter of 5cm at least, and legs at least double that. Easily the largest spider either of us had encountered outside of the confines of a zoo!

We quickly continued on down to the harbour front, to be greeted by one of the most beautiful city skylines the world has to offer: Sydney harbour bridge, with the (smaller than you expect) Opera house. We stayed a good 30 minutes on “the chair”, taking in the view and plenty of pictures.

On then to the Opera house (more pictures), around Circular Quay for a spot of lunch, and an amble up to the Harbour bridge to check it out, before we returned to the quay so I could book up for Bridge Climb!

Bridge Climb

As Frances had decided that the bridge was far too dangerous for anybody in their right mind to want to climb, I was up early to go and enjoy the experience on my own.

It was every bit as good as I’d hoped: The group I was with got on well, and the Star Trek like uniforms weren’t nearly as bad as I’d feared. After the initial introduction to the safety gear, and the walk over the ‘warm up’ scaffolding, we were up into the structure itself.

It’s remarkable that the only major change the Bridge Climb company has made to the bridge is a hole in one of the stone “supports” (they provide no structural support to the main span structure: They’re purely aesthetic). Remarkable too that the only part that felt really high was over the horizontal span above the harbour side, looking directly down on to traffic. The top of the bridge is remarkable for the view, but it’s lower down you feel at your most vulnerable.

Ascending through the traffic was a great experience: The reason the uniforms are coloured the way they are is to minimise the chance of distracting drivers as they whoosh past the ladders close to the roadway. In comparison the gentle climb of the main span itself is far less exciting, apart from - of course - the world class views over the harbour area.

I was the only unaccompanied climber that day, so I was up front with the guide, and got a few interesting chances to ask her questions. Of course I had to ask if anybody had fallen off. Nobody has. And when you’re on the span you can see why: Firstly, you’re a good 15 feet from the edge, with a handrail in the way, and you’re tied to the safety harness system. No chance of jumping. Not so the 16 unfortunate builders who died during the building.

Of course, the views at the top are everything as stunning as you hope. We were fortunate to have a beautifully clear morning, so we could see the Tasman Sea in the distance, with the beaches at Bondi and Manly, the Opera house close by. Our guide pointed out the various highlights, and we - of course - waved frantically at every passing boat and plane.

The climb down was of course, a less exiting prospect, but still to be enjoyed, as more stories of the bridges construction, and the Sydney residents reaction to the bridge as it was built (”how will we get a horse and trap over it?” one resident apparently wrote, not realising you didn’t go over the bridge span, but along the road within it!).

Blue Mountain excursion

We’d booked an excursion on our third day into the Blue Mountains, and we were taken up by an enthusiastic driver to the sites including Govetts Leap and Three Sisters.

The Blue Mountains are named as such because of the oils from the eucalyptus trees which form huge forests throughout the mountains: The mountains were considered impenetrable by early settlers, and it’s easy to see why with some of the huge cliff drops.

We continued on to Fairview wildlife park, for our first close up with some of the usual Australian residents: Koalas, Kangaroos, Wallabies, Tasmanian Devils: All of these and more. It’s always a little sad to look at these usually cute creatures (perhaps apart from red kangaroos, who just seem menacing!).

No holding of Koala’s here though, much to Frances’ disappointment. It’s illegal to in New South Wales, so we had to make do with just stroking these most soulful of creatures. If reincarnation was real, I think I’d change my previous idea of coming back as a cat: Koalas rule on this front: Sitting about doped out on Eucalyptus seems much more agreeable. And you have two thumbs.

Apart from a few irritating fellow passengers not returning to the coach when instructed, the trip was fine. I don’t normally enjoy coach trips for just that reason: You’re on a fixed itinerary. However, you sometimes see and learn things you wouldn’t otherwise do. The coach driver was superb in this particular case, and it was an enjoyable day out. That’s not to say I wouldn’t have preferred to have hired a car.

Out and about in Sydney

We spent a good bit of time around Circular Quay and Darling harbour for food, as the choices of places to eat near our hotel weren’t brilliant. Much more junk food than nice places to sit and savour the atmosphere.

The single best part of our trip - after the bridge climb of course - had to be our afternoon trip out to Manly Beach. The ferry ride is quite rightly considered one of the most picturesque in the world, as you pull out from Circular Quay past the bridge and around the Opera house.

Manly Beach itself was lovely. Frances isn’t one for sand, but we spent a leisurely afternoon strolling along the beach, munching lunch, browsing the market stalls, and watching life go by. We picked up some super little paintings of Australian birds by a local artist, which they offered to ship back to the UK for us. They did eventually turn up back home about two months later (not after some concern - we’d expected them back long before we arrived home!). We’re very much looking forward to getting them framed up to remind us of our trip.

The outbound trip had been great, but it was nothing compared to the return trip. The sun was setting as we returned, and we were able to take some superb pictures of the skyline as the sun cast it’s last rays across the buildings.

That night, as we were discussing our food options, we glanced out of the hotel window to see a beautiful sunset with the Sydney skyline. There was also a lot of commotion: What at first glance looked like lots of birds turned out to be the fruit bats taking off from their roost in the Botanical Gardens.

Historical bits

Frances wasn’t feeling good on our last full day in Sydney, so I had the morning to go and see some sights for myself. After a walk about Hyde Park, I reached the ANZAC War Memorial. It’s a beautiful building, with much to consider as you walk about it and consider the sacrifice the Australian and New Zealand soldiers made for a war on the far side of the world.

I then strolled back across the park to visit the Australian Museum, which featured an excellent breadth of exhibits. I was particularly taken by the mineral exhibition, featuring a stunning mineral collection donated by Albert Chapman. Most thought provoking of all was the Aboriginal Heritage display, which effectively explained the heritage of, and issues facing, Australian indigenous people.

Leaving Sydney

We left Sydney on the 19th April, to fly to Christchurch, New Zealand. Sydney has left an indelible impression on me: It was such a beautiful city, with so much going for it. I’m not sure we made the best possible use of our time there, but in our defence we were both rather tired from our tour of Japan and keen to actually put up our feet a bit.

It’s a city I’d very much like to visit again, perhaps with a view to doing more exploration away from the centre of town. It was our first impression of Australia, and we certainly got a feeling for the more laid back attitude of Australians. The people were universally friendly, and the weather went a long way to explaining it!

Travel Log 15th April, 2004 : Weblog posting from Sydney 30th March, 2004 - 14th April, 2004: Japan

To follow… New Zealand, the rest of Australia, Singapore and Bangkok… Eventually!