TOUR OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
In
July 2004 I visited Sydney, Australia,
from Auckland, New Zealand, for six days in the largest city "Down Under."
The background music is Australia's national anthem, "Advance Australia
Fair," but you can hear the
unofficial anthem by clicking on
"Waltzing Matilda"
like any real Aussie bloke or sheila would do. (Minimize the
player window to return to this page while playing.)
I stayed at the brand new
Sydney Railway Square YHA, built on a former loading dock of the Central
Railway Station. Surprisingly, it's very quiet and inexpensive (opening
price $AU27 for a shared room).
For traveling around I bought a 5-day
Sydney Pass
at the airport, which allowed me to use any bus, ferry, or train (including
the ride to and from the airport) on any five days I chose; by the end of
the first day I had used more than $AU100 value of the $AU130 cost of the
pass. Also, it's a lot more convenient just to swipe a card when getting on
transportation than having to work out the number of zones and to find
the right money.
My first day included a harbor cruise, a
morning at the Taronga Zoo, a tour of inner Sydney on the Sydney Explorer
bus, and an evening cruise on the harbor. Next day I made several more ferry
trips and went out to Bondi Beach on the Bondi Explorer bus. Both buses have
commentaries and one can get off and on anywhere along their routes; a bus
comes by every half hour during the day.
On the following days I went on all the ferries and walked along the main
streets of the central business district, which has many interesting shops.
I enjoyed the walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge, which can be reached by
steps near the south pillar on Argyle Street in The Rocks. The Sydney Aquarium in Darling Harbour displays the strange sea creatures of
Australia, with plenty of sharks and sting rays. Also at Darling Harbour is
Gavala,
an excellent store for Aboriginal art.
My walking day was Sunday; I went to the Art Gallery of New South Wales
and the State Library of New South Wales; it has an excellent bookshop
for Australian books.
On other days I went as far south as one can travel by bus in Sydney, to
Sans Souci (it appears to be a retirement community) then as far north as
possible, to Palm Beach, which is attractive but not as pleasant as Palm
Beach,
Waiheke Island.
For a Cook's Tour of Sydney, look at
the pictures; put the cursor over a picture to see its caption.
