The Adventures of Sparkleekat: Sydney

March 12, 2016

We finally made it to Sydney for 3 nights. I have been waiting for this trip for a while. It was a fantastic place and we could have easily spent a week there. But somebody in this family has to work. Here's a picture out the plane window as we were flying in.

We dropped our luggage at the hotel desk when we arrived there in the morning and went directly to the meet area for the free guided walking tour. It was all very good, although I was chomping at the bit to get to the Opera House and Harbor Bridge!

This is part of a ceiling in the Queen Victoria Building. Not your ordinary shopping mall.

Sydney Tower

Artwork in a laneway

The layout of city of Sydney in the floor at Customs Building

Our first view of the Opera House

Never too many pictures of the Opera House

The seagulls struck a pose in front of the Harbor Bridge

Then it was time for our twilight Harbor Bridge climb! Wow! I was excited!

The bridge climb is one of the highlights of my life. Even though it was a crazy amount of money and I've heard people say don't do it.....we did and I will never regret it!

March 13, 2016

We hit the ground running. So much to do, so little time. I started out with a breakfast of champions. A French pain au chocolat and a bowlful of cappuccino! Yum!

We didn't rent a car so we did a hefty amount of walking. I swear it was 20 miles in 3 days. Here are some highlights of Sunday.

St. Mary's Cathedral

Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens 200 years old

Copping a feel of the statue

Mrs Macquarie's Chair

We took a tour of the Opera House

I never knew the roof was made of ceramic tiles

Later we walked to the weekend market at The Rocks

And stopped for tea where they had community knitting baskets at each table

March 14, 2016

Today we took a bus to Coogee Beach and did a coastal walk to Bondi Beach. Weather was kind of iffy. Upon our return we took the ferry to Manly where the weather got real funky along with smokiness from a brush fire. After getting back to the hotel, we took one of our two to three daily showers and walked another 2k (half uphill) to dinner. We cheated and took a cab back for the first time. Long day!

Met a little friend along the path

Cemetery with a view

Along the path

Bondi Beach

On ferry to Manly

Manly Beach very smoky

Returning from Manly on the ferry

As I said, never too many pictures of the Opera House

March 15, 2016

We needed to leave for the airport by 11:30 and it was a dreary rainy morning. We decided to go back to St. Mary's to look at the inside which we couldn't see Sunday morning. It was breathtaking. Then we went back to that fabulous shopping center in the Queen Victoria Building. The architecture there is stunning.