Two days in Sydney

...and so began my two days in Sydney city. It was interesting to read in the newspaper, the headlines, 'What can visitors do in Sydney once they have seen the bridge and the opera house'. These two structures are what most people relate as Sydney, they are Sydney. I have to say I am simple and don't need a lot to entertain me. I am happy to wander and just soak in the atmosphere, see a different culture, see what there is on offer in the natural course of events. I don't have to spend money doing things or search out museums etc. I like to sit and drink coffee or eat somewhere where there are a lot of people so I can people watch and see how the culture of the people works. With all this in mind I began my trek around Sydney and I have to say, I think I walked for miles over the two days. As China Town was just by my hotel I decided on this as my first port of call. It was only a small place but it had some huge markets that I wandered through at leisure. The markets consisted of cheap clothes and fruit and veg, somewhat like Gosport market but on a much greater scale. From here I was able to access Darling Harbour, first of all walking by the vast entertainment hall where most of the big rock style concerts are held. Darling Harbour is a natural harbour the other side of Sydney Harbour Bridge, but leading up to the harbour are gardens and entertainment, cafe's and shops. There are endless water features and wide open spaces. At the far end it is very relaxing, as you approach the harbour end you begin to meet the locals and the tourists. At the harbour edge you can split two ways. To the left you reach the maritime museum (oh joy!) and a large shopping precinct, which from experience has some great sushi and free wifi, plus good air conditioning. To the right there are choices of an Imax cinema, restaurants, aquarium, the monorail and walking into the city. First day I chose the latter and second day the monorail. The monorail reminded me somewhat of Chicago and I think it must be a standard for monorails. It goes round in a square, you pay $4 and can get on and off anywhere over a certain amount of time. It stops at all the relevant places but only covers a small area, so it doesn't go down to Sydney Harbour. It also goes over the Pyrmont Bridge in Darling Harbour which is the world's oldest surviving electrically operated swingspan bridge. The current swingspan bridge opened in 1902 and replaced the first Pyrmont Bridge which began operating in 1857. The swingspan allows access for vessels that are too tall to travel under the bridge. In 1902, Darling Harbour was Sydney's industrial heart and served as the gateway to a bustling hub of warehouses, railway yards and international shipping. The bridge provided the main transport route between the city and Sydney's growing western suburbs. It has more or less lost this label now and is a hub of tourist activity.

Sydney

The trip from Canberra to Sydney was short in comparison to the last trip of 10 hours. I think I also forgot to mention that the trip from Perth to Melbourne meant passing through 2 more time zones and a time difference of 3 hours on.
I caught a Murrays coach this time which was one of those that looked like a double decker, but actually only had the upstairs, underneath was luggage space. The coach was full and it was well air conditioned, cool and comfortable. The trip was a straight three and a half hours up the freeway. I arrived in Sydney just after lunch, found my hotel, again an Ibis, settled in and then went out exploring. I'm not stuck on Ibis hotels, but they are known the world over and although fairly basic are reasonably priced considering they are in the middle of cities. This Ibis was quite cold, as in atmosphere. It was ok for my purposes which was a bed and within walking distance from Sydney Central train station, ready for my trip to Turramurra. I discovered that I was more or less in China Town and very close to the south end of Darling Harbour, this suited me fine because I knew from past experience I could walk through Darling Harbour and get to the heart of Sydney. I have to say that I had forgotten Sydney and as I searched for somewhere for a meal, I got well and truly lost in the streets even though everything runs parallel and works in blocks. Still, I managed to find somewhere to eat and sitting with a map I worked out my location and went back to the hotel, replete and happy, ready for another day tomorrow.

Canberra

Canberra had not changed since we were there last about five years ago. It is a manufactured city, purely government and administration offices as it is the capital of Australia. This came about because of the arguments between Melbourne and Sydney. There is a very large artificial lake and two smaller lakes. All three are beautifully sculpted and looked after. There are facilities round the lakes such as a bike track and a jogging track, plus the inevitable cafes. On the lake there is rowing and dragon boat practice. There is also a paddle boat steamer to take visitors on tours.
Canberra suffered fires a few years ago which came very close to the city, it has destroyed large swathes of land to the North, including the astronomy centre. There is a military college to the West and as we drove through this, new candidates were being introduced to the college and we were lucky enough (or not!) to see a fly past by the Australian equivalent of the Red Arrows.
The city centre was like any other, a huge shopping mall housing shops that can be seen the world over.
I think the highlights in this area for me were seeing up close the huge gum trees, feeling all their very different barks, watching Gallahs feed their young, sulphur crested cockatoos flying wild in the trees, seeing wild kangeroos up close and a largish lizard sat on a rock!

Bus Trip to Canberra

The bus journey was uneventful. It was similar to travelling on National Express. Grumpy driver, uncomfortable seats!! We stopped in several places both for passengers and for, I think, the driver to log in or deliver something. Some of the places we travelled to before we arrived at Yass were Cloninbane, Stathbogieshire, Wangeratta, Wodonga, Waggawagga, Gumleygumley and Gundagai!! A whole new world!! The countryside was pretty much like England, just as green, but what defined it most were the shapes of the trees, which definitely did not look like our trees. The massive Eucalyptus Gums, of which there are 804 varieties, scatter the hillsides like giants. About four hours in to the trip we arrived at Albury station, which you can see on the photo. This was a stopping off point for some and a lunch stop for others. We had about 30 mins rest here. It was very hot, but the station was cool. It had a sort of a cafe where I bought some sandwiches and a drink. Then we were on our way again. About an hour out from Canberra, we stopped at Yass where I had to change buses. It was actually only a service station with McDonalds, KFC etc. The coach was ready and waiting. I changed my luggage over, went for a cup of tea and then it was time to get on our way to Canberra. An hour later we arrived. I spent that hour talking to an Australian lady of 84 who was on her way home. She was very interesting and told me some things about the journey and about herself!! It passed the time. As we approached Canberra bus station I could see Marg waiting for me. The journey had not been arduous and had gone quickly, much better than flying, which would have taken me less than an hour!!

Melbourne City

Melbourne is a great city, vibrant and modern and I don't expect, only being there for a day, that I even scratched the surface.
There was a mix of old and new. Federation Square was very modern although the stone of which it was made up, looked very old fashioned but it wasn't. Opposite was Flinders Street Station, an imposing Victorian building which sat comfortably in this area at the end of the shopping streets. Alongside this was the cathedral. All of this ran alongside the River Yarra, with its cafes and restaurants.
I spent little time in the hotel room, I walked alot and ate my meals in simple restuarants, finishing off in the Pancake House (not a surprise to me!) A potato and cheese pancake was in order, along with a milk shake! Having walked up and down the main areas for a while I went back to the central bus and train station, booked in for next day. Got myself some food for the coach, then back to the hotel for rest. A 10 hour coach ride was ahead.

Since my last blog I have had poor communication access. The only place that appear to have free wifi access has been in McDonalds. I have had numerous cups of tea in all the available McD's just to send emails to friends and family, particularly Stan who seems like a million miles away! I have to say I didn't realise that Australia were behind us in this respect and the other thing I didn't realise was how long it takes to make all these communications to loved ones via modern technology. Anyway, to move on. At the moment I am in Turramurra in Sydney and again no access via wifi but thought I had better start writing stuff up so that I can put it on the blog as soon I get back to Perth on Friday night. I then have about five weeks left in Oz.

Going from my last entry I realised that we were flying over the Australian Bight, from then on it became a little bumpy, but we landed in Melbourne at about midday having lost 3 hours again. Having travelled around a lot by now, transport is very easy and we caught a shuttle bus straight to Melbourne Central Station, where I easily found the train to Pakenham and to see Sharon, Mick and Jack. Pakenham was right at the end of the line, so I had no worries getting off at the right stop. However, I was slightly worried about seeing her again, but I needn't have been!! Sharon had not changed, but she may have found me changed. She had a lovely home and it was so good to see her and Mick settled so well into their new life. She had Australian friends whose company she enjoys on a regular basis, which is great. Jack, of course, sometimes has wobbles, but he has had to do some hard things, joining school and now a new high school. He has plenty of friends also and I thought he looked remarkably well and happy with life – just didn't like getting up in the morning!!
It was lovely just seeing them living in Australia and being able to share that for a short while. I didn't want to do anything special so we talked and pottered around, talked and took the dog for a walk, talked and picked up Jack from school or the skate park etc., etc. Mick has perfected the Aussie barbe and we had some lovely meals. I just had a great time. Last but not least I saw the enormous plot of land and the plans for what is going to be a fantastic house. I can't wait to go back and see it and Sharon knows that I will be back.
Pakenham is a lovely little town with a real cafe culture. It has everything that one would need and close enough to Melbourne if you wanted a bit of city life. The rest of Pakenham and the area where Sharon, Mick and Jack are moving to (Druin) has lots of areas of new building, but also lots of green areas and trees.
I was very sorry to leave them all and Buster, of course! But my travels had to move on. I went back to Melbourne on the fast train (only 8 stops instead of 28 stops!). Found a local Ibis, booked in and then went exploring Melbourne.

Sorry there are no photos as yet, but there will be when I get somewhere and the time to fiddle around with my camera.

Many apologies to all of you reading my blog. Unfortunately, free wifi seems to be totally the domain of McDonalds and although I go in there so I can keep up with emails and facebook friends I don't want to spends hours in there. So I will catch up when I get back to Perth.