Michelle and John: Sydney

Welcome to Sydney! The real capital of Australia- not the official one. By the way, Cork is NOT the real capital of Ireland, so don't even think about it.

Sydney is a very attractive city with loads to do and good public transport. It has good museums and plenty of targets for the 'snap happy' with sophisticated cameras. If you are looking for fine dining and aesthetically pleasing areas of Sydney though, don't stay near Kings Cross, as we found out after booking accommodation down the road. The wildlife centre is full of boxing kangaroos and hungry crocodiles though.

As John as mentioned there is plenty to do and see in Sydney. First thing that we had to do was to arrange a visa for Vietnam. At home, we did a few last minute checks, and realised a bit late that we need a visa before we arrive in Vietnam, as they are only available on the border if you are flying. There is no Vietnamese embassy in Dublin – the closest is London, and they had a ten day processing time, as well as posting the passport over and back. We had about a week left before we were flying off, but our passports were with the Chinese embassy, and we didn’t have the time, even if we paid extra for them to process it faster. Cue a google search of embassies that we might encounter while we were away, and the best we could come up with was the embassy in Bangkok. Then I realised there was a consulate, offering the same services in Sydney. So first thing Tuesday morning we headed out there. It was remarkably easy to find, and very easy to deal with. This being our second encounter with any embassy, I have to say it is by far the best we have dealt with. (The Chinese embassy in Dublin is in a conservatory at the back of a house, and gives a very disorganised impression). We were seen almost immediately, and were told to come back in two days. (and that was normal processing time – not a rushed one).

That afternoon we headed to Circular Quay to see the famous bridge and opera house. Sydney is a popular destination for cruise ships, and for the first time in about 60 years the Queen Mary 2, and the Queen Elizabeth were docked at the same time. There seemed to be a lot of fuss about this, and there were boats offering trips out to see the ships up close. (bear in mind that they were docked, and hence very close to the shore anyways). They were quite impressive ships, but I really didn’t get what all the fuss was over. We also went to Darling Harbour that day. This is a very pretty area of Sydney, where the aquarium and Aussie Wildlife centre were located. These were both quite good, the wildlife centre more so though. They had a massive crocodile – over 5m in length, and a really good butterfly area. I made a discovery at circular quay – while I don’t like chocolate ice-cream, I definitely love white chocolate ice-cream. I have no idea why I have never seen this for sale before, because it is lovely stuff!
On Tuesday evening we heard about the devastating earthquake in Christchurch. Having been there only a week or so earlier I found it quite shocking, especially seeing pictures of places that I recognised. We count ourselves very lucky that it didn’t happen while we were there, and my thoughts are with the families of those who died, and even more so with the families and friends of all the missing people.
On Wednesday we visited the museum, and the cathedral. We also visited the Botanic Gardens (of course!), and went up the sky tower. The botanic gardens were quite good. They are right on the edge of the harbour, so give a great view. We got to see the Queen Mary 2 leave too, which was quite interesting. You can see from the picture below how big it is. The botanic gardens had a lot of wildlife. There were loads of bats sleeping in the trees, and a few Cockatoos around as well.
Thursday we went around a few places. We bought a day pass for the public transport, and got as much use as possible out of this. First we headed out to Bondi Beach. Having heard some mixed reports about Bondi, I wasn’t expecting much. So I was quite impressed. It is a lovely beach, and we got there at a quiet enough time. It was crowded enough, so I can see how people wouldn’t like it at busy times. I got in the water for a few minutes. The waves are really strong, so there isn’t much swimming done here – more standing in the water, and trying to keep your balance when a wave crashes into you. We had to go and pick up our passports then. (It was really only a case of walk in, hand in receipt, and they were handed to us. So easy!). We then got the ferry out to Manly, another suburb of Sydney. It’s a nice place, with different beaches and walks available, and a very good atmosphere. We timed the return ferry to get Sydney Harbour at sunset, and got some lovely pictures. We spent the evening around the harbour area, and took a train over the bridge, just for the sake of it, and then walked back again, just for the sake of it! It was enjoyable, though it was only when I was on it that I realised how high it actually is. (and that’s without doing the climb that you can opt to do, which brings you up over the arches.
Yesterday we went outside the city to the Blue Mountains. I’m sure you can see from the photos how they got their name. Not really much to say about here – except that it is a beautiful area, and we went on a bush walk. As they say, a picture paints 1000 words!
We are now en route to Ayers Rock. After having spent a few weeks in Australia, I am surprised it took until today to have an encounter with an undesirable. (in this instance a cockroach in our bedroom).