Day 2 Australia - Sydney

Monday Feb 23 - Sydney Australia


After a long sleep we were out by 9:15 and stopped in the Arcade for a croissant and cappuccino.

Way too big, we should have split one. Most meals here in Australia have been huge. Guess we've gotten used to an Asian diet.

We walked from the hotel to the start of our tour this morning The Rocks Dreaming Aboriginal Heritage Tour.

Duration: 1.50 hour(s)
Pick up: 10:30am Cadmans Cottage, 110 George Street, The Rocks
Drop off: 12:00pm

The Rocks Dreaming Aboriginal Heritage Tour is 100 per cent Aboriginal-owned and was
developed by Aboriginal Elder, Margret Campbell, a Dunghutti - Jerrinjah woman. It is led by
Aboriginal guides who have her permission to share her cultural knowledge. The tour gives you
the opportunity to discover how the ancient Aboriginal DreamTime is still alive within the modern
Sydney landscape and how the billion-year old harbour, marine environment, sandstone strata,
waterways, flora and fauna continue to influence how Aboriginal people live today.

A group of children on a school trip in costume.

Our guide, Fiona, meets us an another woman for the tour. She is a native aboriginal who is passionate about he background and country.
These bricks were cut by convicts and each made their mark so that the bosses would know how much work they did daily.

Cadmans Cottage is the oldest surviving residential building in Sydney, having been built in 1816 for the use of the governmental coxswains and their crews. The building is heavily steeped in the history of Sydney, also claiming the title as the first building to have been built on the shoreline of The Rocks area.

Fiona was full of fascinating information.

Aboriginal spirits exist as passed individuals (ancestors) and are associated with different aspects of the land – mother earth, father sky, grandfather sun and grandmother moon.
The land is the epicentre of their spirituality

We are initiated, at the lowest level!

Fiona explaining about Mother Nature and the healing properties she provides to us. This is tea tree.

Another example of Mother Nature and the amazing colours in the rocks.
This tunnel was dug by the convicts by hand.

Back to the harbour looking across at Luna Park which  was constructed at the foot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during 1935, and ran for nine-month seasons until 1972, when it was opened year-round. Luna Park was closed in mid-1979, immediately following the Ghost Train fire, which killed six children and one adult. Most of the park was demolished, and a new amusement park was constructed; this originally operated under the name of Harbourside Amusement Park before resuming the Luna Park name.

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These Terra Cotta Warrior lanterns were being packed up after the New Year celebrations.

Some sights around the harbour.

Under the bridge.

It is $250 Australian dollars to climb the bridge with a guide.

Time for lunch, ham and cheese croissants.

 We have time to spare before the afternoon tour.

“For over 150 years, Customs House played an active role as the primary trade gateway for goods and people flowing into Sydney and Australia.”

Straw neck ibis

This afternoon we take a sightseeing tour of the bustling city of Sydney. 

Transfer Type: Seat in Coach

Duration: 4 hour(s)

Pick up: 1:45pm

AAT Kings Booth Kings Street Wharf 

Drop off: 5:45pm Swissotel Sydney

We picked up the bus at the Marriott and there were only a couple of people so we snagged the front seat. We then stopped at King's Harbour where some 30 people boarded from all different countries. I pitied the poor driver/guide as he asked each person's name to match the booking and then their hotel for drop off. One woman, asked her name said brightly "Cyndi!". Many could not remember the name of their hotel.

We finally start of at The Rocks, a definite favourite area of mine, overlooking the harbour.

Oldest pub in town. The Hero of Waterloo is none other than the Duke of Wellington, best known for defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of European history. He was a conservative military leader who frequently won battles in difficult circumstances and inspired discipline and loyalty in his troops. Wellington became prime minister of Great Britain in 1828.

 St. Mary's Cathedral.

Your tour will also take in views of Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, one of Sydney's most visited and photographed views.

Mrs Macquarie's Chair, otherwise known as Lady Macquarie's Chair, provides one of the best vantage points in Sydney. The historic chair was carved out of a rock ledge for Governor Lachlan Macquarie's wife, Elizabeth, as she was known to visit the area and sit enjoying the panoramic views of the harbour.

We also saw Russell Crowe's condo by the water worth 12.5 million dollars. He spends a lot of time in Sydney as he owns  50% OF A rugby team.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs (often shortened to Souths) is a professional Australian rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of south-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital and are the current champions.

The tower that we see from our hotel room.

Chinatown and the golden tree, a meeting place.

See cosmopolitan Kings Cross

The Coca-Cola sign is located above the intersection of William Street and Darlinghurst Road and is attached to the Zenith Apartments, formerly the Kingsgate Hotel. The sign is often referred to as The Gateway to the Cross, because it is prominently visible from all of William Street, which is the principal road leading to Kings Cross from the Sydney CBD: also, one must pass directly in front of the sign when entering Kings Cross from either William Street or Darlinghurst Road, the two main access roads.

The red and white neon billboard was erected in 1974 in its current location whilst the left side of the billboard was a later addition in 1990. In 2004 the billboard for the first time in thirty years advertised a product other than Coca Cola, when the left side of the board advertised the release of Halo 2.

On 31 March 2007 the lights on the billboard were intentionally switched off for the first time, in correlation with the inaugural Earth Hour.

On 23 April 2008, four activists unfurled a banner over the billboard in protest of Coke’s sponsorship of the Olympic torch relay at Kings Cross. The banner read: "Enjoy Compassion. Always Tibet. CHINA - TALK TO THE DALAI LAMA". All four activists were arrested

 Over to the rather fancy side of town, read about house prices here. Everything is in the millions of dollars.

Fancy or not, every student wears a uniform. A hat is also compusarary as skin cancer is highest in Australia.

A convent.

You can walk along the beautiful sands of the world-renowned Bondi Beach

Return to Circular Quay or request a hotel drop off.
There were so many hotels for people to be dropped off and traffic was so bad we asked to get off at the Queen Victoria Building.

Evening on our own.

We then stopped to buy some shorts for John, cotton, he is finding the ones he brought to be too warm in this weather.

Made our way down to The Rocks and the harbour for some night shots.

Luna Park at night.

Time for dinner and me to finally finish this post. Dinner was in the old police station on The Rocks. First the server brought the wrong pizza and then offered it to us free. We declined and our server disappeared forever.