Today was a chance to take a walk around Sydney and get to see the capital of New South Wales. The walk was with a few people from the cruise ship. In total there was seven of us, two from Australia and five from the USA and Canada.
I was just as interested in taking a walk as those from Overseas. Even though I have been to Sydney, it was quite some years ago when I was a child. So while I might remember the main sights, it is still all essentially new to me.
Circular Quay
We started off meeting near Circular Quay and walking around past the Sydney Opera House towards the Royal Botanical Gardens. Looking across at the Overseas Passenger Terminal where we disembarked from the MS Volendam yesterday is another cruise ship the Dawn Princess.
Sydney Opera House
The first spot we came to is one of the two most recognisable landmarks in Sydney. The Sydney Opera House with its distinct sail-like roof was built between 1959 and 1973. Along with the Sydney Harbour Bridge, it is a very distinctive part of the city.
Royal Botanical Gardens
We continued through the Royal Botanical Gardens seeing some interesting sights along the way. Including a tree growing sideways, the skyline of the city and a fountain.
Historical Buildings
After leaving the Royal Botanical Gardens, we continued along Macquarie St. There were some impressive buildings that we passed including the State Library of NSW, Parliament oNSWSw and Sydney Hospital.
We made a stop at a rather beautiful church, called St Mary’s Church. The interior is stunning with some beautiful stained glass windows. However, photography is not allowed so only have a picture of the outside that I captured from the top of Sydney Tower.
Walking, Lunch & Markets
We continued the walk through the park across from St Mary’s Cathedral before passing through the Queen Victoria Building. We headed into Chinatown for lunch where we found a good buffet style restaurant for lunch. It was a very good idea with seven of us each choosing a dish and enough provided for everyone to try a little of each dish.
After lunch, we headed down to Paddy’s Market, which is like a giant flea market. There are many different stalls selling everything from souvenirs, phone covers, t-shirts, wooden ornaments, gadgets and gizmos. Much of this did not interest me though, and I did not need to spend long here at all. A good hint though the souvenirs seemed to be reasonably priced.
Sydney Tower
Our group split up after the visit to Paddy’s Market and I went with one friend from the cruise. We both wanted to visit the Sydney Tower Observation Deck, while the rest had other plans. At 304 meters high this is far from the tallest observation deck that I have visited. However, it is one of the best locations to get a view of Sydney City.
Along with the picture above of St Mary’s Church, I also got a great photo over the Royal Botanical Gardens and Sydney Harbour.
Today turned out to be a much longer day than expected, but it was with some great people, and we saw many great spots. Tomorrow I fly home to Brisbane, but the flight is quite late in the day. I don’t want to overload the day too much as I will be carrying a bit around with me. Plus I will need to arrange to be back at the hotel to collect luggage and head towards the airport at a reasonable time.
