Regrettably, Our Last Day in Sydney! It Was a Full One
Recounting last night's dinner with my prep school classmate, Friday's bus tour of Sydney, my solo outing on light rail, at the Opera House, and on a Sydney ferry
With 3 full days in Sydney (last Friday plus this Thursday and Friday), we feel like we know (and love) Australia’s largest city. We’d love to come back for at least a week of exploration!
Last night, my prep school classmate David Wilmoth and his wife Lori picked up Rita and me from the Barangaroo section of downtown Sydney and took us to Icebergs restaurant at Bondi beach. While Rita and Lori showed up on time for our 6 o’clock reservation, David took me on what was for me, having climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge that morning, a strenuous walk along the coastal trail south of Bondi beach, up and down lots of stairs mostly carved into sandstone. It was worth it, although I definitely felt it in my legs this morning. Here are a couple pictures from the coastal walk plus a picture of us being dropped off at the Viking Sky later that evening.
Today (Friday), Rita and I took a 3-hour “Sydney Panorama” bus tour with other passengers, which ended at Bondi Beach, where I took a few videos, the first of which shows the Icebergs restaurant and that coastal trail in the distance. I also explain that the lifeguards are mostly volunteers.
The next video explains some things we learned about Australia, its two flags, and the honoring of first nations.
Surfing is really popular as the Australian summer nears its end, as shown in this video.
Bondi Beach was the last stop on our bus tour. On the way back, I was dropped off (without Rita) at the "Sydney Town Hall,” which I assumed meant city hall, and it may have been that at one time, but now it’s really just an indoor mall on three levels with amazing architectural and artistic touches. Its formal name is the Queen Victoria Building. Here are a few pictures of it.
That last picture is a closeup of a one of two unique clocks hanging in the building. Not visible in this view is the analog clockface above it. Later, I made the mistake of going through an exit door to the roof and being locked out! I called the posted emergency number to be let in, but soon I heard noises on the other side of the door and banged on it. I was let in by a couple of young women who were going to the ladies room (“female toilets” they’re called) just inside the door. Thank you, girls!
Leaving the building, I got on the light rail train and went to Circular Quay (pronounced “key”) where it had become a very hot and sunny day. I walked from there to the Sydney Opera House to get a closeup look at it. I couldn’t go inside without a ticket to a performance, but this picture was taken by a friendly Aussie couple after I took a picture for them.
From there I walked back to Circular Quay and took a city ferry (I could have taken a train) from there back to Barangaroo to catch the free shuttle ferry to the Viking Sky.
I was really impressed by the “Tap on/Tap off” fare system for all Sydney public transport. There are no ticket sellers or collectors. Instead you can purchase an “Opal” card with money stored on it, and you “tap on” at a card reader on each bus or at every light rail, train station and ferry slip. When you exit the bus, light rail, train or ferry, you “tap off” at another card reader. It deducts from the Opal card the right fare for your journey. What I loved, however, was that you don’t need to buy an Opal card, You can simply tap any credit card with that capability, and it charges your credit card! I checked my credit card online just now, and I was charged 65 cents altogether.
So that was our last day in Sydney. I took this picture from our veranda as we left this great port, accompanied for some reason by a tugboat that wasn’t tugging.
Bye for now.
Lovely, lovely blog of the day! So enjoying your trip and also so glad it wasn’t raining!