A flying visit to Sydney.
Written: Oct 15 '03 (Updated Oct 26 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: it's Sydney...
Cons: the weather when we were there.
The Bottom Line: Sydney city is a great place to visit
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| hollynz's Full Review: Sydney |
WARNING = excessively long review ahead
Having never visited Sydney before and with only 3 days to spend here, we limited ourselves to the CBD area.
Sydney is huge and I would love to have explored the bays, coves and beaches but I’m sure I will be able to do that on another visit.
We didn’t bother renting a car so this trip was done entirely on foot, with the odd train and ferry ride thrown in to help ease the tired feet.
TOUCHDOWN : Thursday 9 Oct.
We arrived at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International Airport on an early morning flight, it was about 7.30am local time. It took a while to get through Customs and Immigration, getting our luggage and then getting our shoes checked out …long story but because we live on a sheep/cattle farm and with the risk of Foot and Mouth disease ... you know the drill … and then, finally, making our way outside.
Our transport options to the city were to take the train, a shuttle, one of the airport buses or to grab a cab.
While discussing the options we were approached by a guy offering his airport shuttle services for $8 each. We went with him and he went off to get a few more customers before coming to pick us up in his van. We noticed these shuttles all over the place and with only 3 other couples in the van, we were delivered to our hotel door in no time at all.
It was a cold wet morning and as we had a few hours to kill before we could check-in to our hotel, we headed off to explore the city.
Sydney is pretty easy to cover on foot and we made our way down to the harbour for our first glimpse of the Opera House and The Harbour Bridge. The rain had eased back and it was slowly clearing by now so we walked along the waterfront. There was no one around on this grey Thursday morning, I had expected to see more action down here but apart from a few other tourists around, Circular Quay was deserted.
We carried on walking towards the bridge, there was a small kid’s fairground with a few children at play, we carried on past the place where the cruise ships dock and came to the large Doyles Restaurant. We had eaten a late breakfast at a café earlier so passed on the opportunity to dine at this popular waterfront restaurant.
As we went underneath the bridge we could see loads of people walking across the bridge to the Pylon Lookout. We thought we would leave that walk for another day as the weather wasn’t the best for getting a great view of the city.
We carried on along the waterfront and it started turning a bit industrial as we entered the City Port area. We headed up Kent Street and we were charmed by the tiny little two up two down type terrace houses. These little cottages were so small it was hard to imagine regular sized people living in them. They all had balconies, some with ornate ironwork balustrades, others with ‘olde worlde’ wooden decorative work. They were something I would expect to see in a small village in the UK, certainly not what I was expecting in Sydney.
We carried on through this charming area before getting back into the city proper and it’s high-rises.
Here and there amongst all the concrete and steel were some old, ornate and truly beautiful buildings. They were all made of rich brown stone and with intricate carvings, statues and colorful domes they were a sight to behold.
One of the most spectacular was the Queen Victoria Building in George Street. Built in 1898 in honour of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, this building is a true tribute to 19th century architecture and workmanship. It is so big it takes up an entire block and houses a huge shopping centre. The four floor complex holds over 90 boutique clothes stores as well as jewellery, antiques, fine art galleries, fashion , food court …you name it.
I just found the actual building to be enthralling and spent more time looking at the mosaic tiles and intricate decorative carvings than the shops. You can join a guided tour of the building daily from 11.30am-2.30pm if you want to learn more about the building itself.
We made our way back to the hotel, rested up for a few hours before heading out again. We walked in the other direction this time, towards Kings Cross as I wanted to get some Hard Rock Café coffee mugs ( my obsession )
Looking at the map, this seemed like a long walk but once again, we were surprised that we covered the area in a short time.
This side of town was more residential and very steep in places, similar to some San Francisco streets in steepness.
We made our way back along Oxford Street, this area was more alternative with tattoo parlors, adult shops, along with funky cafes and designer shops.
After having a cheap ‘pub meal’ at one of the corner pubs, we called it a day and headed back to the hotel.
FRIDAY 10th Oct.
The forecast was bad but we woke to blue sky and sunshine.
We decided to make the most of the good weather and took the train down to the harbour. The underground train service is fantastic, it covers most of the city and surrounding suburbs and for just $2.80 each, we got a return trip to Circular Quay.
We got off the train and made our way down to check out the Harbour Cruise options . We were given the hard sell by a guy selling 1 hour luxury cruises for $20 pp, for that price we would get a narrated tour of Sydney harbour as well as a complimentary soft drink or beer.
We caved straight away and signed up for the next cruise ( I definitely need to toughen up a bit I reckon)
We did our cruise and came back frozen to the bone, even though the sun was shining the southerly wind was blowing hard and out on the water it was freezing. I could have gone inside out of the wind but I was enjoying the sights way too much.
We soaked up the sun along with the lunchtime crowds on Circular Quay. The place had a lot more action today with street performers, buskers and entertainers all along the waterfront. The cafes were bustling with customers and the seagulls, pigeons and ibis were doing a great business with the lunch crowd.
After warming up we headed off to find the foot access to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
We wandered through The Rocks and enjoyed exploring all the lanes and bricked, cobble stoned streets of this popular area. Once again I was transported to an earlier time as I walked through the narrow alleyways and was surprised to see quaint cafes and restaurants with lovely courtyards and tumbling pots of bright flowers.
I could have spent hours here looking through all the shops and arcades (and hundreds of dollars given half the chance) but hubby was looking bored so we carried on to find the bridge walk access.
We made our way onto the bridge and walked to the south eastern brick pylon. This is very popular with tourists as you can climb to the top for great views of the city and harbour.
It cost $8.50 to access the rooftop viewing area but you can enter and check out a few exhibits without paying.
The climb to the top is 200 steps and is a relatively easy climb. The first section is a spiral staircase which is probably the most taxing walk of all, once you get up to the next level the stairs are wide and straight. With exhibits to look at and bench seats to take time out if needed, this is an easy walk to the top. Before reaching the lookout there is a shop and restrooms area.
Once at the top the views are great. You can watch the more adventurous souls who take on the actual bridge climb as they make their way on up to the top of the bridge.
There is a small display up here as well about the making of the bridge and I noticed all the men seemed to read every word while the women gave it a quick glance and carried on by.
On the way back hubby was telling me in great detail about how they put it all together and pointing out where the huge wire ropes …blah, blah,blah … I feigned interest of course.
We wandered back to Circular Quay and partook in some overpriced coffee and a chicken salad roll at a waterfront café before heading back to the hotel.
We found a small bar to watch the opening of the Rugby World Cup. I was surprised that with such a big event, the city hadn’t gone all out installing outdoor screens at various tourist spots. I know that Rugby is not a very popular game in Australia but this is the World Cup after all.
SATURDAY 11th Oct.
We were surprised to see blue sky again this morning as the forecast for today was even worse than yesterday.
We walked down to Darling Harbour and if it hadn’t been blowing a force 9 gale, it would have been very pleasant.
We battled against the gale force wind and explored this area for awhile. We spent a fair bit of time in the Harbourside shopping mall. This was a relatively small shopping centre with two levels of stores.
As we moved on we passed loads of restaurant/café/bar type establishments. As the Rugby World Cup was underway, each of these bars had been adopted by various groups of rugby supporters and were draped in flags proclaiming whose base it was.
The New Zealand All Blacks supporters bar was a bit further along. We called in but as no games were underway at the time, it was just like any other sports bar with big screen TV’s, bar meals and alcohol.
We carried on till we came across the food court, here we had the choice of McDonalds, donar kebabs, chips and pizza etc but what caught my eye was a small kiosk selling fresh hot sweetcorn. I love sweetcorn, in fact it is my favourite summer vege and as the corn season in New Zealand only lasts for a couple of months in summer, this was a real treat
We moved on from Darling Harbour making our way to Paddy’s Market in Hay Street.
This place was huge with rows and rows of stalls all housed in an undercover brick warehouse. I got talked into having a $15 massage by the slick salesman but it was worth it.
After wending my way through the market I made my way upstairs to Market City shopping centre. This was more my style with countless outlet shops selling at discounted prices. This area is in Chinatown and all the food courts here have a strong Asian influence.
I would have happily stayed here for a few hours but we had to find somewhere to watch the All Blacks first match in the World Cup so we wandered off.
After the game we caught the train back to Circular Quay as we wanted to catch the ferry over to Manly, one of the northern beach suburbs of Sydney.
The ferries run every half hour till 5.30 and then it’s every ¾ hour. We missed the 5.30 ferry by a few minutes so had to fill in time till the next one.
We wandered down to get a closer look at the Sydney Opera House. This unusual structure was designed by Danish architect Joern Utzon and was started in 1959 and completed in 1973. Close up it is no easier to figure it out … it just IS.
The weather was really blowing now as we made our way to catch the ferry, $11 each got us a return trip and we joined the queues waiting to board the ferry. The trip over was great, the sun was setting and we got some fantastic views of the city and the harbour with all it’s coves and bays … just beautiful.
The crossing took about 45 minutes and it was getting dark by now. Pity about the rugby holding us up this afternoon as it would have been nice to spend a bit of time here in the daylight.
We walked through the central shopping area to the sea on the other side, it was pretty much pitch black by now and blowing hard but it still looked like a great beach to explore.
We had dinner at a beachside café and window shopped our way back towards the ferry terminal. The theme here seemed to be beach based with surf shops, beach clothing shops, arts and craft shops and small pubs and cafes.
We had a fun ride back to the city with some high seas giving us a few thrills before we got into the more sheltered bays. The city looked gorgeous at night as we sailed back, the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and all the tower blocks were all lit up and it was just magic.
As we had an early wakeup call the next morning to catch our flight home, we made our way back to our hotel again. We called into the corner pub for a nightcap and to watch the end of a game of rugby before calling it a night.
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There is SO much to do and see here that we only just touched the surface during our stay here. I hope to return one day, maybe when the airlines get into the upcoming price war with the entrance of Virgin to the Trans Tasman route, I will come back to explore some more.
I just hope the weather will be better next time.
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WHERE WE STAYED.
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The Quality Hotel SC. http://www.epinions.com/content_115327798916
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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Epinions.com ID:
hollynz
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Member: Christine
Location: New Zealand
Reviews written: 142
Trusted by: 190 members
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~ In memory of Barbara ~
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