The view of the harbour is dominated by the magnificent Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay and the harbour waters are filled with ferries and boats of all shapes and sizes. The extensive bus, train and ferry service make getting around the city and the suburbs easy. There are many attractions and sites to see in Sydney, from museums to wildlife parks and everything in between.
Everyday, thousands of Sydneysiders and visitors congregate here to travel the Harbour on the famous Sydney ferries and jet cats. Those with a water view enjoy constantly changing scenery featuring the arrival and departure of cruiseliners, sailing competitions and a variety of pleasure craft criss-crossing the water.
We spent a few days in Sydney walking, on buses, ferry, light rail, monorail and taxi. We saw historical buildings, shopped, visited Star City Casino and sampled many lattes. One outstanding meal we had was breakfast in the fish market. Can you imagine shrimp, fish, noodles, fresh bread, cheese and latte!
Sydney Opera House
An architectural masterpiece and Australia's foremost tourist attraction, the Sydney Opera House is one of the busiest performing arts centres in the world. In 1954 Bennelong Point was selected as the site for the proposed building and in 1955 an International Competition was announced for the design and construction of a performing arts centre. The competition received 233 entries from 32 countries and the winner, Danish architect Jorn Utzon was announced in 1956.
The construction of the Sydney Opera House was in stages:
Stage I 1959 - 1963. The podium was completed and roof vaults commenced
Stage II 1963 – 1967. Construction of the roof vaults.
Stage III 1967 – 1973. Roof vaults were completed and glass walls, interiors, promenade and approaches commenced.
The Sydney Opera House performing arts complex was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in October 1973.The first production to be staged in the building was the Australian Opera's production of Prokofiev's War and Peace on September 28 1973. The Sydney Opera House was fully paid for by lottery in 1975.
Virtual Concert at Sydney Opera House
Amp Tower Centrepoint, Sydney
The AMP Tower offers the highest vantage point over the city. Located at the top of the Centrepoint Shopping Complex on the corner of Castlereagh and Market Streets. The highest public building in the southern hemisphere, offers panoramic views over the city and its layout, the harbour and waterways. There are two revolving restaurants located at the top of the tower, one an a la carte, the other self serve. Fantastic place day or night to view the city and at night the sparkle of the city lights are magic in their own right.
YHA hostels are located in a huge variety of buildings throughout the world. Apart from converted hotels and guest houses, they can be found in old schools, on farms, and in exotic structures like temples, castles and mansions. We researched on the Internet from Florida and Maine booking our key locations to stay. Once we arrived in Australia/New Zealand/Fiji we finalized the hostels as we travelled. Our choice of hostels.
We rented a car and drove from Sydney to Melbourne. We saw blowing caves, extensive panoramic ocean views, travelled through many wooded state parks on very windy roads, with "Arthur Andretti" at the wheel.
Along the way we visited Wilsons Promontory and saw our first live kangaroos. I should say our first living wildlife. We saw lots of kangaroo roadkill on the sides of several different roads earlier in the day. The first few we saw were dead on the side of the road!
Kangaroos are generally very timid animals in the wild but in places where they have become accustomed to people, you can get very close to them and even feed them by hand. When "threatened" or alarmed however, these cute furry animal will stand upright to defend themselves and you suddenly realise that they're not that small. Their claws are very sharp and strong and a kick from their hind legs can inflict serious injuries.
Wilson's Promontory
We raced past the farms along the country roads to reach Phillips Island, in time to see the Penguin Parade.
Fairy Penguins
Phillip Island
Our stay on Phillip Island was very brief, in time to have dinner, see the Penquin Parade, locating the hostel, where we had reserved the last beds available. We were in a cabin of 10 with our three built-in bunkbeds along the wall, one on top of another. Myself up by the ceiling, my mother in the middle and my father on the bottom bunk.
Our next stop.......Melbourne
The capital of Victoria city and in the eyes of many, the cultural and gourmet capital of the southern hemisphere. A city of tree-lined boulevards and gracious elegance, with a world famous botanic garden at its heart, the 'upside-down' Yarra River meandering lazily through the centre; soaring glass edifices rub shoulders with a stately architecture from an era popularly known as "Marvellous Melbourne". Both high tech and resolutely historic, Melbourne is at once distinguished 'establishment' and curiously avant garde in its thinking and style.
Melbourne is a warm, welcoming and an exciting destination. A truly multicultural, progressive city with a farrago of vibrant influences from all over the world, Melbourne's old world charm is still retained in the network of trams trundling through the length and breadth of this expansive megalopolis. Panorama view
We arrived early in the morning, settled into the hostel and took a walk around town. We walked through Queen Victoria Market, took the city tour on Tram, and visited the Melbourne Zoo.
Market, Tram and Zoo.
We spent two nights in Melbourne and caught a flight to Alice Springs. Upon landing there we rented a mini pickup and headed to the Outback. It was hot, dry and desolate. We stopped at both stations along the way. The closer we got to Ayers Rock, the more desolate it became. One huge rock along the way we thought was Ayers Rock, took multiple pictures and come to find it wasn't it at all. Upon arriving to the The Yulara Resort, owned and operated by the NT government, we checked in signed up for a camel tour and headed for sunset at the rock.
After our brief two day stay in the Outback we drove back to Alice Springs and then flew into Cairnes where we met up with Michael in the airport. We gathered all our luggage and headed to the hostel. Cairnes was warm and humid and we had just missed a devastating cyclone.
Cairnes
From Cairns we flew south to Brisbane. We arrived early in the morning, toured the city and then headed to Koala Lone Pine Sanctuary before finding our way south to spend our week at our timeshare at Terranova Resort in Bilambil Heights, New South Wales. Our travel plans revolved around this "eco-week" in Bilambil Heights.
Our time to relax, indulge, discover and enjoy
Back in Sydney, where Michael had only passed through the airport, Mom and Dad opted to leave many of their bags in storage at the airport so we first went there and then to check into our hostel Sydney Central. We spent a full day in Sydney letting Michael choose before hand what he wanted to see and do. Michael's Sydney Tour and onto New Zealand and Fiji
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