The Emerald City

Good morning ! After staying up as late as I could, working on a previous blog post (the one from Munich) until 10:30 pm, I was only able to sleep until about 3:30 am. So I gave up trying to get back to sleep and had a nice Nespresso in the room at 4.

I got hungry around 5 so headed down to the lobby, where the beautiful lounge wasn’t open yet.

It’s raining lightly and made for some nice reflective views on George Street which has the tram tracks.

Fear not! There’s a 24 hour Macca’s just around the corner!

I try to get something distinctly Australian (as I always do when visiting foreign McDonald’s) but the breakfast options are limited in that regard. So I settle for a Mighty McMuffin which is basically your standard Egg McMuffin with a sausage patty thrown in too.

I went back to the room for a bit to wait out the rain showers as it was also pretty chilly – around 7 degrees. And my footwear was not conducive to walking in the rain – my travel walking shoes are made of wool, so once they get soaked, they’re done. A couple hours later the rain stops so I head over to the Queen Victoria Building to catch a tram down to Circular Quay on the waterfront.

Two Sydney icons in one shot – a ferry and the Harbour Bridge!

I hop on the ferry over to Manly today which is about a 25 minute ride. Even though it’s overcast it’s still very scenic. The amount of shoreline in Port Jackson (the name for the full inlet that holds Sydney Harbour) is incredible!

I walk around the main streets of Manly for a bit.

Passing by this interesting bubble tea shop.

I can picture this place just hopping with people on a warm summer weekend. Today it’s extremely quiet.

I seek out coffee and find it in this great little alleyway stop.

Then over to the famous Manly Beach to walk a bit on the shoreline pathway and take some pictures.

These apartments must command a hefty price indeed. The front rooms look straight down on to the beach from the hill above!

After about an hour wandering around the area at a relaxing pace, it’s time to head back to the city.

Now that it’s starting to clear up, the views are great from out front of the ferry !

Here we are pulling into Circular Quay. Ferries in front, rail station in the back.

Here’s the inside of the ferry.

And the outside. The Balmoral, on the right, is the one I rode in both directions.

Now that it’s nicer out I walk back uptown to the hotel. Right across from the rail station is the Customs House.

Back at the hotel, my friend Chantal who now lives in Australia is meeting me for lunch. We had a delicious lunch and great catch up at Aalia, a Middle Eastern inspired restaurant in the same plaza as the igloos that we saw last night.

It was really, really good!

After all that food, I’ve got to work it off so more walking. This afternoon, I’m going to be climbing up the Harbour Bridge. Very excited about this, particularly since it’s cleared up very nicely!

It’s a bit of a process to do this, so I don’t have many pics from the experience. But even without the photos, I can say without hesitation that it was simply amazing!
You have to get dressed in a special climb suit and climbing harness with all sorts of attachments for things so they don’t fall or blow off when you’re up on the bridge. Like your sunglasses, radio to communicate with the guide, handkerchief, hat, etc. And other than that stuff that is clipped on, you have to leave literally everything else in a locker. I initially thought it would be disappointing not to be able to take my own photos but when you’re up there you can see why they don’t allow it. Not only would people easily drop things on to the walkway, roadway, or rail line below, even if they didn’t, it would simply take too long as it is not a big space and people would constantly be stopping and jockeying for position.

Once you’ve got all the prep done, you clip your harness into a cable secured to the bridge when entering the portal onto the first catwalk, and you are permanently attached to this cable until you exit the portal at the end. I could see why some people could be a bit scared, as there are some very narrow sections of catwalk on the main span approach, and at the top, you do a circuit which means you walk from the south side to the north side. And at this time, if you look down, you are looking directly down onto the roadway. As well, on the descent, you have to descend a series of very steep ladders right between the railway tracks, and depending which side you’re on and which side the train is coming, it could only be a metre away. But all the while, your harness is clipped into the cable so you are very secure and couldn’t plummet to your death,

So, since you can’t take your own photos they take photos of you with cameras that are secured to a few different location high up on the bridge. Of course for an additional charge.

Instead of having many photos of me up there I asked the guide to use some of my shots at 2 of the other locations to take some scenic pics for me, of the sunset.

And looking towards the city. Rush hour from the top of the Harbour Bridge. Beautiful!

The whole thing took just over 3 hours from check in to walking out on to the street. We were right at the top of the bridge by the flags when the sun was going below the horizon, and we had such good luck with the weather clearing up the way it did. A++++

Back down to The Rocks to walk back to the tram station so I can refresh myself at the hotel, I pass by the Fox sports World Cup pavilion and notice they’re filming a live broadcast now.

Looking beyond them, the Opera House once again.

And that gorgeous bridge that we were just on top of.

After a brisk walk back to the hotel (there was a power outage on the tram line so couldn’t take that), I hopped on the bus to a special seafood restaurant called Saint Peter in the Paddington suburb of Sydney.

This was going to be very special meal, as it is a well renowned restaurant and only has seating for 22 people.

Dinner is a fixed menu with the option of a beverage pairing (not only wine – there was also sake, beer, and liqueur).

Except for one table by the window and front door, everyone else sits along the kitchen/bar counter where you’re almost part of all the action. It was so cool to see my food being prepared right in front of us and then seeing how beautifully it was presented when it came out on the plate!

Simply an awesome meal, the only thing that would have made it better is to share the experience.

After a relatively reasonable sleep, I still want to get out for a bit on my last morning. So I walk over to the gorgeous Town Hall.

Then plunge underground onto a train that will take me across the Harbour Bridge to North Sydney.

It’s interesting to me to see how many hills and tunnels there are around Sydney. I guess I wasn’t expecting it to be that way. There are many parts of the city that have a very rugged landscape.

It would have been nice to have a clear sky for the sunrise, but this was still a very pretty viewpoint and I’m glad I made the effort to come over here. Next time the weather will be perfect, right?!

Sadly, back to the hotel to pack things up for the next leg of my journey. I very much enjoyed Sydney and wished that I was staying longer.