Morning in Sydney!

Entry by State Theatre

Inside the QVB
Inside the Strand

The Royal Clock
The Great Australian Clock
Tiled floor

Monorail
Sydney Pub

Sidewalk art
Queen Victoria Statue

We made our way to the Avalon airport on Friday afternoon via a cab then shuttle bus, hoping to catch an earlier flight to Sydney. Ours was scheduled for 8:30 p.m., but there were two earlier than that- when we found out it would cost a few hundred $ more to get on one of those, we opted to wait the four hours in the airport to catch our 8:30 flight. This airport is 40 minutes from the city, and closer to Geelong than to Melbourne. It is very small, with few distractions, so fortunately we both had books to read. The flight to Sydney went smoothly, and it was only about an hour later we were at the Sydney airport. Took a cab to our hotel (in city center) and promptly fell asleep. At brekkie the next morning in the hotel restaurant, I ordered some muesli and a flat white, and had to repeat myself a couple times before the waitress understood me. (I'm still always surprised by this!) R to Mark: "I wonder why she had trouble understanding me; I thought I was speaking pretty clearly". M to Rebecca: "It's because you sound like Barry White". (We both crack up- my voice is especially low due to my lingering cold).

Saturday morning, we began wandering around the city, stopping first the Queen Victoria Statue. Nearby is a wishing well with a stone from Blarney Castle and a talking sculpture of Islay, Queen Victoria's dog. Next we saw the Queen Victoria building (aka QVB), built in 1898 and revitalized as a shopping mall in 1986. It houses two stunning clocks, the Royal Clock and the Great Australian Clock. We rode on an old-style elevator and saw replicas of the British Crown jewels (very shiny) and Queen Victoria's coronation gown. We also stopped by the Strand Arcade, another fancy shopping arcade from the late 1800's. Both buildings were beautiful- very colorful and ornate. We tried to see the State Theatre, but couldn't figure out how to get in. (I took a photo of what I thought was an entryway but now that I've seen the website, I think it was just next door). Then we hopped on a red Sydney Explorer bus--for $40/person this bus takes tourists around the city with an audio commentary, stopping at 27 different sights, such as Sydney Opera House, Chinatown, Fish Market, Chinese Gardens, Aquarium, and many others. It was by far the best thing we could've done to see the city- and the same ticket includes rides on the blue Bondi Explorer bus, which goes around to harbour and beach locations, stopping at 19 different places including Bondi Beach, Coogee Beach, Oxford Street, Hyde Park, and others. We took the bus over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the Luna Park area, and had a lovely scenic lunch of salmon and fish and chips by the beach at Ripples restaurant.