Down Under. At The End of The World. Sydney, Australia.
One of the advantages of working in the sports environment, is that you can travel more or less for free, in almost all places that would otherwise be harder to reach. It's all free if you don't make the tourist in your free time, because then things change, but it's worth it anyway. One of these places is Australia, and I especially had high expectations from Sydney (as I didn't know much about other things to see). I knew for sure one thing, that it is a very expensive city on all levels. I had already seen this since booking the hotel. Going to New Year's Eve in Sydney is a story, but the cost of the experience is worth it.
Australia was the last trip before the pandemic times we can't get out of :)
Although Sydney's population is only slightly higher than Melbourne's, the city's buzz is quite different. The silence during the day disappeared completely. The shops no longer had a holiday program, and the world did not seem to be preparing for New Year's Eve. For some, Christmas was no different. It's true that New Year's Eve in Sydney attracts over a million viewers a year, and many of them come from outside Sydney specifically for this. But until New Year's Eve there were a few more days and we had two more and after, enough time to see the city on all sides.
Since we didn't have time to make a plan, we came up with the idea to start exploring the city with a free tour. Then we'll see what we do. All the bigger cities have such a tour and it was not difficult for us to find one in Sydney. I went on a city tour with I’m Free. Such tours are free, but many leave as much as they want in the end. To our surprise, this time they gave very few.
The tour would start at 14:30, enough time for a small picnic. In the central area you don't have many options for this, so we headed to Hyde Park. It was close to where the tour was to begin. We make purchases from a Woolworths. On this occasion we find that they’re to-go area is very diverse and large. In salads, there were dozens of combinations, some more creative. The to-go part is not by chance so developed. It is in the nature of the place to go and buy something and eat in a park. As part of the local custom is to eat fish & chips on the beach or where you find a place to sit, close to where you bought.
But let me go back to the tour, because I made you want to eat and you didn't even get to see what I visited. The tour starts at Town Hall and after passing through all the attractions in the center, it descends to the port area. From the Town Hall we continued with the Queen Victoria Building a few steps ahead. Here we find that there is a letter from Elizabeth II that was written in 1985 but with the mention to be opened in 2085! It is still claimed that the moment is waiting and no one, except the Queen, knows what is written in it. You can't upset the queen, especially since she's still alive. That was the biggest nonsense I've ever seen, matched only by people rushing to break their mouths at such kitsch.
Queen Victoria Building is a full-fledged mall. The guide wanted us to go through it to tell us about the letter and then to go through the tunnels under the building which are full of shops to get to other shops. We go out somewhere in Pitt Street, intersection with Market. And now follows the history of the huge commercial area controlled by the Westfield Group. He tells us that a few years ago they invested $ 1 billion to renovate the entire area. Sydney Tower also belongs to them; in fact, the name Westfield is the one written on the tower.
I had almost declared tour one of the stores that I hadn't seen anything else in about 30 minutes. Fortunately, it changes on more important things, as if there was another safe mall, we gave up. We cross into Hyde Park and it tells us a little about St Mary's Cathedral and then we continue our way with the Parliament Building and The ‘Rum’ Hospital. The real name is Sydney Hospital and it is one of the important hospitals in the city, but it has remained this popular name because it has a history related to rum. The British, around 1800 when they controlled Australia, did not want to donate money to build a new building for the hospital.
The governor at the time did not leave things like that, and decided to make a deal with several local companies to facilitate a monopoly on rum imports. A drink much sought after among the settlers of the time. In return for this favor, they were to build a new hospital building. We went to the Bank of Australia, then to the post office building and it presented a reality that we meet everywhere. The post office in Sydney probably occupies 5% of the building that belonged to it some time ago. Times are changing.
We visited a few more downtown areas and a bit of The Rocks; they had a dedicated tour for that. The end point was opposite the Sydney Opera House. It was a tour of about 3 hours that was well worth it. It didn't have a promising start, but then it was as it should be. The guide was funny and presented a short history without unnecessary details.
The second day I started with a walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens. Here you have to go for the best setting with Opera House and The Harbor Bridge. Afterwards we continued with a ferry ride to Manly, a more remote suburb of the city. This route is recommended primarily for the landscape with the city you leave behind. Manly is a good destination for the beach, only it was very crowded when I was there. Being the holiday season, most of them were probably on vacation and wanted to relax. After a few hours in Manly, we return to the harbor to cross The Harbor Bridge.
You can walk, and to the west it was really free. During the day it can sometimes be very crowded. The nearest steps to the harbor area are at the intersection of Argyle and Cumberland streets.
As you can't come to Sydney and not go to a few beaches, the next day we continue with beaches. The first beach I passed was the famous Bondi. It is not so easy to get here, but after a change of 1-2 trains and a bus you reach the end of the beach. Near it a lot of cafes and restaurants. From Bondi we walked along the coastal path to Bronte. The complete route is to Coogee and has a total of about 6 km. But on a sun like that it was enough to get to Bronte. It wasn't a good idea with the beaches because we were a little tired of the sun. We return to the central area and prepare for the New Year's Eve picnic. But about that, a separate post. After a night in which I arrived very hard at the hotel, the day started lazier. Notable on this day was the walk through The Rocks, the first European settlement in Australia. The area is well preserved and maintained, but too commercial. It resembles the Britannic architecture found in other places, but that's all about it. Many boutiques, cafes or restaurants fill the streets of The Rocks. There are also some art galleries and museums.
As time allowed, we spent the last day in Sydney at Blue Mountains. We go with the idea of making a shorter route and to see some of the attractions. The main attraction is Three Sisters, a rock formation. From here we set off on the Prince Henry Cliff route to Katoomba Falls. The weather was not very friendly and we returned to Sydney. It was a pleasant experience; we walked a little but it is too promoted and very crowded for the experience it offers. It's a 2-hour train ride from the central area and that makes it even more unattractive. 4 hours by train for 2 hours there is a bit much. We end the day in Darling Harbor. Here we discover the Welcome Wall, a wall with some of those who have migrated to Australia over time.
