Petersontravels

No trip to Australia would be complete without a visit to Sydney, and it’s a perfect place to start your adventure.  We arrived in the middle of a rain storm, and it rained pretty much the entire first day, limiting my photo opportunities.  We stayed at likely the nicest hotel in the city, the Park Hyatt Sydney.

While this hotel isn’t cheap, it’s in an excellent location, and has amazing views of Sydney Harbor and the Opera House.  We were lucky to be able to check in early as our flight arrived at 0900.

After getting settled, we took a walk around the harbor area and over to the adjacent harbor, Darling, where we got a bite to eat.  We walked back along the waterfront between rain showers.  This imposing building is the Crown Towers Sydney, a rather modern looking hotel.

We walked directly under the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  Quick note, watch out for joggers…Sydney is jogger crazy!

Another shot of the famous Sydney Opera House!  There is a constant stream of ferries running in and out of this harbor.

The next morning we woke up to some actual blue in the sky!

After an amazing included breakfast we took a walk over to the Opera House.  The dark clouds over the city made for a dramatic photo!  Unfortunately, as you can see on the right, a cruise ship pulled in overnight.

The best view of Sydney Harbor Bridge is from the Opera House.  We hope to get up onto the bridge at some point during our stay.  Oh boy, more photos of the Opera House!

Speaking of which, the exterior looks quite a bit different from up close, almost like a partially filled hot air balloon.

The dark skies were threatening, but we didn’t see any rain the rest of the day.

Adjacent to the Opera House are the Royal Botanical Gardens.  This huge tree is an Illawara, the bark of which was used by the Aboriginal people to make string, fishing nets and traps.

Kim ventured through this bamboo forest.

Just as we were exiting the park we came across this statue to the first governor of New South Wales, Captain Arthur Phillip.  I thought the juxtaposition of a governor from 1788-1792 against these modern buildings was interesting.

They love their statues here!  This is the Archibald Memorial Fountain, built according to his will to commemorate the association of Australia and France in WWI.  It was built in 1932 by French artist Francois Sicard.

We particularly liked the spitting turtles!

In the background behind the fountain is the Sydney Tower, our destination for lunch.

Right across the street from the Archibald fountain is the beautiful Saint Mary’s Cathedral.

This Gothic Cathedral was started in 1821.

The views from the previously mentioned Sydney Tower are well worth it!  Avoid the crowds and head to the bar, where they require you to spend $19 each on drinks and food.  If you can’t do that you aren’t trying!

Looking down on Archibald Memorial and Saint Mary’s Cathedral.

Every Wednesday afternoon the harbor is filled with sailboats for their weekly regatta.  Such a lovely sight!  That’s the open ocean in the background.

Coming up next, we take a famous local hike, Spit to Manly!

Let me take you back in time…to March 2020.  Remember March 2020, when the world went crazy over Covid?

We had spent the last month in New Zealand and are happily making our way north to Auckland, where we were to board a cruise ship for a two week cruise to Sydney, Australia.  We planned to spend 6 more weeks traveling in the land down under.  Two days prior, as we are waiting to board the ferry from South Island to North Island, we discover our cruise has been canceled due to ports in New Zealand and Australia shutting down due to Covid.

Here we are five years later, wiser and more seasoned travelers, getting ready to fly to Sydney so we can finally continue our trip.  The trip has changed dramatically from what we originally planned, so on the plus side the Covid delay has ended up making for a much improved itinerary.  We will be in Australia for exactly 7 weeks, and our trip map is below.  Click on the box in the upper right for an enlarged view.

Yes, we are skipping the middle of the country and Ayers Rock, as well as Darwin and the surrounding area, but we decided to focus on the quality of sites we are visiting versus the quantity.  We are also limiting our time in the north as we aren’t big fans of heat and humidity.  As it is, outside of flights to/from home, we will be taking 8 flights within Australia, and that’s quite enough!  If you plan your own trip, bear in mind that Australia is roughly the size of the United States, so you’d have to spend months to really see a good portion of it.

A big shout out to travel agent “Kylie Luttrell” with The Travel Notebook!  She has been instrumental in assisting us with specific hotel choices and regions that are “must visits”.  If you are coming to Aussie, be sure to give her a shout first.  No fees of any kind, just excellent advice!  We arrive in Sydney this Tuesday, and we can’t wait to spend the next 7 weeks “down under”!