On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
BretH
After Melbourne, with my wife’s teaching stint completed, we headed to Sydney for several days of adventure. We planned to mostly explore the harbor, and take ferries to do some go the amazing coastal walks that looked promising and were high recommended. If we had time we would find another park off a train route and hike that.
The flight from Melbourne to Sydney via Qantas is fast and entirely uneventful. Here we opted for an Uber to our room which was a tiny studio apartment in Potts Point, a peninsula not far from Sydney Harbor. To get from our apartment to the harbor (about one and a quarter miles away) we had to pass through the Sydney Botanical Garden. But first thing (and last thing upon returning) was a mini version of the 1000 steps. Actually only 130 (I counted) they woke us up at the start of the morning walk and tired us out nicely at the end of the day.
Similar to, yet different from the Melbourne Garden, this one also featured sections highlighting plants from different parts of Australia and elsewhere. It also sported open grounds with huge trees, parrots and cockatoos yet being next to a large bay and somewhat hillier it was not just a repetition of Melbourne. We especially loved how they put tiny paths through some areas, creating mini trails and sanctuaries even within the park.
The Sydney harbor is a hub of activity: tourists scurrying about, shops and restaurants and in the middle of it all the ferry docks. Out from one side looms the Sydney Opera House, dominating the skyline with its iconic shape.
On the other side is the Sydney Harbor Bridge and in between, coming and going all day are great numbers of bright yellow and green (Sydney-owned) and white and blue (privately owned) ferries, plying the waters to take workers and visitors to all places within the general bay region.
Waiting for the ferry – a cruse ship docked overnight and we were in awe at the size and scale of it.
I loved the ferries, so efficient and workmanlike in their comings and goings, and we would end up taking several to places we wanted to visit and hike.
The Sydney Bridge is not only an imposing sight from the harbor, it is also a tourist destination and a way for locals to get some exercise as there is a path alongside the bridge and it takes about 15 minutes to cross. There are also special tours that go up the beams to the top for a spectacular view. We opted to walk out onto the bridge just far enough to get a good (and different) view of the Opera House. The area around the bridge is called The Rocks and has a number of shops and restaurants that reminded me a little of Paris.
HinTN
Sydney sounds like a wonderful place. Now, why didn’t you go up into the beams of the harbor bridge?
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
Sydney is pretty, but the people in Melbourne and Gold Coast are much friendlier and down to earth.
Baud
Australia is one of my favorite trips.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Your pictures make me want to go there.
waspuppet
My wife used to live in Potts Point. She misses it greatly; she was sad we didn’t make it out there last time we were in Sydney together, and happy to get to stay there on her last solo trip.
Chris T.
@David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch: Yeah, but Sydney has better weather on average. And while Sydney suffers from an NYC-like go-go-go (at least by Aus/NZ standards), it also benefits from an NYC-like “has everything”.
Gold Coast has, or had, the bikini parking enforcers though, so there’s that. 😀
You can get good food almost everywhere in Oz, but I still think Melbourne has it as most-common. Even the cheap hole-in-the-wall and chain places there seemed to average out well (sometimes cheap hole-in-the-wall places are best anyway but it’s always a bit of a roulette-wheel spin).
Viva BrisVegas
The Rocks used to be a slum before it was gentrified and contains some of the oldest and most historic buildings in Sydney.
Naturally in the 70s developers decided that they wanted to raze the area and erect glass and concrete hi-rises. The residents appealed to the local builders union who agreed to put a stop work on any such proposals, to the great annoyance of the conservative state government of the time and the development corporations. There was a great deal of violence directed towards the union by police and private interests.
The union called such stoppages “Green Bans”. This term inspired the names of the various Green Parties that originate about that time.
A Green Ban also prevented part of the Botanic Gardens being paved over and turned into a car park for the Opera House.
Victoria Street in Potts Point was also subject to a Green Ban, during which Juanita Nielsen, an activist supporting the residents, was kidnapped and murdered in 1975.
randy khan
@HinTN:
The trip up the beams is a paid tour, and requires reservations. (You also can’t bring your camera or, really, anything else you could drop.) My wife and I looked into it and decided just to walk across the bridge, too. There’s a pedestrian area, nicely separated from the traffic, and the views from there are very nice, if presumably not as spectacular as from the top.
randy khan
This brings back lovely memories. When we were in Australia, our group stayed right across the from the Opera House. It’s a nice neighborhood to walk around and although we didn’t take any of the ferries, the access to the whole harbor from there is great.
Chris T.
@randy khan: I didn’t do any of the bridge tours the times I was in Sydney, but then, I had pretty severe acrophobia at the time (now greatly reduced thanks to modern pharmaceuticals…). I did go up Sydney Sky Tower though…
Victor Matheson
I cannot recommend Australia highly enough to American travelers. It is the perfect combination of exotic and easy. Like, visiting Connecticut is easy, just not very exciting. Visiting Nigeria is exciting, just not very easy.
On the exotic side, you are definitely in a foreign country. There are parrots in the trees, kangaroos on the side of the road, possums, penguins, wallabies, lorikeets, cockatiels, etc. The landscapes vary from rain forest to wide open prairies and deserts. There is Aussie Rules football and rugby and cricket. They are driving on the wrong side of the road. The food (as well as the rest of the culture) is a great combination of SE and South Asian, native, and English. You can do everything from wilderness to big city.
On the other hand, everything is easy. They (approximately) speak English. The cities are safe. Water is drinkable. The lights stay on. Traffic is manageable with clean and accessible public transportation. Health care is cheap and easily available if needed. Crime and corruption are low. All modern conveniences are commonplace.
The only drawback is that it really is a long way away, so you definitely can’t just make your trip a long weekend. Two weeks is a minimum, and you could easily spend a month.
Chris T.
@Victor Matheson: If I’d had the time and money then, I would have done at least three months. I prefer NZ though and put most of the time and money there (adding up to probably more than four months in all). Would go back, but both Spousal Unit and I have travel issues now.
BretH
@Dorothy A. Winsor: My job here is done 😀
BretH
@Victor Matheson: 100% a better way of saying what I did in my original post.
Anyway
@BretH: Great pictures and am loving the travelogue. That first picture of the stairs … that’s why I love cities!!!
stinger
Wonderful photos, wonderful text! The glass-walled buildings in the last photo are intriguing.
Victor Matheson
@BretH: Keep having a great time! I taught for a semester at Monash Uni. in Melbourne a decade ago and went back for a Sydney/Melbourne visit last summer coinciding with the Women’s World Cup. Just a fantastic country.
@Chris T.: Spent a week in NZ a decade ago. Wonderful country as well. I preferred Australia as I thought it had a better mix of urban and wild (NZ’s highlights are more natural beauty), and the wildlife is more actually more fun in Australia (when it is not trying to kill you!) That being said, you can’t go wrong in either country, and as a Matheson, I have a hard time recommending against visiting Lake Matheson, the world’s most beautiful lake.
jame
What are the structures that look like shipping containers stacked up and glassed in at one end?
BretH
@jame: Not sure if they started life any differently but they’re now apartments or condos.
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
@Baud: Crocodile Baudee