Sydney

Once the ship made it back into port at Sydney, we had two days to explore the city before we headed back home to Katie. We ended up staying in a hotel called the Shangri La right on the waterfront area of Sydney called The Rocks with a view from the room of the Opera House.

Our view from the room.

We decided to do a bit of walking in the downtown area around the hotel and get some more up close picture of the Sydney Harbor bridge.

 

 

We decided to stop in and eat at Lowenbrau down on the Rocks on a friend’s recommendation. I know what you’re thinking – you’re in Australia, eat Australian food. I would challenge you to define to me what Australian food is, and you may not use the words “Shrimp” or “Barbi.” Go. Besides, the Weissbier was sensational, and worth the wait.

We also decided to walk around the bay and check out the Sydney observatory. It isn’t operational anymore as the city lights grew up around it and basically blocked out its ability to view the stars, but it had some pretty neat views of the harbor.

As a surprise for our pseudo-Christmas present, I got us tickets to go downtown in Sydney and see “Wicked” at the Capitol Theater. We ate in Chinatown before walking over to the theater, and then did a leisurely stroll over to get our tickets. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t allow cameras in the theater, so no pictures of the AMAZING sets they built. Great show too – the girl who played Elphaba had a sensational voice. Jenny loved the songs and the show as well, so it was the perfect end to a good first day in Sydney.

 

 

When we woke up the next morning, it was raining all over Sydney, and we found out that all the bus drivers had gone on strike overnight, so there were no cabs ANYWHERE. Not to be deterred, we trooped onward anyway. We had tickets to take a tour in the Sydney Opera House, and then we decided to wander around downtown Sydney some more.
The Opera House tour was definitely worth it. The pictures don’t do it justice. Getting up close lets you really see what a technical and architectural masterpiece it truly is. The whole seashell structure around it is just a shell, and the theaters within the buildings are separate cocoons within the building build entirely from Australian wood. The tour guides said some gobbeldy gook about it helping the acoustics, but I was too busy snapping pictures to really listen.

 

 

It was cold, early, rainy, and no coffee.

 

 

So we found out that the architect of the Opera House – Jorn Utzon – was actually fired from the project before he got to see it finished due to cost overruns. Three decades later, the city of Sydney realized that they probably came off as party poopers, and invited him back and had him redesign some additions to the buildings. Pretty neat that it ended amicably, but amazing that the building almost wasn’t finished to begin with.After the Opera House, we caught the subway down to the shopping district, and checked out the National Catholic Cathedral of Australia. Not being Catholic, I still think that church architecture is pretty neat, so we decided to stop and grab some pics of it as well.

 

 

Then it was off to a café for an ice cream mocha for Jenny and then off to the airport. Next time in Australia, we’re going to spend a week in Melbourne. What a great vacation though …