Sydney on Foot

Breakfasted taking in the view this morning. As impressive as our outlook is over Hyde Park, the War Memorial and across to the CBD is, it certainly looks better at night. It did not help that a window cleaner has not abseiled off this building in a number of years and given the windows the once over. It required focusing through the dust and grime to fully appreciate our vista!

 

Well, some members of the family were still feeling the rock and roll of the train this morning as we eagerly set out to explore Sydney. A bit of background – the kids have never been to Sydney. The last time J and I were in Sydney was just before Zac was born, so around 13 years ago.  So everyone was looking forward to seeing the sites and immersing ourselves into old Sydney town!

Down on ground level we crossed the road and entered Hyde Park. Looking back we could pick out our apartment as the kids had strategically left some teddies peering out the window!

We checked out the reflection pool in front of the (under renovation) war memorial before walking the length of Hyde Park to the Archibald Fountain. 

The fountain was built in the 1930’s by a French sculptor to commemorate the relationship between Australia and France in WW1. It’s a little unusual with its mythical characters of Apollo, Diana, Pan and a Minotaur.  Not your traditional statue that commemorates a war! It does look impressive in its surroundings, with St Marys Cathedral as one of its back drops. 

Walking down Macquarie Street we took in the Hyde Park Barracks, The Mint, Parliament House and a pig with a well rubbed snout. There is a lot of people around the world who have visited Sydney, rubbed the snout and gone on their merry way experiencing all manner of good luck. I just saw it as another surface to pick up germs, so did not rub the snout! 

Continuing our walk we found ourselves in the Botanical Gardens. 

From there we headed around Macquarie Point, the boys impressed with the large armada of Navy vessels sitting there ready to launch an attack should it be required.

                                      

Past Mrs Macquarie’s Chair which was being enjoyed by a coachload of Chinese tourists and we paused to take in the iconic view of the bridge and opera house across the waters. 

Continuing on we went around to the Opera House, had a look at it close up – the kids said it was better from a distance, they were surprised it was made of tiles and concrete! We posed on the steps before walking around to Circular Quay. Ferries came and went at regular intervals. A huge cruise ship was docked that dwarfed them all. The harbour bridge then dwarfed the cruise ship! You only appreciate how big the bridge is when you walk under it, which is what we did next!

After a lot more walking we found ourselves at Darling Harbour where we went to Grilld’ and enjoyed lunch. After so much walking we deserved a good burger and chips! From there it was a short walk across the CBD to Hyde Park and an hour so with our feet up in the apartment before venturing out again.

We spent the late afternoon back at the Botanical Gardens, including a visit to the creative and artistic ‘The Calyx’ which was a display which included very colourful flowers such as orchids, an almost as colourful vertical garden which spelt out the word ‘polination’ and a bunch of slightly larger than life bees hanging around.

What a day, quite a few km’s walked and a great introduction to Sydney!