Day 4 Sydney

Day 4 Sydney

An eight hour flight from Singapore to Sydney but we were upgraded (BA seems to know how to make up for my previous complaints.) – so the food was good and we actually slept!  By coincidence, my nephew was also to be at Sydney airport this morning – heading home for Thanksgiving after 4 months study abroad – and we tried to link up….but we certainly didn’t see him anywhere, so that didn’t work out.

We took the airlink train into the city - $16 each…but apparently less than $4 from any station other than the airport….and were entertained by two small Australian boys and their Transformers.  The airlink station is just down from our hotel – though of course we came out the wrong exit and walked 4 blocks instead – but still very easy and very central. The weather is perfect, a little over 20 degrees – a 40 degree plus heatwave just broke yesterday and it is as though the whole city has sprung to life in the cooler temperatures.  It felt very like New York, with people hurrying to work, coffee in hand, against a mix of brownstone and modern buildings – they are clearly not the techno-slaves the Singaporeans are….though, like everywhere,  there are still some people plugged in!

We checked in to our hotel but even with their best efforts the room couldn’t be ready for a couple of hours, so we walked up to ‘The Rocks’ for breakfast and a bit of sightseeing.  We photographed the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, breakfasted in Bakehouse Square and visited the ‘Argyle Cut’ and Rock Discovery Centre which explores the history of Sydney – what is known about the indigenous Aboriginal cultures and the tragedy of its destruction as the Europeans arrived.

Our room was ready when we got back to the hotel. We showered and napped before heading out again to explore more of the city – particularly the recently excavated ruins of the original settlement that were found under the foundations of the YMCA.

Definitely one of the highlights was the Australian Hotel – the oldest continuously licensed establishment in Sydney – and famous as much for its emu, kangaroo and crocodile pizzas as for its huge range of Australian beers.  We had a ½ and ½ emu and kangaroo pizza – the emu was much like ostrich but the kangaroo was very tasty indeed and we’ll be looking out for that again.  We bought some ‘Tim Tams’ for dessert – one small packet of those biscuits costs over £16 in the UK….and, to be honest, they’re not too different to ‘Penguins’ except for a more flowery taste and maybe thicker chocolate!