Friday, August 17
I finished my laundry and checked out of the apartment at the Ayers Rock Resort by the required 10:00. I had time to wander the Town Square (a particular place in the resort). I listened to a talk on Aboriginal hunting tools (yes, given by an Aboriginal) which includes more than the boomerang. I watched a guy (who wasn’t Aboriginal) give lessons on the didgeridoo to tourists.
There are six commercial flights a day from the Ayers Rock Airport. The two to Sydney leave midday 25 minutes apart and run by two different airlines. So that means there are two shuttle buses from the resort that are 20 minutes apart. My flight was the second of the two, so I took the second shuttle, which had very few people on it. I had plenty of time at the airport.
After checking in I went to the only cafe for lunch. The choices were limited. I took the chicken Caesar salad, which wasn’t enough. So I delved into my stash of peanuts and peanut butter. By the time my flight left the cafe was sold out. I suppose they could make more sandwiches for the last flight of the day a couple hours later.
My flight was delayed in arriving at Ayers Rock. We were told the plane had faced strong headwinds. So there was a delay in boarding. And then we sat. We were told there was a delay in getting luggage loaded – only one luggage crew trying to load two planes. That had me wondering, what other plane? The other commercial planes had already departed or weren’t due in for a while. We left 75 minutes late.
The airline was JetStar though I had booked through Qantas. This must be a discount airline. The crew offered food and drinks for sale, no drinks or snacks for free. I asked for a cup of water. They didn’t charge for that, though it took a while for it to arrive.
The flight was about 2½ hours. I arrived in Sydney at about 6:30. On the way to baggage claim I bought a sausage roll. After claiming my big bag I sat and ate the sausage roll. That was supper. Then I bought my Opal Card for the transportation system and got on the train to downtown.
I walked a couple blocks from the train to my hotel. On the ground floor this hotel has only an entryway, an elevator, and stairs. Reception was one floor up. The room was small, oddly shaped, and the window offered zero view.
Saturday, August 18
After breakfast in the nearby Queen Victoria Building I wanted visitor information. The hotel clerk didn’t seem to know what I wanted. I saw on the map (provided by the hotel) an information place not too far away in Martin Place. Once I got there I saw it was the size of a newsstand and was closed.
My map told about a free walking tour of Sydney starting from the Town Hall, one stop away on the subway from where I was. A train was just pulling in when I got to the platform. I got on. But it just sat there. We heard a couple announcements of waiting for the lights to say the track ahead was clear. Ten minutes later I got off and walked. Both tour guides for the walk were late. They said there was a problem in one subway station resulting in delays through the entire system.
The walking tour took me through the Queen Victoria Building (again), pointing out the statue of the queen and one of her dog and then the huge clocks. The guide also told us about a letter form Queen Elizabeth II that is to be opened in 2060. The tour went on to Hyde Park and the Hyde Park Barracks where the guide told us about early Sydney history. We went on to Martin Place (where I had been not long before). Some kind of military commemoration was being held here so we only walked through. Around a couple corners and we were in an alley. Above us hung a large number of bird cages, all empty. The guide said this was an art installation representing all the extinct bird species. Recordings of their calls played from nearby speakers.
The tour went into the Customs House which has a large model of downtown Sydney under the transparent floor. We went on past Circular Quay and into The Rocks with its alleys. We ended the tour with a good view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.
The tour passed a street market, so I went back to it to look over what they had for sale and to have lunch. I visited the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art. This isn’t art for tourists, but it didn’t hold my interest. The museum is not very big, so it didn’t take long.
I went back to the Customs House and its information desk. I got my questions answered. A big one was where might I find an internet cafe? Sorry, they’ve all gone out of business. The Customs House and the State Library have computers for use. But they’re already closed for the day.
I went back to The Rocks. I saw the Observatory grounds, then walked onto the Harbour Bridge (without taking the over 200 steps to the top of the pylon or even considered doing a bridge climb). This was at sunset, so I got a good picture of the Opera House.
I looked for a restaurant in The Rocks and probably should have taken one I had turned down. Prices, even adjusting for currency conversion, seemed expensive. Many restaurants offered “burgers” for about $15 US, though it seemed strange to see “chicken burger” or “pulled pork burger” or “crocodile burger.” I ate lots of burgers during the trip. Dishes other than burgers were usually $20 and higher. Many restaurants listed prices for main dishes in the $25-$40 range. One restaurant at Ayers Rock Resort offered a buffet for $55 a person. I passed on that one. Because I didn’t choose a restaurant in The Rocks I ended up at one near Circular Quay that serves Malaysian street food. The satay sauce had too much onion for my tastes.
I went to the Opera House for that evening’s opera. There were large crowds also heading in that direction because the orchestra was accompanying the first Harry Potter movie. The movie was shown and instead of the background music coming from the speakers it came from a live orchestra. Yes, a very popular idea.
In buying a ticket for the opera I choked on the price – over $200 US for an available seat. Instead, I got a ticket for Monday night, paying $150 for it.
After all that walking I decided to take the subway the two stops back to my hotel. It went one station and stopped. After five minutes I got off and walked. The issues of the morning had not yet been resolved.
Sunday, August 19
I watched one of the clocks in the Queen Victoria Building do its thing at 9:00. Trumpeters appear at the parapets. Then we see a series of dioramas about the English King Charles I, including one where he is about to be beheaded.
Here’s a picture of the other big clock. Above the bands for the time and date are scenes of colonial Australia.
Then I walked to the Australia Museum. Most of this is natural history, though much larger and better done than the small museum in Alice Springs. This museum is much appreciated by kids who have a couple areas designed for them. The main hall had an exhibit of 100 important treasures of the museum with lots of extras. One is a diorama of a busy bird colony with lots of taxidermy birds. The nearby notes say birds are now studied differently so another diorama would probably never be created again. Other treasures included indigenous artifacts from Australia and across southern Asia. Other display halls included taxidermy animals from mouse to giraffe, birds of Australia, native people, minerals, and what animals have to do to survive in an arid continent (hint: the big mammals are gone).
When I was young I learned a song about a kookaburra who sat in the gum tree eating gumdrops and laughing. Yes, I know there are gum trees in Australia, but they don’t grow gumdrops. Of course, I had to take a picture of the laughing kookaburra.
I had lunch in the 4th (top) floor cafe. There were nice views from there.
There’s a couple cool things about the Opal transportation card. First, it can be used on trains, buses, and ferries. Second, on Sundays one would pay $2.50 (Aus) for the first ride of the day and after that it is all free. One could use it to go out to the Blue Mountains west of the city for the day (which I visited on a previous trip) and pay only $2.50.
So I took a bus to Circular Quay and got on the ferry to Watsons Bay. From there it is a short walk to South Head, the bit of land that is the southern side to the entrance of Sydney Harbour. Along that walk one passes Lady Bay Beach, where nudity is permitted. As cold as I was with the wind I wondered about the few nude people on the beach. Here’s a view across the Harbour entrance to North Head.
I was back to Circular Quay at about 4:30. The first stop was back to the hotel to add the hoodie under the sweater and jacket.
I realized Darling Harbour was rather close and was known for restaurants. So I walked over and walked all around. I didn’t want fast food and I didn’t want expensive – or I wanted expensive I would enjoy. I felt cold doing all that walking, I think the temperature was in the low 50s F. I found a restaurant that had chicken breast stuffed with feta and spinach, which looked good.
A lot of restaurants in the Darling area and all around the city offer outdoor seating in weather I consider too cold for such a thing. They manage it with space heaters, some with dramatic tall flames. As I got into this restaurant I saw they really didn’t have indoor seating. I asked for a warm table and was given one under two space heaters. This wasn’t ideal. I had to keep the hood over my head to protect it from the heat, yet the blowing wind was still cold. The chicken was good.
The price of the chicken was $21 US, already a little pricey. I was surprised by an extra $5 (Aus) charge on the bill. The waitress had a hard time explaining it, likely because only foreigners questioned it. What she finally explained was that it was the Sunday Surcharge. It allows the restaurant to pay the staff a little extra for working on Sunday. The surcharge used to be widespread though now many restaurants have stopped charging it. Alas, I hadn’t seen anything in the menu about the surcharge, so was surprised.
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