Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 35.

Arrival in Sydney.

My final stop in Australia before the trans-Pacific flight to Los Angeles lasted 11 days, including one night spent in Katoomba, an administrative town for the Blue Mountains National Park, sixty miles by train from Sydney Central Station. This was after my first sight of the city on the Greyhound Bus from Coffs Harbour as it crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. From the window, I had a clear view of the Sydney Opera House, the national icon of Australia, before the bus passed through part of the city to end at a coach parking space in front of the railway terminus.

Just across the road from the station, a former Victorian office block was converted into an inappropriately titled YHA Youth Hostel. Rather, it was dormitory accommodation for backpackers, all of whom were adults, some even older than I was when I arrived in 1997. Sydney Central Hostel was the largest hostel of all three countries visited, and second only to HI-AYH New York City, where I stayed a year later in 1998. It had two members' kitchens serving a large dining room. On one wall was a mural of the dining room in full use, with its windows looking out across the city.

The rooftop floor featured a spa facility, consisting of a sauna cabin and a plunge pool, which was elevated from the floor and accessible via steps. As a "Sauna-Nut", this suite wasn't as good as those back home, or even the spa suite in the basement of the YMCA in San Diego. Here in Sydney, a push-button start meant that it was up to me to heat up the cabin from room temperature, along with an extract fan, which delayed the warming up.

Once settled in, the city was mine to explore. One location I passed through on the way to the harbour was Hyde Park. Surrounding the park, the street architecture was predominantly Victorian, and one could easily mistake this part of the city for London. Indeed, there is a strong resemblance between the two cities, except that here, palm trees dominate, while in London, the dominant tree lining the streets is the Plane tree.

However, referring to Sydney as "London-by-the-Sea" won't go, either. That title is reserved for Brighton, a brash resort on the English Sussex coast. But Sydney does boast the largest natural harbour in the world. It is crossed by the Harbour Bridge, a magnificent work of civil engineering. Its single-span arch was designed after the bridge spanning the River Tyne in Newcastle, and it carries the main Indo-Pacific Highway, along with a footpath, a cycleway, and the railway line out of Central Station. 

A Manly Ferry cruises past the Opera House.

On one occasion, I crossed the harbour on foot to North Sydney, a more sedate and residential side than the city's south side. The bridge also has four turrets, two at each end. One of the towers, the southwest turret, was open to the public in 1997 and offered brilliant views of the Opera House and the surrounding harbour. From Circular Quay, the city's main quay, I watched ferries ply to and fro, along with harbour cruises. The vessel which stood out uniquely among others was the Manly Ferry. This was a ship with no stern but a bow at both ends. This allowed the ferry to dock in the harbour, then pull out without the need to turn around. It was very much like a train at a terminus station.

In the Business District by the Harbour, the city was dominated by the Sydney Observation Tower and the telecommunications centre, or Centrepoint Tower. Nicknamed by some as The Gearstick, as in the car. It stands 309 metres high, and in 1997, it was the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. At present, this was overtaken by the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand, which is 19 metres higher. I spent an afternoon in the observation deck.

The Opera House was, and still is, the icon of Australia. It appears all the time in holiday brochures. Before arriving, I always thought that the Opera House was a single building, and I found it difficult to imagine a rugged, masculine Aussie rancher sitting in a theatre listening to classical music or a soprano.  But after arriving, I saw that there were two buildings, one next to the other, and one slightly larger than the other. The larger of the two was the Concert Hall. The other was actually the Opera House. From what I have seen, younger backpackers and families seem to be attracted to the Concert Hall. The Opera House was more for the highbrow performance and its clientele.

By nature, the theatre is not my sort of venue. But the Opera House, or should I say, the Concert Hall, offered budget seats for a piano performance that would be held one evening. This allowed me to experience a concert in such a famous building. And no, there was no call for formal dress!

The budget seats were at the back of a huge, cavernous theatre, but as with most other venues, the sloping floor allowed a clear view of the stage. But what surprised me was the acoustics. I could hear the piano playing as clearly from a distance as if I were standing right next to it.

Hence, sitting in a theatre completes the wide variety of experiences of my travels. On one hand, I was snorkelling over the corals making up the Great Barrier Reef. On the other hand, I was sitting in a theatre, famous as it is, to watch and listen to classical music. 

This week's pics cover mainly the Harbour area, including a Harbour cruise I took whilst there. The Harbour cruise was a different boat trip from the Manly Ferry crossing. During my stay in Sydney, I embarked three times. The first was for part of the journey to Palm Beach, then a crossing to Manly, and finally, a circular Harbour cruise. 

Click here for the Index link for the main Biography, covering Weeks 93-96, the Sydney experience.

Photos of Sydney Hostel and Harbour.

Sydney Central Station and the hostel to the right.

Dining room mural. The empty tables are the real ones.

The Pyrmont Bridge carried the Monorail in 1997.

Darling Harbour shopping precinct.

Open-air Boat Museum, Darling Harbour.

Behind me, the "Gearstick".

The "Gearstick" was the tallest tower in the South.

About to board the Manly Ferry to visit the town.

View of the Opera House from the Manly Ferry.

A Manly Ferry is about to dock at Circular Quay.

The Opera House is on the left, the Concert Hall on the right.

On the Harbour cruise.

View from the Manly Ferry.

Cruise boat view.

Syline from the cruiser.

Views of the City from different angles.

We went further out towards the ocean.

The cliff to the left is Manly North Head.

Harbour Bridge. The tower, left, is open to the public.

I crossed the Harbour on the bridge footway.

The beauty of civil engineering.

The Business District and Circular Quay, from the turret.

The Rocks as seen from the Bridge turret.

You can now climb those steps.

A classic view of the Opera House from the turret.

Posing at the Harbour Bridge turret.

I stayed on the turret until sunset, when the tower closed. 

Approaching the Opera House.

Inside the foyer, the Concert Hall.

The Business District as seen from the Opera House.

A romantic view from near Mrs Macquarie's Chair.

A view from "The Gearstick" observation tower.

Potts Point Defence Estate.

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Next Week: More City views plus the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, then to San Diego.