and now to the old and famous ...

Monday morning in Sydney – busy, noisy, hustling and bustling as any big city of the world. We were woken by traffic and construction noise on our street, the Bulwara Road.  After breakfast in the hotel we made our way to the Central Train Station of Sydney on foot in search of the FREE #555 shuttle bus that should take us to

the ‘Circular Quay’,
the Sydney Opera House,
the famous Harbour Bridge and
the Sydney Botanic Garden.

That was the plan. On our way to ‘Grand Central’ we looked for and found the university building where Sigi will be presenting his paper on Friday. Walking to the station we were surprised to cross many little parks with lots of green space, shade providing trees and the ever present ibises. Very nice, in the middle of a big city.

We promptly found the #555 and were whisked in the grass green bus through the inner city with its huge skyscrapers to the ‘Circular Quay’. Immediately upon disembarking we were taken by the sight of the harbour, its famous bridge and the sails of the Opera House. What a view!

 

Many pictures and walkabouts later we went through the back gate into the Botanical Garden, took the red Cho Cho train and got a first impression of the great gardens by way of extensive explanations of our guide Lorna.  We decided to see specific areas again and walked there on foot, having a picnic lunch in between on one of the many benches with a great view of the harbour. I was most impressed by the herb garden that put one almost into a trance with all the intense smells. I took pictures while Sigi took a nap on a bench…

We took the last bus back to the station and walked ‘home’ to rest for a bit before heading out for dinner 2 houses down from the ‘Aspire Hotel’ for a Chinese meal. After dinner we took the monorail and went to Darling Harbour, where we got out and walked around when night fell and all the lights and Christmas decorations came on.