We took a trip to Sydney in August 2012. While the winter is 9°C at night, the sun quickly warmed up the city every morning.
We planned to climb the Sydney Bridge, but we never got the time and energy to do it, and saved a lot of money — everything in Australia was expensive.
Immediately after our flight landed at 06:15, we took the City Rail to our hotel (Sydney is one of the few big cities where you can travel from the international airport to city center in 15 minutes). Then we go directly to the Opera House, for we have booked the Opera House Tour that started at 9:00 (there is a special online discount for the 9AM tour).
The tour started with the Drama Theatre, and ended with the washrooms. We left the Opera House to stroll in the Royal Botanic Gardens. We came across many Australian White Ibises, which have taken up the gardens as their home.
It had been difficult to sleep during the flight. Drowsiness finally caught up with us. We took a nap at the Australian Native Rockery before heading for lunch. After the meal, we got more sleepy and went back to the hotel.
The second morning, we arrived at the Opera House again, even earlier — the Backstage Tour starts at 06:45 every day. The guide took us to the orchestra pit of the Opera Theatre. We passed through a tunnel to arrive at the Concert Hall, which houses the Grand Organ that took 10 years to build. The tour ended with a breakfast at the Green Room.
Follow this link to view our photos at the Opera House
After the Opera House Backstage Tour, we decided to visit the Sydney Aquarium. We immediately made an online purchase (with 10% discount) and studied how to get there. Google Maps suggested the bus, which required a long walk from the bus stop to the aquarium. I could not understand why it didn’t recommend the Monorail.
The first exhibit past the entrance of the aquarium is platypus. They are shy animals that dive like a duck, lay eggs, but are mammals. While they are mammals, they are neither placental mammals (like most mammals we know) nor marsupials (the Australian mammals with pouches, like kangeroos). They and the echidnas are the only surviving species that belong to the monotremes. Most of the time, we were looking at an empty tank wondering where they were hiding. It was only after we had revisited the tank three times before we finally caught sight of one of them.
The aquarium hosts lots of interesting animals, such as Snake Necked Turtles and Spider Crabs. It is always entertaining to see the Little Penguins (used to be called Fairy Penguins), especially during their feeding time. We also wanted to see the two Dugongs. Unfortunately they were away and would not return until late September after the aquarium renovation. Instead, we found in their tank Rays flying gracefully underwater, and a big Turtle who decided to swim upside down.
We planned to have lunch inside the aquarium, but only light snacks were available. Therefore, we had a late lunch at the Black Bird Cafe of the Darline Harbour after we left the aquarium.
Follow this link to view our photos at the Aquarium
We booked Roar and Snore, which is an overnight stay at the Taronga Zoo. After our trip to the Aquarium, we returned to the hotel, took a short nap and headed for the 17:45 ferry to the zoo. Unfortunately, there was a traffic jam and we arrived at the Circular Quay later than expected. Worse, the ticket machine at the pier did not accept $50 notes, and the pier did not have ticket broothes operated by a person. When we finally got our tickets from another pier, the ferry was gone.
We were half an hour late, and the zoo entrance was empty and completely dark. We wandered around in the wilderness, not knowing what to do. Fortunately a Roar and Snore staff eventually appeared and drove us to the main tent.
We were greeted with snacks and by a handful of small animals. After a buffet dinner, the keepers took us to a night safari. Even for animals that are not nocturnal, they behaved very differently at night because zoo was nearly void of visitors. Besides the Big Cats and the Fennec Foxes, we also spied on the Himalayan Tahrs, Barbary Sheep and the Bongos. After some cup cakes, it was time for shower and star gazing.
Next morning, we woke up with a splendid view of the Sydney Harbour. We fed the Giraffes and met many local animals at the Education Center, including Possum, Koala Bear, Fruit Bat. And the cute Echidna. Echidna and Platypus are the only surviving species that belong to the monotremes, a group of mammals that are neither placental nor marsupials.
The tour ended by a close encounter with a Seal.
After the tour, we rode cable car to the top of the hill, took a short nap, and started to visit the zoo. We encountered lazy Kangeroos, a nosy Emu, a cute Pygmy Hippopotamus and a hungry Python gorging an unhappy mouse.
In the afternoon, it suddenly started to rain heavily. Without the sun, the temperature dropped rapidly and we decided to leave early. On our way to the cable car station, we heard the bad news that the cable car service was suspended because of the weather. We had to walk all the way back to the top of the hill to collect our luggages kept at the Education Center, before going back down to the pier to return to Sydney.
Follow this link to view our photos at the Taronga Zoo
On Saturday, Irene’s cousin drove us to Blue Mountains. After a lunch at Leura, we arrived at the Echo Point Lookout. It has a magnificant view of the Three Sisters and the surrounding landscape.
At the Scenic World, we rode the Scenic Railway down the hill at a 52° angle. It is the steepest railway in the world. After a walk in the valley, we rode the Scenic Cableway back to the top, and headed for dinner.
Follow this link to view our photos at Blue Mountains
When we tried to book Hang Gliding, we were told that winter was not a good season. The winds were not suitable for gliding most of the days. It was not until Saturday noon that we finally received confirmation that the Sunday weather might permit a flight around noon.
In the morning, we caught the train, and it took more than an hour to travel to Stanwell Park. When we arrived, Tony welcomed us at the train station and drove us up the hill. A few people were already up in the air paragliding and hanggliding.
We suited up, ran off the cliff and flew like a bird. However, the onshore east wind was weak, and did not provide a lot of lift. When it changed to a southerly wind, there was no way to maintain altitude, All the gliders soon landed on the beach below.
Official web site: Sydney Hang Gliding Centre
Follow this link to view our Hang Gliding photos
After we were back from Stanwell Park, we took the ferry to visit Manly, a scenic sea-side tourist destination.
We strolled along the Corso and had lunch at Watervue. We also visited the Manly Market Place and the Manly Beach.
After the visit, we hurried back to meet Stephen at the Strathfield station for dinner.
Follow this link to view our photos at Manly
Located at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Quay Restaurant commands a magnificant view of the Sydney Cove. It has been ranked the Best Restaurant in Australiasia for the past three years. Its signature dish is Chef Peter Gilmore’s Eight-Textured Chocolate Cake — see how the cake is served at the table on YouTube.
Follow this link to view our photos at Quay Restaurant
Rockpool on George is on the Rocks. Since the Circular Quay did not seem very far away, we decided to walk from the hotel. Turns out it took us much longer than what Google Maps estimated (44 minutes instead of half an hour).
The restaurant placed quite some emphasis on fusion with Asian cuisine. Therefore, we made an effort to choose really local dishes while avoiding duplication with what we just had at Quay.
Follow this link to view our photos at Rockpool
Irene’s cousin took us to China Town for dinner on Saturday. Many places were already crowded with people. It was not until we checked several restaurants before landing on a table at Marigold.
On Sunday, Stephen met us after our trip to Manly, and drove us to Hurstville for a dinner at Hurstville Chinese Restaurant 華英小厨.
Stephen also took us to many supermarkets to hunt for Abalone flavored Macademia nuts. While tourists from Hong Kong often buy this Australian souvenir, hardly any Australians had heard about it. We could not find it any where, and ended up buying loads of varieties of Macademia nuts: plain Macademia nuts, salted Macademia nuts, honey roasted Macademia nuts, mango flavored Macademia nuts, and even fried squid flavored Macademia nuts.
And in case you are wondering, Macademia nuts came from Australia, not Hawaii. They were only imported into Hawaii and planted extensively as a commercial crop.
A picture with Stephen and his family Hurstville Chinese Restaurant
We wished to join the Behind the Scene Tour of the Sydney Fish Market held on Mondays and Thursdays. Unfortunately it was full.
On the morning of our departure, we received NotiFly confirmation that our 10:10 flight would be on schedule. We took the train to the airport, and only to learn during check in that the flight was suddenly delayed to 11:30. Since it was only 8:00, we decided to use the time available to visit the Fish Market.
The traffic was very busy. When our taxi arrived at the market, it was already 9:00. We walked around, and tasted some seafood. On our return trip, the traffic was smooth and it only took 20 minutes!
Follow this link to view our photos at Fish Market
While we were waiting at the departure gate, it was announced that the flight was further delayed to noon. So we went shopping. To our surprise, we finally found the Abalone flavored Macademia nuts inside the airport duty free shops.
When we eventually board the plane, we learnt that the plane for the original 10:10 flight had engineering problems. Cathay advanced the 14:05 flight as much as possible (they still need to wait for the second plane to land and be ready for taking off), and hurried the passengers of that flight to the airport, in order to pack passengers of both flights into one single plane. I believe those who did not make it would have to wait for the 21:55 flight.
Before the trip, we have already bought tickets for the movie (Jiro Dreams of Sushi). The movie was only available on the evening we returned to Hong Kong. Since the flight was two and a half hours behind schedule, we could not arrive at the cinema in time. Fortunately, the movie was also available as part of the in-flight entertainment. Knowing that we would miss the show time in Hong Kong, we watched it in-flight and threw the movie tickets away.
A week later, we discovered that the elusive Abalone flavored Macademia nuts that we have spent so much time to hunt for in Sydney is readily available in Wellcome stores in Hong Kong! And at a cheaper price!