March 1-21, 2001 - Part 1 - Sydney, Australia
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| Haye St. Market - Sydney, Australia |
I checked into a hostel late last night called Albert Hotel, just south of Albert Park. It's a 4-share dorm reasonably priced at A$118 per week. On my first full day in Sydney and I went to the Haye Street Market in Chinatown to look for pants and also buy some fresh fruit from the farmer's market. This is definitely a place to check out because there's a whole slew of stuff for sale here, from tacky stuffed kangaroos to stylish shirts.
I also took the monorail to Darling Harbour and walked along the harbor with the Sydney Aquarium, the IMAX theatre, the waterfront shops and restaurants. It was cloudy out but it didn't diminish the pleasantness of the harbor.
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| Sydney Harbour and Cityline - Sydney, Australia |
I met up with Michael that evening - an Internet friend/contact I had and we went for a walk toward Darling Point. On the way there, we met up with Michael's friends - Martin, Colin and Colin's sister Jenny and joined them for drink and a bite. The Aussies are very friendly people and these people I met tonight are fine examples of that. I felt welcomed and at ease.
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| Michael, Colin, Jenny & Me - Sydney, Australia |
I ended up doing a lot of activities with these people in my 3 weeks stay in Sydney and they made it very enjoyable. Colin also let me stay in his spare bedroom so I had a sense of home and stability and was able to work on my web site and surf the net with ease. The following pages are the summary of the 3 weeks in Sydney.
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| Manly Beach - Sydney, Australia |
During my stay in Sydney, I bought weeklong travel passes (good for the ferries, buses, and trains, a great deal) to save some money on transport. One day, I headed to Manley. Manley is a nice section of Sydney toward the north on the water. The ferry from Circular Quay goes out into the harbor, which presents a beautiful view of the cityscape and the famed Opera House.
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| View of the harbour on the Manly to Spits Bridge Walk - Sydney, Australia |
There are several parks, beaches, and walking paths in Manley. I took a very nice hike from Manley to Spits Bridge. There are maps at the tourist office for these walks. The walks are just lovely. They wound through rocky shores, white sandy beaches, and costal gardens and rainforests. The walk took more than half of the day and you can rest along the way on the various beaches.
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| View of the ocean on the Bondi to Coogee Walk - Sydney, Australia |
Another nice walk with similar sceneries is from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. Same deal as the Manley walk and people watching galore. You can just take a bus to Bondi for this, but the ferry in the Sydney Harbour is an experience itself and should not be missed.
I also went to the Art Museum, which sits in a very lovely park next to the Botanical Garden. The Museum contained your standard old and new arts but one of the special displays they had were outstanding entries from Australian high school and university art students. I found the entries to be very interesting and many of them excellent.
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