Australia 2 weeks in Sydney and Cairns

05.01.10 - 06.01.10

Sydney (28 - 29 degrees celsius)

Sydney is an impressive city with it's iconic Harbour bridge and Opera House dominating the skyline at the waterfront. Alongside these monoliths is a gigantic cruiseship moored up, almost the same size as a skyscraper and countless boats, ferries and yachts coming in and out of the bays all the time.

It's a very 'happening' place with tons of traffic zooming past on the myriad of flyovers crossing the harbour bridge to the north side, city trains and a monorail holding prime position running along the front not to mention the water traffic weaving it's way in and out of the quays. The fresh breeze from the water keeps any fumes at bay however and it's a pleasant place to walk around. We head for circular quay to begin with and stroll round the edge of the water, along the boardwalk, lined with tourist restaurants and hotels, past the Dutch liner and under the bridge. We come across rows of old shipping buildings propped up on the rotten wooden wharfs with fishermen and boys casting their lines over the edge into the harbour waters. This area backs on to the original settlement of Sydney, affectionately named The Rocks. The buildings here have survived the ever-continuing development of the city skyline and comprise Victorian trading houses, old warehouses and small workers cottages. Sydney's location on the harbour inlet which stretches miles inland with many peninsulas on either side, is it's crowning glory. The suburbs sprawl on to all these peninsulas linked to the main central district by highway and boat. The water is where a lot of the action is, from full scale yacht races to sea kayakers crossing the straits and fishing boats lingering round the light buoys ready to net a catch.

We're really pleased when we contact our friend, Tristan, who we met on the tour in South America, and it turns out she lives only 2 or 3 streets away from where we're staying in the suburb of Stanmore. It's a very convenient coincidence because it means we can visit her the following day and drag her round the aquarium with us, although she does say she hasn't done any really touristy things for years and enjoyed it! Her neighbourhood of Newtown is a lively place centred round the eccentric King Street with restaurants from pretty much every country round the world, 'exotic' clothing shops and Thai massage parlours. She introduces us to the best places to eat and gives us a well needed city orientation, showing us the pretty Botanic Gardens with views of the Opera House and the city's sandstone cathedral in the middle of Hyde Park.

We also make a pilgrimage across the Harbour Bridge taking in the panorama of the city skyline behind us and catch a train back.