17 December 2017 – 3 January 2018
Here are some random pictures from Sydney’s central business district.
Sydney: Inner Sydney – Part 3
Posted in Australia, New South Wales
Tagged American Family Travels, CBD, New South Wales, Sydney, Travel
Leave a comment
Sydney: Inner Sydney – Part 2
17 December 2017 – 3 January 2018
Sydney has several major parklands that were established early in the City’s planning.
Hyde Park – 40 acre public parkland, oldest in Australia. Named after London’s Hyde Park.
Royal Botanical Gardens – 74 acre parklands adjacent to the Opera House, Opened 1861
Centennial Park – 890 acre parklands in Eastern Sydney
Sydney: Inner Sydney – Part 1
17 December 2017 – 3 January 2018
Sydney is considered by many one of the world’s top cities, frequently appearing in most livable city lists. They have come a long way since 1788 when it was established as a penal colony and the first European settlement in Australia. We are stayed near Martin Place for 17 days over Christmas and New Years Eve. Here are some pictures from the city’s center and inner suburbs.
Martin Place – “Civic Heart” of Sydney
Martin Place was the location of the 2014 terrorist attack. A memorial to the attack was dedicated on December 16th, one day before we checked into our nearby hotel.
Town Hall – Built 1866 – 1890
Queen Victoria Building (QVB) – Built 1898, designed as a market and still functions as mall
Sydney Observatory / Observatory Hill Park – Built 1857 – 1859, Original site of Fort Philip
Posted in Australia, New South Wales
Tagged American Family Travels, Martin Place, New South Wales, Queen Victoria Building, QVB, Sydney, Town Hall, Travel
Leave a comment
Manly Beach and Shelly Beach
2 January 2018
Manly is a busy ferry terminal for North Sydney commuters and sun seekers. We had a great day with friends at Shelly Beach. Manly and Shelly Beaches are busy places. The beaches are not as deep or as long as Bondi but they are very nice and easy to access by ferry from the city center which makes them extremely popular.
Manly Beach
Shelly Beach
Posted in Australia, New South Wales
Tagged American Family Travels, Manly, Manly Beach, New South Wales, Shelly Beach, Sydney, Travel
Leave a comment
Sydney: Museums
17 December 2017 – 3 January 2018
Sydney has several museums within the central business district to explore. We visited a few.
The Art Galleries of New South Wales located in The Domain near the Royal Botanical Gardens is a must see for art lovers and the casually curious. The main exhibits are free. We were lucky enough to be there during the “Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age” exhibit. The Australian and Asian art exhibits where interesting but much of the contemporary art on the lower lever was downright laughable.
Art galleries and special exhibits including one of Rembrandt’s many self portraits.
Contemporary art? I trust Australian artists have much more than this to offer.
The Australian Museum is the oldest in Australia. The natural science museum is well done and worth the admission fee.
The Australian National Maritime Museum is located in Darling Harbour and is free except for special exhibits that include tours of a submarine, destroyer, tall ship, and steam yacht and a 3D cinema. Earlier this year we visited Pearl Harbor so we did not spend the additional time and money.
The Museum of Sydney is also the site of First Government House. A few remnants of the Government House are on display but the old structure is long gone. The Museum of Sydney is housed in a modern building. We enjoyed the interactive display of old city skyline pictures and the short film about the Harbour Bridge construction. The collection was relatively small so it can be seen without a significant time investment.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is located on the Sydney Harbour and is free except for special exhibits. There is a café on the top floor that provides nice views of the harbor when the cruise ships are not blocking it.
Hyde Park Barracks was built in 1819 to house convicts during the Colonial Period.
Other museums we did not visit but might be worth consideration are the Justice and Police Museum and Powerhouse Museum.
Posted in Australia, New South Wales
Tagged American Family Travels, Museum, New South Wales, Sydney, Travel
Leave a comment
Sydney: Darling Harbour Attractions
24 December 2017 and 1 January 2018
Sea Life, Wild Life, and Madame Tussauds are all located adjacent to each other and across Darling Harbour’s Pyrmont Bridge from the Maritime Museum. An obvious tourist trap that is made more enticing by the Sydney Big Ticket which allows you to bundle 2 to 5 attractions, including these three, the Tower Eye and the Manly Sea Life Sanctuary. We wanted to see the Tower Eye observation tower and Sea Life aquarium and decided to add Wild Life zoo for a few dollars more.
Sea Life is Sydney’s aquarium. It is not the largest or nicest we’ve seen but the kids did enjoy it. Considering the bundled savings, the entrance fees were reasonable for what they had. The air-conditioning did not work when we visited so we were overly excited to arrive at the penguin adventure’s arctic chill “boat ride”.
Wild Life is a small zoo. They have small habitats with all the quintessential Australian species, including platypus which we have not yet seen anywhere else.
We are fortunate to spend 12 months in Australia and have a membership to Australia Zoo. If you are a citizen or have the luxury of time to see these animals and sea creatures in other venues or in the wild, Sea Life and Wild Life are not for you. If you are short on time, they check the boxes and allow you to see species you won’t find anywhere else in the world. We did not visit Taronga Zoo in North Sydney; however if you have time to spend this might be a nicer way to see them without leaving Sydney.
Sea Life Aquarium
Wild Life Zoo
Posted in Australia, New South Wales
Tagged American Family Travels, Darling Harbour, New South Wales, Sea Life, Sydney, Travel, Wild Life
1 Comment
Sydney: New Year’s Eve
31 December 2017
In the United States, we are one of the last major countries to celebrate the New Year. Each year we see highlights from Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris and London leading up to Times Square in NYC. When we started planning our year down under, being in Sydney for the New Years Eve fireworks was high on our wish list. Friends suggested seeing them from one of the ferries so we made reservations 6 months in advance.
We walked down to Daring Harbour after dinner to see the 8 PM Darling Harbour Flame and Light Show and the 9 PM Sydney Harbour Family Fireworks while waiting to board. The ferry took us on a tour of the various inlets and waterways for 2 hours before getting in position for the main event. It was a great way to see them and avoid fighting the crowds who camp out for the best views.
The midnight fireworks celebration was amazing – the best we have ever seen. The main focus was the Harbour Bridge but there were fireworks all around. Unfortunately my camera equipment and skill could not adequately capture them. If you are interested in seeing them, I’d recommend the video produced by the City on YouTube.
Darling Harbour
Midnight Fireworks
Posted in Australia, New South Wales
Tagged American Family Travels, Darling Harbour, Harbour Bridge, New South Wales, New Years Eve, NYE, Opera House, Sydney, Travel
2 Comments
Sydney: Tower Eye
31 December 2017
Sydney Tower Eye at 1,014 feet (309 meters) is the tallest structure in Sydney and the second tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere. We, like many tourists, just had to go up and take a look. The panoramic views of the city were nice but if your goal is a bird’s eye view of the Opera House or Harbour Bridge you will be disappointed. You can get a glimpse between some of the office buildings but not the one you might be hoping.
Posted in Australia, New South Wales
Tagged American Family Travels, New South Wales, Sydney, Tower Eye, Travel
Leave a comment
Sydney: ANZAC Bridge
17 December 2017 – 3 January 2018
Not far from Sydney’s most famous bridge, Harbour Bridge, lies a more modern example of engineering. The Glebe Island Bridge was completed in 1995. The cable-stayed bridge spans Johnstons Bay west of Darling Harbour. Re-named the ANZAC Bridge in honor of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), there is an Australian flag mounted on the eastern pylon and a New Zealand flag on the western. The bridge is similar to others throughout the world but reminded me immediately of the Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston, built as part of the “Big Dig”.
Posted in Australia, New South Wales
Tagged American Family Travels, ANZAC Bridge, Glebe Island Bridge, New South Wales, Sydney, Travel
Leave a comment
Sydney: Watson Bay
28 December 2017
Our first time on a Sydney Ferry was to Watson Bay on South Head Peninsula. We walked the trails from Watson Bay up the western coastline past Camp Cove Beach to Hornby Lighthouse on the northern tip and then down the eastern coastline through Gap Bluff and Dunbar Head to Macquarie Lighthouse. It is a scenic walk. Both lighthouses were nice but I wouldn’t say they are must see local attractions. The shoreline’s beaches and steep rock faces around the peninsula made the hike worthwhile.
If you go, beware that Lady Bay Beach is clothing optional, but unlike most nude beaches it is not shielded from view. In fact, the busy walking path goes right past the beach with all its users standing proud in plain sight. Parents were frantically shielding their children’s eyes for the entire stretch. At the very least, the City ought to install signs warning visitors what is ahead. I recommend installing some exercise equipment, most of the beachgoers we saw shouldn’t be so proud.
American Family Travels 
You must be logged in to post a comment.