Team Taylor Tidings

Wow, I love Sydney!

We were up and out the door by 7:15am this morning, ready to begin our Aussie adventures! We didn’t have an exact plan today, just a few options of things to do which made it kind of fun. I knew it would be a good day when the first thing I saw coming out of the hostel was this strange bird milling around that kind of looks like an ibis, if you know what that is. Again, I looked like a tourist, pulled out my camera, and took pictures of what probably is considered a very common bird here in Sydney. Who cares, I thought it was cool!

We started out heading toward a place called the Rocks which has a bit of history as an old convict area. On our way through the city, we were checking everything out, kind of soaking in the soul of Sydney, if you will. And I have to say I liked what I saw. It’s very hip and modern here, with quite a collection of high rise buildings and sleek malls. But nestled in here and there are some more classical-looking buildings to give it a little bit of that European flavor. It’s a blend that works for me, the old and new. I also like the spacious parks, very clean streets, and no street vendors trying to shove souvenirs or flowers in your face, an annoyance we so frequently encountered in Europe.

But what I love the most is the harbor! Once we reached the Rocks, we were suddenly in view of the Sydney Opera House across the ferry-dotted waters of the harbor. It was quite beautiful actually as the waters were sparkling under a newly risen sun. We enjoyed our walk along the water and snapped a few shots of the Opera House and the famous bridge nearby. It was especially nice as it was early enough that few people were out and about so we had the place mostly to ourselves. And the weather was perfect – clear skies with a crisp breeze!

We actually headed to the Rocks to have breakfast at a place we had heard about called Pancakes on the Rocks. They had quite the selection of pancakes! We ordered one with bananas and walnuts and another made of chocolate with strawberries! We thought they’d bring out a European-sized plate but we got quite the plate-full of pancakes! Nick and I shared and I actually felt a little bad about the calories but then we won’t hardly be eating like that on our trip and we will be doing quite a bit of walking too. Anyway, we couldn’t even finish, we were so stuffed and glad we came.

We were right near the Harbor Bridge at that point so we decided to walk across it. It wasn’t too long of a walk actually – if you went straight across it might take you fifteen to twenty minutes. But all along the way, I stopped to take pictures of the harbor, which is really very large! I couldn’t even see the ocean from the bridge, there were all these peninsulas sticking in and out of the harbor to block the view of it. So I was impressed by the size of it and how cool it is with all its little bays. What I loved were all the ferries and boats that made for some great picture, especially with the Opera House in the background!

We came straight back across once we reached the other side and headed down to another part of town called Darling Harbor. There is an aquarium there and we had heard good things about it. We decided to get a bundle ticket to the aquarium, wildlife world, and the Sydney Tower that overlooks the city.

We hit up the aquarium first and one of the first things we saw was a platypus! So, I honestly thought they were about the size of a dog, for some reason, like maybe an otter? No, they are a lot smaller than that, maybe only about 18 inches long. So that kind of made them a lot cuter. But what was really cute about them was how happy they were. Just the way they swam around and burrowed in the sand under the water, they just seemed like they couldn’t be happier that they were born as a platypus! So I had fun watching them swim around and love life.

What was really fun was I saw one sleeping outside the water. I said to Nick, “Aw look at that one sleeping, so cute!” I took a picture and as I took I realized it looked more like a rock. Well, it was a rock, haha, and Nick was quick to make fun of me on that one, not to mention a local nearby who said she’d definitely be telling her friends about the girl taking pictures of rocks! It really did look like a sleeping platypus, okay!

We passed through a shark exhibit and they had this full-sized model of a Great White Shark. Wow, scary. I could never wrap my head around how big they are so to see it spelled out like that was an eye-opener. That thing could chew up Nick without breaking a sweat, easy. But let’s not dwell on that.

They also had two of those aquariums you can go through, with the fish swimming all around you. One of them had these manatee-type guys inside, with a whole lot of other fish and some manta rays. We were kind of laughing at the manta rays because they really looked like the school teacher on Finding Nemo and their mouths are so funny. You could check them out pretty well as they “flew” over you. Some of them are huge too, way bigger than you would think and way bigger than you would want to run into in the water.

Speaking of Finding Nemo, the aquariums also had a whole lot of Dori, ya know, the forgetful companion on the show. So it was funny to see her all over the place – “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

The other notable creature in the tanks was a huge sea turtle. I mean, just his head was about the size of a hefty cantelope, and I mean hefty. Maybe a baby watermelon is a better comparison. And then the shell was probably four feet long. It was by far the biggest turtle I’d ever seen!

We also saw an exhibit with fairy penguins, the smallest in the world. They are so stinkin’ cute, just about a foot tall! We should be seeing more of those later in our trip except they will be out in the wild. We saw creepy cuttlefish too, a very ornate set of seahorses, turtles with necks nearly as long as their bodies, and HUGE lobsters and crabs. Think of a lobster the size of a dog – really.

Passing through the aquarium gift shop, we ran into some very cool Aussie hats that Nick tried on and looked mighty good in. One of them was black leather, cowboy-style with the little teeth in front kind of like Crocodile Dundee. He looked so good I nearly paid the whopping $90 for it! We have seen those hats all the over the place since and all for the same price but we will still wait to see what we see throughout Australia before we buy it, if we do.

After a quick lunch and a rest for our poor feet, we went on to the Wildlife World which is right nextdoor. There honestly was not too much spectacular about the place. We did see quite a few koala who were actually up and eating at the time, which seems lucky since they sleep about 20 hours a day. We saw one interacting with another, getting kind of annoyed with each other which was kind of funny. I got that on video, the one hissing at the other and flicking her ears, which is apparently their way of saying, “You are bothering me.”

We saw kangaroos too, of course, and a cassowary, which is supposedly the most dangerous bird in the world with their “large talons.” I guess they are pretty shy though so those injuries incurred were usually provoked. I am hoping to see one in the wild when we go up north into the rainforests. No, I am not planning to provoke one.

They did have a pretty intense display of insects and snakes which didn’t really calm our nerves for our upcoming camping trips into the Australian wilderness, haha. There are so many creepy crawlies that are way bigger than normal and I hope I don’t find any chillin’ on my chest when I wake up in my tent in the morning! Even the ants here are huge and, of course, venomous. Really? Why does everything in Australia have to be venomous and deadly?

Anyway, by the time we walked through the Rocks and the bridge and the aquarium and the wildlife world we were pretty much spent. It was about 4:15pm by then and we had a few hours to kill before our concert at the Sydney Opera House. So we just sat at the pier there and soaked up some rays for a while.

We headed to the Royal Botanical Gardens after that with nothing too special to look at it but we did see a few more ibis birds and enjoyed our walk with the water on one side and gardens on the other. We arrived at the Opera House as the sun was setting and got some cool shots of it along with the Harbor Bridge with the lights on.

As it was a Friday night, there was a lot of buzz along the harbor there. Live bands were playing everywhere, people were dressed all nice for an evening out, and musicians were out trying to make a few bucks singing and playing on street corners. I enjoyed the activity and fun but classy ambience. We found some “cheap” food for dinner and ate it on a bench overlooking the harbor.

At 8pm, we had our piano concert – Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3 - to attend at the Sydney Opera House. I was actually a little disappointed at the size of the concert hall. I thought it would be bit bigger, though it was still big, of course. I was kind of laughing at the little intro to the show. This guy with an English accent was using all this classical music jargon to explain the life of Rachmaninoff and the piano concerto, kind of like an introduction to Masterpiece Theatre with people standing around sipping their wine. And there I was standing in my jeans!

Unfortunately, this is where our day took a little downturn. I was actually pleasantly surprised to enjoy the music – I was not anticipating getting into the piece, really, but had gone more for the experience of the Opera House – but Nick and I were both so drained from a very full day that was spent all on our feet that we could hardly keep our eyes open. Nick was struggling quite a bit with his head nodding most of the concert. I just had a harder time concentrating, though I did close my eyes here and there as well. I really made an effort to stick with it though because it really was captivating to watch the lady play the piano. At the intense parts, she would kind of whip her back into the notes like she was really giving it all she had! I was impressed at how much she had to play, not only in length of time but in number of notes as it was a complex piece.

So I very much enjoyed the experience, as drained as I was, but Nick felt like he had wasted his money since he had been too tired to enjoy it at all. I felt bad for him since he had looked forward to that. I guess it’s never a good idea to book a piano concert at 8pm the first night coming to a different country!

We were so tired when we got to the hostel – our feet were killing us – but we got into our room and figured out there was one too few of beds. We talked to reception about it and they figured out that two sisters had booked the room but someone had only booked the one girl and not the other. So they moved us to a four-bed room, which is better than eight beds but we lost our “private” bathroom. Pretty annoying, the whole thing, but oh well.

All in all, it was a pretty good first day in Australia!

Pictures:

(So, in the interest of time, I just uploaded them all at once which means they are not in order. The set-up for the blogger is NOT user-friendly so rearranging them nearly gives me a heart attack, it's so slow and frustrating. So you will just have to deal with pictures being out of order.)

Here I am by the Harbor Bridge at sunset.

And here I am by the Harbor Bridge early in the morning.

This is Nick by the Wildlife World with his Kangaroo Buddy.

Here I am by a cassowary statue, "the most dangerous bird in the world."

This is the end of the Paino Concerto. The pianist came back out three times for applause!

Just a little aquarium scene. I liked the long little fish. I am hoping to see cool anenomes like this in the Reef.

Here is a cuddly kaola. Actually, she was hissing at another one earlier - kind of scary/

This guy was hungry. The lady working there said they aren't smart. They basically just decide whether to eat or sleep.

Super creepy eels. They had these pipes set up for them to rest in.

Here is the Sydney Opera House concert hall. We were a little too far back I think but we didn't pay too much so there ya go.

The Great White Shark. Maybe he is part of the "Fish Are Our Friends" Club?

I should know the name of this lizard but I wasn't paying attention well enough. But he's the one with that flap on his neck that goes up.

I just liked these frogs.

Nick is checking out these massive grasshoppers. What? Oh, sorry, didn't see that in the foreground...

I guess this thing really existed back in the day. That would be a quick death.

Here is the massive turtle we saw with his hefty cantelope-sized head.

Ah, the "ibis" by the hostel, hanging out with his cool beak.

I thought this "dragon" was cool. He was walking across his home there and reminded me of the lizard on "The Rescuers Down Under."

The famous Kookooburra. He is asleep.

I thought it was hilarious that this kangaroo was taking a nap on his back.

This was a really cool sea horse. I actually felt bad for him, he looked overburdened by all his extras.

I liked these manta rays because they looked like a swimsuit I once had, haha. Very fun jaguar skin.

Here is a fun shot of the Harbor Bridge at dusk with the restuarants in front along the harbor.

The Sydney Opera House at night.

I just thought this was funny because he was hanging out on this branch with his feet dangling and you could see the shadow of his legs on the water.

The most deadly snake in the world! I guess they normally shy away from people - thank goodness - but I will still keep my eyes peeled when we go camping!