Each weekend we try to see a little more of Sydney... Last weekend we went to Darling Harbour, a family friendly waterfront area. There was a circus-y event called Hoopla running so there were some interesting things to watch. We ended up walking up the east side of the harbor and across the Pyrmont Bridge where we found the Australian National Maritime Museum. Entrance was free, so we dropped in for a quick look around. Then we walked back down the west side back to where we started and we shared a gelato. YUM!
The weekend before that we visited the Royal Botanic Gardens, which is situated right on the harbour. What a beautiful place!! We walked all but the northwest section and saw some great harbour views. There was also a huge colony of flying foxes (giant bats) living in the park. We kept hearing screeching and we assumed birds were making the noises until we looked up and saw hundreds of bats hanging in the trees!
A couple of weekends earlier we visited Sydney's Taronga Zoo which is on a cliff overlooking, you guessed it, the harbour! Lots of cool Australian animals: kangaroos, koalas, and platypuses, OH MY! There was one section where the roos and wallabies (and a lone emu) were free to walk around us, so we were able to get right next to them!
One fun weekend we visited the Royal National Park two days in a row! On Saturday we took a train down to the park, and did a bushwalk from Heathcote Station to Waterfall Station on the Karloo and Uloola Tracks. We took a break at the Karloo Pools where Kara got in the water and swam around. We got a little lost further down the trail and had to backtrack until we caught sight of the trail again. That was a little worrying since we were really in the middle of nowhere and we hadn't seen any people for at least an hour! The next day we visited a church and the pastor offered to drive us out to the coastal side of the park! He took us through the park and up to Bulli Lookout, a stunning viewpoint of the coastline.
A week before that we took a short trip down to Botany Bay, the original landing spot of the First Fleet. We visited the excellent La Perouse Museum which told the compelling story of the French explorer Jean François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse. He explored all around the Pacific, was in Botany Bay for the arrival of the First Fleet, and then he and his ships were never heard from again. The shipwrecks have since been discovered, and there are remnants of the wrecks on display at the museum. We also walked around the bayside park grounds and we were able to cross a bridge to Bare Island and explore a bit.
Our first outing was to Hyde Park and the surrounding area. We visited the ANZAC memorial, dedicated to Australian and New Zealand veterans. Walked all through the park, took a peek into St. Mary's Cathedral and St. James' Church, and then walked through the city to the Queen Victoria Building.
The amazing thing is there is still TONS of the city left to see! And then there is even more tons to see beyond the city! Life as a tourist ain't bad...
