Day Two in Sydney

Jan 13

This was John's first full day in Sydney. The first thing he did after eating his shredded wheat and partly frozen milk (the room fridge was set too low) was to go and get a Sydney Pass for three days.

The pass would give John complete access to the two 'hop on hop off' explorer buses (one for Sydney and the other for Bondi), all local trains, all local buses , all Sydney Harbour ferries and the trip back to the airport. And it was only a little more than a half-day Gray Line tour of Melbourne!

John found that he was really close to the Darling Harbour where he had gone the day before. Yesterday, not knowing the city, he had taken te long way.

Anyway, he got on the first explorer bus that came along but the driver couldn't take Visa. He took John anyway and dropped him off at a stop near a tourist info place up the line. There John talked to an Aussie couple, Wayne and Dawn, who were in the same circumstances. They were very friendly but did other things while John got on the next bus so they lost track of each other.

John was determined to video all that he could see from the bus so stayed on for the whole two-hour trip. The driver noticed and wondered why John wasn't getting off at any of the stops. John explained that he wanted to see everything and decide later where to get off. This he did, at Circular Quay where he had planned to take the ferry to Manly, a famous Sydney beach. But it had left already and he was feeling a little hungry so he took a ferry back to Darling Harbour.

By this time it was nearly lunch time so John walked back to his hotel (a 5 min walk at most). There he had some pop and a madeleine cake and had a short rest.

Then he was off again. When he caught the bus this time he got off at Sydney Opera House. He walked about the grounds and saw that it was, indeed, a magnificent building up close as it is from the distance. The he caught the next bus and got off at the Royal Botanical Gardens.

These were amazing. Although they could not be as lush as those of Christchurch (that John had toured with Peter) because of the climate, they were huge! They went on and on - a fernarium, a palm tree grove, threatened and endangered plant garden, a rose garden, a tropical rainforest, a semi tropical forest, a Wollemi Pine once thought extinct but found in 2000 near Sydney. Although John didn't think he would be impressed by a botanical garden this was somehow different - impressive in its size, its diversity, its grounds, and its aesthetic where they ask you to walk on the grass and make it yours. John took a couple of hours here.



By this time the clouds were rolling in and John's aviation weather class came back to him telling him that warm front was fast approaching so he hopped on the next explorer bus and got off downtown where he had seen another RSL club. He went in for dinner and had the special - American ribs. He also had a beer and as it was happy hour the pint only cost $3.

As he left the wind had come up and rain was splattering the sidewalk. He was lucky to be able to walk under the eaves that most of the downtown stores have until he got back to the hotel.

As I am writing this a thunder storm has come by. This is the first rain he has seen since arriving in Australia. John will have to wear his rainjacket for the next two days according to the weather people.

TRB