A Full Day of Postcard Perfect Sydney

We only have two full days in Sydney, so we hit the ground running today. Well kind of. My last night in Melbourne was feverish followed by a stomach bug/headache for at least a day. So, we ventured off at a slower pace. 

We saw a seaplane land as we walked through Rose Bay

We started by taking the ferry from Rose Bay to Circular Quay in downtown Sydney. The ferry ride was fun and refreshing. We enjoyed the sun and wind and views of Sydney from the harbor. Sydney looks as amazing as the postcards. Really. Postcard perfect. We decided we definitely wanted to take a ferry again.  

The ferry approaching the Rose Bay dock

Ferry ride towards Sydney skyline with several huge cruise ships

Wiping my glasses from the salty spray

The fancy life of Rose Bay and Double Bay residents

Sailboats everywhere on a Wednesday. Are people paid just to sail and make Sydney look like a postcard?

The Sydney Opera House and The Harbor Bridge

A harbor-side view of The Sydney Opera House

After disembarking the ferry we walked over to the Sydney Opera House. I think it deserves its iconic status. The architecture was even more impressive up close and in-person. We checked at the ticket box and were surprised to see the symphony was playing that evening. We had looked online a few weeks ago and not seen this. The only tickets remaining were $69 apiece and right behind the conductor. The ticket seller kindly informed us these seats did not have good sound, which confirmed even more to us (besides the steep price) that tickets were just not in our future. 

The first building we saw outside of Circular Quay had a big Christmas tree in front

Proof we were at the Sydney Opera House

Proof we were at the Harbor Bridge

Here is the spot where all the measurements for the angles of the Opera House were made. So we took our pictures at the steps from this spot. 

Me atop the Opera House steps

I had no idea there was a geometric design on the arches

Between the Opera House arches

Interesting mathematics behind the Opera House design 

Bustling Opera House area

From the Sydney Opera House we ventured into the Royal Botanic Gardens. We wandered around a bit, but my energy was low so we did not get too far. Eventually we found a nice shady spot to sit and eat lunch. 

View of Royal Botanic Gardens from the Opera House steps

Brandon insisted we put this photo in. He was trying to make me pose like I was 200 years old. I refused. But as I was running away he snapped this awkward picture. It makes him very happy.

"A Folly for Mrs. Macquarie": A gazebo-like architectural piece depicting the follies of white settlement. It includes a dagger, an ax over the door, a ceiling animal bones, and barbed wire

Though the folly was a bit morbid, I did appreciate the bone depictions

Interesting sculptures

Rawr!

Royal Botanic Garden pond

Flowers of subtropic Sydney

Drinking from a water fountain from a fountain

Fancy Botanic Garden gate

Next we ambled through the city center taking in any sights we happened upon. St. Mary's Cathedral, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Hyde Park, Sydney Tower, and Queen Victoria Building were the major sights before reaching Darling Harbor. We had heard of Darling Harbor, but did not know what to expect. It looked very touristy and carnival-like, complete with an IMAX and Hard Rock Cafe, so we moved on. 

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Sphinx across from the art gallery

St Mary's Cathedral

View of the cathedral through a fountain in Hyde Park

We liked the spitting turtle in the fountain. I named him Leon.

Sydney Tower

Tree-lined path through Hyde Park

Ritzy Queen Victoria Building

Swarovski Crystal Christmas tree

We're mirrored under the opulent tree

We were amused by an intersection downtown Sydney where all pedestrian signals are green at once. Everyone walks right, left, or diagonal thru the intersection in a free for all. Probably actually quite efficient. 

Touristy Darling Harbor

Since we had enjoyed our ferry ride so much and our Opal cards (for public transit) had a $15 per day cap we decided to go to Manly. We took a train back to Circular Quay, but found that the ferry to Manly was going to be another 28 minutes. We had just missed the previous ferry. This was a theme for the day; we "just missed" most of our public transportation all day. Alas. 

I was feeling good, so we decided to head toward the Harbor Bridge. I had heard there was an Olympic swimming pool under a portion of the bridge. It seemed like a worthwhile thing to see. As it turned out, the pool was on the other side of the bridge. But, we appreciated the immensity of the bridge and enjoyed resting in the shade of the bridge pylons. As we rested we saw trains crossing the bridge and determined we should catch one of those at some point to check out the view. We also noted once again how Sydney looks like a postcard. 

Postcard view of the Opera House from The Rocks

Luna Park can be seen under the bridge from here. 

Windblown and resting next to the artillery under the bridge. 

We walked through The Rocks, a historic area of Sydney, on the way back to catch the Manly ferry. We did not find it very exciting or interesting, but there is a market there Friday thru Sunday which probably significantly adds to the allure. 

The Manly ferry ride was all we had hoped. We were able to see more of the harbor as well as the exit from the harbor to the Tasman Sea. We had gone to Manly on a whim, so we stopped in the visitor information center upon arrival. On the free map was an advertisement for Four Pines Brewery which we were familiar with from the beer festival we went to in Melbourne. We found the brewery, but decided we did not need a drink right then. Instead we went to Manly Beach. 

View from the Manly ferry

Sailboat and city skyline

More sailboats and Shark Beach (where we hiked yesterday) in the distance

The harbor opening to the Tasman Sea

Manly Beach is on the ocean side rather than the harbor side. This makes the wind and waves more fierce. Thus, Manly Beach is known for surfing. We found a shady bench and did some people watching. We watched people in a surf school try to surf. We were also amused by watching people try to eat on the beach, because the seagulls were vicious. Two men eating fish and chips were harassed by seagulls multiple times. As one of the men put a bite of food on his form, a seagull stole it from the fork. No joke. It was crazy. 

Manly Beach

After getting our fill of people watching we decided returning to Four Pines and splitting a beer would be a good splurge (Aussie craft beer prices are so high!). The brewery produces mostly light beers, but they had had some one-barrel releases on tap so we were able to try a Breakfast Porter. It was not Founders Breakfast Stout, but it was pretty good. We realized it had been over a month since we had had a quality craft brew. 

Four Pines Breakfast Porter

We hopped on the ferry back to Circular Quay and then a train to Lentil as Anything for dinner. We had been really excited for Lentil as Anything after our delicious experience in Melbourne. Unfortunately Brandon started to get a severe headache and then nausea on the journey. As I was feeling better, he was feeling worse. It seemed he had caught the bug I had. 

Lentil as Anything was super busy and hectic. Brandon was not in the mood to eat, understandably. Thankfully we were quickly seated by a window for some air. I ordered and ate quickly so we could leave. I had a Sri Lankan dish with pumpkin dahl, creamy potatoes, savory chickpeas, salad, and rice. All the different flavors meshed together well. It could not compete with the lentil burger we had last time, though. And, it was a bummer that Brandon was not feeling well. 

Despite feeling ill and wanting to return home to lie down, Brandon said he was okay to ride the train across the Harbor Bridge. This was the last thing we had wanted to do for the day, and it was difficult to skip it because we were not planning on returning to the city again (tomorrow will hopefully be a beach day). We found the correct train headed in the direction of North Sydney and looked forward to the bridge. To have the best vantage point we made sure to sit on the side of the train closest to the water and on the top deck of train. Yes, top deck. All the trains in Sydney are all double-decker! 

Double-decker train

You can choose to sit down below or up top 

I had fun crossing the water and taking in the views as the sun was setting. The pictures from a speeding train cannot do it justice. As we crossed to the north side of the bridge, Luna park was close and we could see the Olympic pool under the bridge we had been searching for earlier! 

Train speed views of the harbor

The sun was setting over the harbor 

At the North Sydney station we exited and waited for a train to return. On the return trip we could see Sydney Opera House, but admittedly the view had been better on the other side. We reached the ferry to Rose Bay just in time (the one time we did not "just miss" something) and settled in for the journey to our house. The sun had set and I was able to capture some pictures of Sydney. There was a full looking moon. Once again, postcard perfect. Way to go Sydney! 

Sydney Opera House beyond the Harbor Bridge 

Leaving Circular Quay after sunset 

Sydney Opera House with a full moon

Harbor Bridge with Luna Park all lit up underneath

We made it safely home and hoped a good night sleep would return us both to good health.