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| The Grounds & Marina at our Maggie Island Apartment |
This morning was slow and easy. We visited with the Lorikeets on our deck, had breakfast downstairs at the Boardwalk restaurant, then slowly packed up for our journey south. At around 9:30, we hopped the ferry to Townsville – then got a taxi to the airport, and waited about an hour in a comfortable lounge for our Virgin Australia, 2 ½ hour flight to Sydney.
As the plane approached Sydney we flew right over Sydney Harbor, with great views of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge. A great way to first set our sights on these incredible landmarks.
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| Sydney from the Sky - Opera House & Harbor Bridge |
From the airport, we took a shuttle bus to our hotel, but since we ended up being almost the last people to get dropped off – we ended up getting an unanticipated tour of the downtown area. When we finally arrived and checked in, we went to our 9th floor hotel room, and opened the drapes. Wow! An incredible view of the Opera House and Bridge, and the rest of downtown.
Since Sydney is such a large city and we only have a day and two nights here, we decided once again to see the sights with the help of the HoHo bus. (Hop On Hop Off) And since the fee is for 24 hours, and we were able to pick up the bus about a block from our hotel room, we purchased our ticket this evening and rode the bus to the Opera House.
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| Amazing - We're Down Under! |
Once we got there it was just gorgeous. The light was perfect as it was about 2-3 hours before sunset, and there were thousands of people out, mostly drinking at the Opera House Bar. Just a great sight and vibe. We spent at least an hour walking around the harbor, taking in the sights, taking photos and checking out the various restaurants. We finally ended up at the SeaRock Café – outdoor dining with a view of the Harbor Bridge.
Joanie had a glass of wine and I had a local amber beer (actually not too bad), and we split an entrée of olives slow roasted in balsamic vinegar – and they were awesome! Slightly warm and very favorable. Glad we ordered that, because the $29 order of fish and chips we were splitting was horrible – weirdest tasting fish. Joanie couldn’t stand it; I ate about half of it, with the help of some tartar sauce. Joanie learned this first, and I am finally catching on to the fact that the only good food to eat in Australia seems to be Asian and Italian. Everything else seems way overpriced and bland.
So after dinner we caught a taxi back to our hotel, bought a bottle of wine from a Bottle Shop near our hotel and went back to our room, enjoying a glass of wine and the incredible view.
With the exception of those lousy fish and chips – a great introduction to Sydney. Can't wait to explore more tomorrow!
