Walking tour of Sydney

We got to enjoy the extra hour of sleep with the change to standard time. We were staying at an Australian major hotel chain at the airport, the Ibis. It sort of reminded me of a european hotel room with respect to the room size. I dawned on me this morning that it incorporated a rather unique bathroom. Fairly compact, like you would find on a 50 ft sailboat as a deluxe owner's head. In fact, I think it was! All moulded fibreglass with a teak and holly floor. Check it out....

We had a short walk down the street from the Ibis to the train to downtown. A modern double deck electric train that ran both underground and above ground on our trip to the CBD. Only $8 each compared to $75 for a taxi.

There was a train station only three blocks from our hotel which is very centrally located. An interesting "flatiron" building which has been totally updated.

We arrived around 10:30 and were able to drop our bags while we went for an exploratory walk to the waterfront. We stopped at Starbucks for a late breakfast and did a bit of strolling around "The Rocks" and seeing some of the sights on the waterfront.

The Circular Quay had the requisite buskers entertaining the cruise ship crowd...

Some folks taking the $200 "bridge walk" along the girders....

Luckily the stores are closed today....

After checking into our hotel, we headed to the City Hall to hook up with a 3 hour guided walking tour of the CBD. The tour was led by a university student who provided a very good narrative of the history of Sydney and showed us a number of unique buildings and features.

The Aussie Coat of Arms, the significance of the two critters, the kangaroo and emu - they stand on two feet, can't walk backwards and are pretty tasty to eat...

The tour ended in The Rocks area and we ended up staying there for supper at a bar/restaurant with some country entertainers playing to a holiday crowd.

After supper we got to enjoy the lights of the harbour area as the sun is now setting early.