Australia

We arrived at Sydney Kingsford airport from Hobart in Tasmania early morning on January 23rd.  We got through customs quite quickly and came out to look for a hotel. After several phone calls and not realising that it was Australia day in a few days time, wondering why everywhere was booked, Brian managed to pull off his usual and get us a hotel with breakfast included. We stayed just outside Sydney and used the excellent rail system to get about as we where only here a week. We setteled in and began to explore the area, we caught the train to Sydney harbour the next day.

Sydney harbour is the natural harbour of Sydney Australia. It is known for its beauty and also for the fact that it was the location of the 1st European settlement in Australia. The Sydney to Hobart yacht race starts here. We caught a ferry from here and went to Manly island which is a beach area and has very impressive houses along the beach front.  From the ferry we where able to get a really good view of the Sydney harbour bridge. The bridge is used for trains, vehicles and people to go between Sydney business district and the north shore. It crosses port Jackson and was completed in 1932. The bridge was designed and built by a company from Middlesborough Teeside.  Since 1998 tourists have been able to do a bridge climb on the southern side. They are secured to the bridge by a wire lifeline and each climb lasts three and a half hours.

The Sydney Opera house was a stunning sight, it is situated on Bennelong point in Sydney harbour. It is a symbol of the city and the country and is surrounded on three sides by the harbour. We had a walk all around it and there was a lovely area leading up to the opera house with cafes and bars overlooking the the opera house. We enjoyed  a cool drink as we had hit Australia in their heatwave and the temperatures were reaching 40 C.

We had a walk around the Rocks area another day. This is the oldest area of Sydney, Its a vibrant place with lots of cafes, restaurants, shops and stalls. This area was where Captain Arthur Phillips brought his 11 ships to anchor and he sent working parties of convicts to clear the area. The area was used for tents and shelters to house the settlers and it became known as the rocks.

We had a lovely time on Australia day and spent the whole day at Darling Harbour, here they had streets entertainers, stalls and everyone relaxing and enjoying the day with family and friends. We found the Australians very friendly people and they readily acccepted us in to join in their celebrations for the day. The weather was boiling hot, so we made the most of the cool drinks in the plenty of bars along the harbour front.  We really enjoyed our time in Australia and will go back to explore more.