Distractions, reflections

Having ended the previous day at King’s Cross station, we returned back to the same station in the morning to walk north on Victoria Avenue.  In the daylight, we got a better view of the large houses and apartments.

Looking west down the McElhone stairs was Woolloomooloo, and central Sydney beyond that.

We had mapped out a stroll to see the Sydney neighbourhoods, so we proceeded down the stairs.

Wended our way west and north, we approached Cowper Wharf across a wide roadway, on the edge of Potts Point.

The fleet headquarters for the Royal Australian Navy precludes direct access to the waterfront at this point.  Read more... (1198 words, 41 images, estimated 4:48 mins reading time)

On the Saturday, we had arranged for a meeting around lunchtime in The Rocks.  We had enough time in the morning to start one CityRail station south of our destination, and walk northeast.  Near the Wynyard station, we encountered the Australian Aboriginal Art Gallery down a flight of stairs on George Street.

There was a broad selection of didgeridoos, which our sons didn’t recognize.

The shopkeeper accommodated us with a demonstration.

The pots and paintings were interesting, but not the style likely for our livingroom.

Taking a print back on  plane might have been manageable, if we wanted to carry a packing tube.

Coming out of the basement storefront, we walked back into the brilliant sunlight.

Wynyard Park was shaded by trees and surrounded by high rise towers.

In the square, the statue of John Dunmore Lang commemorates a prominent 19th century Presbyterian clergyman.  Read more... (902 words, 42 images, estimated 3:36 mins reading time)

On a family vacation, there’s somewhat less irony in following lunch at a fish market to watching fish in an aquarium.  We rode the bus back to the city centre and walked west towards the harbour.

Looking south from the pedestrian bridge, the proximity of the Sydney Aquarium to the elevated roadway underscores the increased value of the real estate by the harbour.

At the Sydney Aquarium, entry for the family was through the shark’s jaws.

Like many aquariums, there are displays behind glass, like the Eastern Water Dragon.

Less common in aquariums is the tunnel in the oceanarium.  We took a long ramp down, leading to areas below harbour level.  It’s cool and placid down there.  We waited a few moments, and a shark swam overhead.  Read more... (323 words, 17 images, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

On the first morning after a long trans-Pacific flight, the fish market is good tourist destination.  Earlier is better.  The Sydney Fish Market is a short walk west from the bus stop in Pyrmont where we got off.  After passing under the Western Distributor elevated freeway, we found low building around a big parking lot.

The first store we encountered was Deep Seafood Cafe and Oyster Bar.  We were still early for lunch.

The lobster and shrimp might have been attractive to most people, but half of our family is allergic to them.

We walked over a few more doors to De Costi Seafood, which also had displays full of shrimp.

Getting service from behind the sneeze guards requires some service.

The blue swimmer crabs were on feature.  Read more... (603 words, 31 images, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

With a 2009 conference in Australia, our family planned a once-in-a-lifetime vacation.  We would spend almost three weeks in the land down under, beginning with seven days in Sydney.  To reduce the possibility of misconnections with Eric returning from Beijing, we had him travel from Toronto so that we could all leave together, five days later.   Airport check-in was slightly complicated as we discovered that Noah’s electronic travel authorization to enter Australia had not been processed properly with the rest of us.

Air Canada suggested that we board the flight from Toronto to Vancouver, and get the e-visa just before boarding on the next leg.  At the Maple Leaf Lounge at YVR, the airline had to try the online application multiple times before achieving success.  In the meantime, we were still catching up on being a family of six again, and enjoy the complimentary food and beverages.  During the layover, our sons had time to taste all of the snacks, and sampled the variety of beer, wine and liquor (offsetting for my many years of non-consumption in airline transfers).

Vancouver to Sydney is about 15 hours on the plane.  Crossing over the international date line resulted in us completely missing Canada Day.  I did my usual strategic sleeping and watching movies.  The flight wasn’t completely full, so we rotated into two-seat sleeping positions.  From my previous trips to Australia, I expected the aircraft disinsection procedure just before landing — flight attendants on a 2-minute walk down the aisle with insecticide aerosols — and recommended that our family stay with heads under blankets until they were done.

The airport in Sydney is south of the city.  Our hotel was north of the city, across the harbour.  We bought tickets for the airport link and a 7-day orange travelpass for trains, ferries and buses.  From the airport terminal, the first train took us to Sydney Central station.

We had left Toronto on an early summer evening flight to Vancouver, connected outbound from Vancouver almost at midnight, and boarded Sydney trains just after rush hour of a southern hemisphere winter morning.  I drew attention wearing summer shorts and sandals.  Donning a jacket and socks wasn’t quite warm enough, so it would be long pants for the week in Sydney.

We would ride the CityRail Northern line frequently in the days to follow.  Sydney’s transit maps are relatively straightforward.  Read more... (903 words, 15 images, estimated 3:37 mins reading time)