Distractions, reflections

David Ing, at large … Sometimes, my mind wanders

2009/07/04 Wynyard, The Rocks, Sydney Harbour

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.

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The shopkeeper accommodated us with a demonstration.

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

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

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

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

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In the square, the statue of John Dunmore Lang commemorates a prominent 19th century Presbyterian clergyman.

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Meandering north, St. Philip’s Church was on our way through Church Hill.

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St. Philip’s wasn’t active on a Saturday morning.

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Wending our way towards The Rocks, the path took us by the sideroad beside the Cahill Expressway.  In Sydney, public works seem to continue on Saturdays.

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The pub outside the Australian Hotel might have been good for people-watching, but it was too early in the day.

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Around the corner, we saw we were approaching  The Rocks … when we could find a path down to Harrington Street

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We had a good view of the roofs near the Rocks.

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A long flight of stairs down by Susannah Place seemed to be the most direct way.

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In The Rocks, Argyle Street has kiosks set up for weekend market.

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We found Brent, Amanda and Hayden.  The boy wasn’t used to hanging out with a family of four sons.

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Noah was shopping for genuine Ugg boots as gifts, and Brent suggested The Rocks Hatters as reputable.

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The Rocks Market has kiosks with shopkeepers hawking jewellery and gifts.

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With our suitcases packed for three weeks of travel, we weren’t really in the buying mood.  Still, a market atmosphere is always fun.

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Diana and Brent caught up on news.  They had just recently reconnected on Facebook for the first time since 1984, when Diana and I moved from Vancouver.

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In the courtyard pub at the Orient Hotel, we had a lunch sampling the local cuisine.

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Our sons swapped around the dishes to try the lamb sausages and the battered fish.

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Hayden wouldn’t enjoy our afternoon of continuous walking, so we said goodbye for the day.

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Our family wandered back through a maze of buildings packed tightly together in the Hospital Precinct.

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By the Sydney City Mission, we took the stairs up.

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Approaching Susannah Place on the terrace from the back side, we stopped briefly at the corner store, but didn’t tour 19th century working class life.

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There’s a pedestrian entry up to the Sydney Harbour Bridge that gives free access to a view by the roadway.  The stairs up are past the storefront for the Bridge Climb where visitors can get wired up to climb the arches.

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On the ascent, there’s a view of an arch into park by the Sydney Observatory.

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The top of the stairs open up to a plaza.  The last flight of steps had a group of tourists resting.

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Visitors can walk up to the edge of the roadway by the south entrance of the bridge, where there are barricades to keep people safe.

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The pedestrian walk across the Sydney Harbour is on the east side of the bridge.  The west side is supposed to have a cycle path that we didn’t see.

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Looking farther east, the Glenmore Hotel has a prominent sign for accommodations with a great view of the harbour.

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The Sydney Opera House is to the east, beyond The Rocks, at Circular Quay.

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From the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a really long telephoto lens gives the iconic image with a from a higher perspective than from the water’s edge.

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Back down the stairs, we looked meandered towards base of the bridge.  We passed by an overlook of the tents of the kiosks of The Rocks Market that we had toured earlier.

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The most direct route took us through old buildings that have been renovated into shops and restaurants, down to Hickson Road.

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From the lawn under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we could see the tourists on the Bridge Climb.  We had satisfied ourselves that the stairs are enough.

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We walked over to Circular Quay West, and paused for a moment on the wharf, with the Opera House in the background.

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On this side of the Circular Quay are steps up to the renovated buildings with shops

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Looking back over our shoulders to the northwest, we could see where the Harbour Bridge meets Circular Quay.

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Continuing south on Circular Quay, the ferry docks have officer towers behind them.  Although we were staying on the north shore, trying to take ferries to Macquarie Park would be considerable less direct than the CityRail.

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The CityRail station at Circular Quay is a major terminal, with the platforms elevated.

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Our second day of touring Sydney had included a lot of walking.  We had an early dinner, and went to bed early to recover some more from jet lag.

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