Sydney Australia

So, now I would like to tell you a little about Sydney. We flew in from Cairns in the afternoon of Monday, February 1. Sydney is on the east coast of Australia in the state of New South Wales on the Tasman Sea. It was founded in the 18th century and much of the early city was built by convicts.

We had a bus tour of the city. We started at the historic Rocks District, which is the area where the settlers first camped and built into the rock near the shoreline. Now it is a mixture of historic structures and funky shops and restaurants. We drove through the Central Business District and through several posh residential areas with exclusive private schools.

Suzanne at Watson's Bay

We stopped at Bondi Beach so people could put their feet in the Tasman Sea and at Watson’s Bay so we could walk along the headlands and see the relics from the wreck of the ship Dunbar. We saw Pons Point, the red light district, which has been vastly cleaned up. Prostitution is legal in Australia and the American Navy docks quite close to here!  We ended up at Circular Quay where we took a harbor cruise. The beautiful Sydney Harbor Bridge spans the bay and invites people to walk across it, which Don did! We also had a very interesting tour of the Sydney Opera House which is strikingly similar to Disney Hall.

Hildie, Marie, Jane-Opera House & Bridge

There are tons of things to do in Sydney, but the second day we were there we chose to take a tour to the Blue Mountains which are outside the city to the west. We not only saw some beautiful scenery, but we went to Scenic World, an amusement park where we rode 3 kinds of aerial transportation and saw lots of beautiful eucalyptus forest. We had lunch in a small mountain village and then visited a wildlife sanctuary where we saw many kinds of birds and indigenous Australian animals – koala, kangaroo, dingo dog, python, wombat, Tasmanian devil, etc. We ended with another river cruise and enjoyed seeing the city from a different perspective.