The stunning sights of Sydney unfold after flying from Cairns, and our downtown hotel provides a room with a view, or rather a room with “the” view: Sydney’s dazzling Opera House.

Without leaving the hotel our sightseeing has begun. From the 31st floor atop the Intercontinental the treat of a fabulous sunset unfolds beyond the city and creates a backdrop in the Blue Mountains that we will visit in three days’ time. Continue reading Day 11: Night Greets our Arrival in Sydney →

I set the alarm for sunrise, and it rose splendidly! Scurrying to Sydney Harbor, there were ferries starting morning runs, joggers doing the same, and one madman taking over 100 photos. By the time the sun crested the peaks of the Opera House, my camera decided enough was enough at this hour, and the LCD viewer screen plaintively explained, “Battery Exhausted.” Continue reading Day 12: All ’round Sydney by car →

After a hotel breakfast, ferry tickets were purchased at Circular Quay (pronounced “key”) for our debut ride on the water. The most efficient way to sashay about the most popular sights is definitely to float on a boat. The “Sydney Ferries” are the public-owned crafts, like a bus line with very prompt schedules never affected by stop lights. There are also private ferry lines running on the major routes, and small water taxis near many of the docks for transportation on your schedule, direct to your destination.

Our first target this morning was the first stop on the “Darling Harbor” route, north from the massive wharf area at the Quay, Continue reading Day 13: Sydney by Ferry and Foot →

In each of our three Australia locations we spent one day “out.” For Melbourne that was the Great Ocean Road tour; for Port Douglas it was boating on the Great Barrier Reef; here in Sydney it was the Blue Mountains tour. We might have known this excursion wouldn’t be “Great” since that word wasn’t in the name this time. Continue reading Day 14: Rain, Rain, Go Away →

We came, we saw, we Sydney’d.

It was time to see things that had been recommended while we were on site, to look into museums that could deepen our knowledge, and to walk portions of the city that had not felt our feet. This was our last day in Sydney and last in Australia before flying home to the U.S.A. Continue reading Day 15: Veni, Vidi, Sydney! →