Sydney is a very walkable city as we have learned the past few days. Today we walked to a variety of shopping areas to browse, including the weekly Saturday morning outdoor market at The Rocks. We had some lunch and beer at a sidewalk table at a Bavarian restaurant. Here is a picture of our entertainers.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge provides a dramatic setting for a small park.

We took in an evening performance in the Playhouse space at the Opera House: An operetta entitled, “Two Weddings, One Bride,” performed by the Australian Opera. Great singing told the farce in an enjoyable way.

Walking back to the train station after the performance gave us our final views of icons on the Circular Quay.

Tomorrow morning, we head to the airport for our 14 hour flight home, crossing the international date line once again.

The hour-long guided tour of the opera house was outstanding. We so appreciated seeing various performance spaces and hearing the story of the Danish architect who was essentially fired before any of the interior work started.

The walk along the sea to the Royal Botanical Gardens adjacent to the Opera House was splendid.

A ferry ride from Circular Quay to Darlng Harbor near sunset was one of the real highlights of the day.

The day ended with a great meal at Nick’s Seafood Restaurant in Darling Harbor and an Uber trip back to the hotel. What remains? One more day of sightseeing in Sydney; then, it’s homeward bound!!

We began the day by joining the “I’m Free Walking Tour” in Sydney, having greatly enjoyed a walking tour in Melbourne with the same group. Both tours were three hours in the central areas of the two cities. Instead of paying anything up front, you pay the guide at the end whatever you wish. Along the way in today’s tour, we saw this street art using bird cages.

In Hyde Park we saw several Ibis — the bird pictured here with a long neck — like some we had seen yesterday at the Circular Quay.

Our tour guide, Michelle, is standing next to a statue in Australia Square.

Our walking group is at the final gathering spot near the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Michelle told us that the Australian Coat of Arms features a kangaroo and an emu because these two animals cannot walk backward; this symbolizes that Australia will always move forward.

When we entered the Customs House at Circular Quay, we stood over  a miniature model of Sydney.

Across from the Customs House is the Cruise Terminal, where the Dawn Princess was docked today.

We took the 30-minute ferry ride across the harbor to Manly, and strolled down the promenade along Manly Beach — a favorite escape for locals.

What better way to pass the time waiting for the return ferry ride than to enjoy chocolate at the ferry terminal?

A full day of exploring Sydney on foot!!

Today’s post will be brief, as the primary activity of the day was traveling from Melbourne to Sydney. After a leisurely breakfast in the room, we packed, checked out of the hotel and went to the airport for our flight. Upon arrival, we ditched our bags at the hotel and headed out for the Circular Quay, where the iconic opera house and bridge are located — just two train stops from the hotel. Many ferries and other excusion boats were coming in and out of this busy harbor.

It was a delight to end the day with apple and raspberry
crumble and ice cream.

G’Day.

Today we saw Australian birds and animals at the Healesville Sanctuary in rural Victoria about an hour and a half outside Melbourne.

Following the visit to the zoo, we had lunch at the restaurant at the Yering Winery in the Yarra Valley with our guide, Paul, and our five tour companions. Of course we engaged in wine tasting both there and at De Bartoli Yarra Valley Estate — all Excellent wines. On the drive back to Melbourne, we enjoyed the view of vineyards, pastures, rolling hills, and the setting sun.

Tomorrow, it’s off to Sydney!

After our first breakfast in Melbourne, we walked 15 minutes from our hotel to the meeting point for “I’m Free Walking Tours” of Melbourne — in front of the State Library of Victoria.

We arrived early enough to spend a few minutes in the Library, viewing a very interesting exhibit on immigrants from Iran, called “Building a Home Away From Home.” The exhibit consisted of several photos and personal statements from Iranian immigrants living in Melbourne. Although some immigrated soon after the Iranian revolution in 1979, most did so in the past decade, according to the journalist/photographer who did the work. Below is but one of the eight to ten moving stories of these immigrants. They long for their homeland but are so appreciative of the multiculturalism and openness of the citizens of Melbourne that they are quite loyal to Australia — a message I wish the current U.S. President would understand.

The three hour walking tour took us first to the Melbourne Jail, where we learned about an Australian hero (and criminal!), Ned Kelly, the subject three movies, the most recent of which, “Ned Kelly,” was released in 2003. We saw a monument paying tribute to Australia’s being the first country to adopt an 8-hour work day. Notice “888” at the top of the statue representing eight hours of work, eight hours of play and eight hours of rest/sleep.

We passed by many shops and restaurants, of course, but Melbourne has numerous alleys, some of which display public art under a special permit. In those locations it is legal for anyone to paint over someone else’s art, but the unwrittten rule is that you have to believe you’re going to do a better job than what you are replacing. The permit makes it different from graffiti, which is very heavily fined. Here is one example of the public art on AC/DC Lane, an alley in tribute to the Australian rock band of that name established in the 70’s.

All in all, a very good day indeed!!

Crossing the international date line is a startling experience that demonstrates a certain artificial quality for measuring time. Saturday, April 22, never existed as far as we know because we left home in a taxi at 9 pm on Friday, April 21, and arrived at our hotel in Melbourne 25 hours later — at 3 pm on Sunday, April 23. Although always a long trip to Australia, our was made longer by a two-hour departure delay at the San Francisco airport.
We disembarked the aircraft in Sydney down the stairs and onto a bus that took us to the international terminal for immigration and customs before boarding our Melbourne flight.

Our hotel, the Wyndham, is in the “Legal District” near four court houses. After settling into the room (actually a tasteful one-bedroom suite), we walked a few blocks away to Hardware Street for dinner. A two block long section of the street is a small, quaint promenade with numerous restaurants. Bev and I shared the specialty, Chicken Max, at Max’s — grilled chicken breasts stuffed with feta, spinach, and pistachios — along with wine from Australia’s well-known Yarra Valley.

The adventure continues tomorrow!!

We leave at 11:30 tonight, Friday, April 21, about two months after our wedding.