March 2 to 4, 2009What a wonderful city! What a wonderful harbour!! After settling in at our hotel, the new Ibis near Darling Harbour, we boarded one of the London-like double-decker buses
for a general overview of downtown. Well, let us tell you there were a lot of ‘Oh, my gods!’ going on as we rounded various corners. Don’t know how many pictures we have taken of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge but everyone is going to be really tired of them. This is a busy, bustling city with a combination of older Victorian type architecture sitting among the newer skyscrapers. On all sides weaving in and out is the harbour with ferries and cruise ships running here and there.
March 3 we got up early and grabbed the double-decker again, this time for a trip out to Bondi Beach, one of the most popular swimming and surfing beaches in the 
area – check that: the world. The fact that a surfer had been bitten last week by a – ahem – shark didn’t seem to faze anyone because it was well used. There are markers, guards ready and airplanes patrolling. After Bondi (pronounced “Bond-eye”) we walked through Hyde Park and into the Queen Victoria Building, one of the most incredible shopping concourses you can imagine. Built in the lat
e 1800s, also as a shopping centre, it was almost demolished in the 1920s. Someone with courage and foresight prevented this happening, and today the QVB is an eye-popping mass of shops and eateries.
Still with energy to spare The Intrepid MacDonalds strode north and after a drink in Sydney’s oldest pub, took a tour of the Sydney Opera House. Wow! Designed by a Danish architect, the building cost well over $100 million and houses concert and opera auditoriums side by side with three theatres
below. There is quite a bit of construction now since they are updating inside and putting in conveniences such as escalators. Until now anyone not able to climb the hundreds of steps has had to go in the stage door and be taken up by freight elevator.
Day three (March 4) began with a walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens to Mrs. McQuarrie’s chair, followed by a stroll around the bay back to the Opera House where we picked up our tickets to the production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly before walking, yes walking, over the dizzyingly high Harbour Bridge, fondly called the Coathanger by locals, and travelling back by ferry from the North Shore.
Well, as for the opera, it was not only well-sung and well-acted, it was a sumptuous visual presentation, with simple but effective special effects such as floating candles in a shallow pool surrounding the central stage. Imaginative scene changes and clever lighting made the tragic story of Cio-Cio San all the more powerful. There were more than a few tears shed at the end. Following the show we struggled to figure out the local bus system in order to get home at (for us) a late hour.
Are you tired yet? We are.
area – check that: the world. The fact that a surfer had been bitten last week by a – ahem – shark didn’t seem to faze anyone because it was well used. There are markers, guards ready and airplanes patrolling. After Bondi (pronounced “Bond-eye”) we walked through Hyde Park and into the Queen Victoria Building, one of the most incredible shopping concourses you can imagine. Built in the lat
e 1800s, also as a shopping centre, it was almost demolished in the 1920s. Someone with courage and foresight prevented this happening, and today the QVB is an eye-popping mass of shops and eateries.Still with energy to spare The Intrepid MacDonalds strode north and after a drink in Sydney’s oldest pub, took a tour of the Sydney Opera House. Wow! Designed by a Danish architect, the building cost well over $100 million and houses concert and opera auditoriums side by side with three theatres
below. There is quite a bit of construction now since they are updating inside and putting in conveniences such as escalators. Until now anyone not able to climb the hundreds of steps has had to go in the stage door and be taken up by freight elevator.Day three (March 4) began with a walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens to Mrs. McQuarrie’s chair, followed by a stroll around the bay back to the Opera House where we picked up our tickets to the production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly before walking, yes walking, over the dizzyingly high Harbour Bridge, fondly called the Coathanger by locals, and travelling back by ferry from the North Shore.
Well, as for the opera, it was not only well-sung and well-acted, it was a sumptuous visual presentation, with simple but effective special effects such as floating candles in a shallow pool surrounding the central stage. Imaginative scene changes and clever lighting made the tragic story of Cio-Cio San all the more powerful. There were more than a few tears shed at the end. Following the show we struggled to figure out the local bus system in order to get home at (for us) a late hour.
Are you tired yet? We are.
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