Today is time for our Darling Harbour tour. We have decided
to take the free Sydney CBD shuttle bus (Bus 555). On the way to the bus stop,
we passed by two beautiful landmarks as in Day 1. First is the St. Mary's Cathedral.
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| Built around 1868, it has Geometric Decorated Gothic style architecture. Being one of the largest cathedrals in Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney. It will be difficult to miss this in CBD. |
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| Archibald Fountain or properly called the J. F. Archibald Memorial Fountain. It depicts Apollo, representing beauty and the arts, on a central column holding out his right arm as a sign of protection over all nature. On the three plinths radiating from the central column there are figures representing Diana, the goddess of purity; a group representing the good things of the earth; Theseus slaying a Minotaur, representing the sacrifice for the good of humanity. |
We arrive on bus stop around 9 am, however free shuttle bus starts
operating by 9:30 am. After waiting for 30-45 mins, the bus finally arrived. To
our surprise, it was full of tourist, so we decided to walk to Darling Harbour
instead. Funny thing is, after a 15-minute walk, we just realize the bus stop
we plan to alight is just 3 blocks away. Apparently, we just wasted an hour.
(>_<)
A walking distance from the CBD, Darling Harbour is a must
see place for tourists. It has alot of attractions and in fact we came here twice
(More on that in Day 4 post). We first visited the Chinese Garden of Friendship. Opened in 1988, the garden offers an insight into Chinese heritage
and culture and symbolizes the bond established between China and Australia. Across
the Chinese Garden is the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. During our
visit, it was hosting the Sydney International Boat Show.
Next stop was the Paddington Market. If you are looking to
buy souvenirs to take home, this is the place to go. It has all sorts of things
from food and clothing to keychains, stuff toys, magnets and other souvenir
items. The prices are more affordable than buying in malls and shops near
tourist areas.
After circling the place for an hour, it is now lunch time.
Luckily, we were able to pass by a Korean restaurant that offers
eat-all-you-can buffet for 10 AUD per person. The lunch was very worth it since
normal meal in fastfood and foodcourt cost a minimum of 8 AUD. An evidence of how satisfied we were.
After a satisfying lunch, we continue to explore Darling
Harbour. We took pictures around the area. There were people playing outdoor table tennis, beautiful sculptures and alot of yachts.
Just on the north of Darling Harbour is our next stop, the Sydney SeaLife Aquarium. Part of the 5 in 1 combo pass we bought, the Sea Life Aquarium
is a public aquarium home to thousands of sea creatures from fishes, sharks,
squid, jellyfish and many more. It shares alot of information about marine life
and the importance of taking care of our environment. The biggest creature we
saw was the dugong or sea cow.
After exploring the sea, next we got to explore land
creatures in the Sydney Wildlife Sanctuary. The place is home to several
animals that can be found in Australia like the Tasmanian Devil, Wombat,
Wallaby, Koala and the Kangaroo, considered as Australia's most famous mascot. The
place is not very big and on the last part of the tour we get to see a very
large Saltwater Crocodile sleeping in its pond.
From Sea Life Aquarium and Wildlife Sanctuary, we walk
across Pyrmont Bridge to visit the National Maritime Museum.
On the docks, near
the museum are several navy ships which include a Destroyer. We also get to see
a full-scale replica of Captain Cook's famous ship, the HMB Endeavour. The
original ship was actually a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant
James Cook commanded on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New
Zealand from 1769 to 1771.
Day 2 of our tour is not yet over. Our last stop for this
day was a tour around Town Hall area. First, we went to see the Queen VictoriaBuilding. QVB, as it is famously called, is a late nineteenth-century
Romanesque Revival building that is designed to be a shopping center.
Just across QVB, we find the Sydney Town Hall and beside it
is St. Andrew's Cathedral. That is it for day 2.
From the busy city area, day 3
we go to the peaceful and enchanting Blue Mountains.
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