Sydney!
Yes, you may have noticed a lack of updates in the past week. It's due to initially my preoccupation with getting prepared for Sydney, then the actual trip. Here is a summary of what happened:
Best things:
Went to Manly on the ferry and back by bus and train. Enjoyed seeing Sydney suburbs from the ferry and then seeing some Sydney streets on the bus. While we were at Manly we saw a beach volleyball school in action. All the girls were in skimpy bikini's - is that compulsary even in training?
Also, while in Manly we had lunch at the 'Wood and Stone' - highly recommended it to everyone. Does pizzas with lots of toppings, lovely starters with generous portions.
Went on the Monorail (Couldn't stop singing the Monorail song from the Simpsons all weekend) that runs from Pitt Street to Darling Harbour and back. See here.
Got to meet Michelle, my IBM account manager. We had a seafood lunch at Darling Harbour on Friday and chatted about how things were going in our account.
Went for a walk from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay on the Friday evening.
Went to the Taronga Zoo (with about 200 million billion others). Most of the animals were taking it easy as it was a hot day - but this lioness was active.
Went shopping at the Queen Victoria Building - a lovely building with lots of speciality shops, including a chocloate shop with a huge bunny. Also went to the Florsheim shop and got two pairs of shoes at a very good price.
Went to the Sydney Observatory. Was able to see the sun giving off flares and even able to see Sirius during the day. I never knew you could see a star in daylight, but apparently there are a few that are bright enough to be seen with a telescope.
Air New Zealand didn't even try to give me Hubbard's Cereal for breakfast on the way over.
Bad things
A restaurant called "I'm Angus" at the Cockle Bay Wharf - it does nice food but the service was pretty shoddy the night we went. They didn't bring a drink we ordered, never came to collect payment, basically ignored us the whole night. I might have been more forgiving if it had been busy, but it was only one third full.
The IMAX theatre didn't show any movies that we wanted to see at a reasonable time.
The loud, bitchy teenage girls on the Manly to Chatswood bus. Why did they have to sit right next to us?
How sore our feet were by the end of each day!
Other things
Chaucey was impressed by the double-deck trains. I wasn't so impressed by the run-down look of Sydney's rail service, except at the airport station. Not surprised to learn it's privately owned, whereas all the other services are state run!
Chaucey was not so impressed with me when I showed her that the Opera House is actually three separate buildings. But it was a lovely day.
We say five wedding partys getting the photos taken
Overall impression
I must say I actually enjoyed Sydney much better than my previous visits. The weather was still a bit changable and windy most of the time, but it has been cleaned up a lot since I last went - presumably for the Olympic Games.
Still, there are a few things I still want to see in Sydney so I will be back!
Best things:
Went to Manly on the ferry and back by bus and train. Enjoyed seeing Sydney suburbs from the ferry and then seeing some Sydney streets on the bus. While we were at Manly we saw a beach volleyball school in action. All the girls were in skimpy bikini's - is that compulsary even in training?
Also, while in Manly we had lunch at the 'Wood and Stone' - highly recommended it to everyone. Does pizzas with lots of toppings, lovely starters with generous portions.
Went on the Monorail (Couldn't stop singing the Monorail song from the Simpsons all weekend) that runs from Pitt Street to Darling Harbour and back. See here.
Got to meet Michelle, my IBM account manager. We had a seafood lunch at Darling Harbour on Friday and chatted about how things were going in our account.
Went for a walk from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay on the Friday evening.
Went to the Taronga Zoo (with about 200 million billion others). Most of the animals were taking it easy as it was a hot day - but this lioness was active.
Went shopping at the Queen Victoria Building - a lovely building with lots of speciality shops, including a chocloate shop with a huge bunny. Also went to the Florsheim shop and got two pairs of shoes at a very good price.
Went to the Sydney Observatory. Was able to see the sun giving off flares and even able to see Sirius during the day. I never knew you could see a star in daylight, but apparently there are a few that are bright enough to be seen with a telescope.
Air New Zealand didn't even try to give me Hubbard's Cereal for breakfast on the way over.
Bad things
A restaurant called "I'm Angus" at the Cockle Bay Wharf - it does nice food but the service was pretty shoddy the night we went. They didn't bring a drink we ordered, never came to collect payment, basically ignored us the whole night. I might have been more forgiving if it had been busy, but it was only one third full.
The IMAX theatre didn't show any movies that we wanted to see at a reasonable time.
The loud, bitchy teenage girls on the Manly to Chatswood bus. Why did they have to sit right next to us?
How sore our feet were by the end of each day!
Other things
Chaucey was impressed by the double-deck trains. I wasn't so impressed by the run-down look of Sydney's rail service, except at the airport station. Not surprised to learn it's privately owned, whereas all the other services are state run!
Chaucey was not so impressed with me when I showed her that the Opera House is actually three separate buildings. But it was a lovely day.
We say five wedding partys getting the photos taken
Overall impression
I must say I actually enjoyed Sydney much better than my previous visits. The weather was still a bit changable and windy most of the time, but it has been cleaned up a lot since I last went - presumably for the Olympic Games.
Still, there are a few things I still want to see in Sydney so I will be back!
posted by Michael at
6:37 PM
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