Sea to Sea in Canada: Sydney: More Than Just the Opera House

Sydney Opera House

Now, we are back to Australia in the city of Sydney. The weather was overcast and it rained or drizzled throughout the day. We were met by Bruce and Dawn, who were friend's of Al's Mom during her years in Australia following WW2. Al had stayed with them during his visit in 1979. We stayed with them for two nights. Once we were picked up, we were taken to many different places of interest. It is so wonderful to have your own personal tour guides. We were told many things about the area that we would not have heard by any commercial tour guide.

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds the world's largest natural harbour, and sprawls towards the Blue Mountains to the west. Residents of Sydney are known as "Sydneysiders".

Sydney Harbour. It is very busy with ferries moving people from one side of the harbour to another.

Bridge in Sydney.

People actually pay to climb up the arch of the bridge to the top.

A group climbing the bridge.
Sorry, we did not do this. Not enough time.
That is my story and I'm sticking to it.

Nice view of the Sydney Opera House

Another view of the City and the Luna Park

View from Fairfax Loop Walking Track

One of the sail boats in the harbour

On our walk we saw many types of flowers and birds.

Bruce, Dawn, Bev and Al

Freshwater Beach. Flags communicate the condition of the surf.

Housess are very close to the edge overlooking Freshwater Beach

"The Lifeguard".
Actually there was a lifeguard club on the beach but this was the only "lifeguard" we saw

Bondi Beach and Vet

Bondi Beach is s a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb. Bondi Beach is located 7 km east of Sydney. Bondi Beach is one of the most visited tourist sites in Australia. "Bondi" is an Aborginal word meaning water breaking over rocks or noise of water breaking over rocks. Bondi Beach is about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long.

Surf Living Saving Australia has given different hazard ratings to Bondi Beach. While the northern end has been rated a gentle 4 (with 10 as the most hazardous), the southern side is rated as a 7 due to a famous rip current known as the "Backpackers' Rip" because of its proximity to the bus stop, the fact that many backpackers and tourists do not realize that the flat, smooth water conceals a rip current and is quite dangerous, and the unwillingness of tourists to walk the length of the beach to safer swimming. The south end of the beach is generally reserved for surfboard riding. Yellow and red flags define safe swimming areas and visitors are advised to swim between them.

There is an underwater shark net, however it does not stretch the entire beach. It is made up of overlapping sections. Many other beaches along the same stretch of the coast have similar shark nets. Pods of whales and dolphins have been sighted in the bay.

The Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club maintains this pool.
I didn't see any icebergs and I don't think anyone would ever see one.

A surfing Class in the rain. Nothing will stop a surfer

The Bondi Vet: There is a TV show called Bondi Vet which features several veterinarians from the Bondi Beach area. While in Ontario, I used to watch it all the time. It was a great way to see the variety of Australian animals as well as regular family pets. It was very interesting. A highlight of our trip to the area was that I visited one of the Veterinary Hospitals featured in the show. I had seen the hospital on the show so I was familiar with what the interior looked like. You should check out the TV show. Very interesting and well told.

Dr. Chris Brown is the young, good-looking vet that is one of a few vets featured on the show. I was hoping that I could meet him but he was out of the country and I had my photo taken with his "stand-in". They also let me include one of their foster kittens, a black one at that. Very appropriate since most of our foster kittens in Newfoundland were black.

Bev with the foster kitten and the Dr. Chris Brown "stand-in" or should it be cut-out.
It was a fun visit.

Slimy Thing

Although these slugs below are from different countries and are from opposite sides of the world it is amazing how similar they are. The one on the left we found on the walkway at Bruce and Dawn's place in Sydney, Australia while the one on the right is from our backyard in Newfoundland Canada.

Creepy Crawly Things

We had a great visit to the Australian Museum to view the Spider Exhibit. The exhibit showed the wide variety of spiders that live in Australia. I did not realize that there were so many different types of spiders and how they lived. Of course, Australia has some very large spiders, some of which are venomous. Each one has a different way of housing and protecting itself. We saw a live demonstration of spiders being fed, some successfully and others not.

A mother spider with babies on its back. At some point the mother will awaken
the babies and they will then eat the mother. Apparently this is a lesson (scarifice)
that the mother is teaching them about feeding.

Click here to see more about Spiders Spiders Exhibit at Australian Museum

So now that I have learned so much about spiders, I was on the look out for various types while in Australia hoping that I would recognize and avoid any dangerous ones. It was fascinating to learn about spiders and although some are pretty scary there are some beautiful ones such as the Peacock Spider.

Below are some of the spider that we saw in Bruce and Dawn's garden

The Leaf Curling Spider curls a leaf in its web where it will hide until prey comes along

I don't know what kind of spider this is but it was huge. In the backyard in Sydney

Here is another huge spider that was just outside of our bedroom window.

Various Spider webs around the house where we were staying

Another huge spider

Another Leaf Curling spider

The museum also had other exhibits concerning the urban wildlife in Australia, the aboriginals and animals from around the world. The exhibits were of high quality and I would recommend this museum as part of any visit to Sydney. The museum is also across the street from Hyde Park which is beautiful and spacious. A nice park to stroll through.

Queen Victoria Building

After the museum we went looking for a good place to have lunch. We walked down to the Queen Victoria Building, commonly known as the QVB. It is a late nineteenth-century building which replaced the original Sydney markets on the site and designed by the architect George McRae in the central business district of Sydney. Built as a monument to the long reigning monarch, construction took place in dire times, as Sydney was in a severe recession. The elaborate architecture was specially planned for the grand building so the Government could employ many out-of-work craftsmen — stonemasons, plasterers, and stained window artists — in a worthwhile project. It is beautiful inside and out. There is a large statue of Queen Victoria at the main entrance. There are several levels of shops to wander through. You can see several antique clocks hanging from the high ceiling and the stained glass window can still be seen.

Statue of Queen Victoria at the entrance of QVB

The Wishing Well dedicated to all deaf and blind children.
There is a plaque behind the dog that explains that the dog was Queen Victoria's.
Unfortunately, the wishing well which is not shown in the photo is empty of water
and filled with random garbage.
Quotes on the structure read:
"The hand that gives gathers"
"Better an apple given than eaten"
"Good luck to you dear giver"
"It is more blessed to give than to receive"

One level of shops
Notice the intricate mouldings and floor tile

One of the clocks hanging from the ceiling

Stained glass window in the stairwell. Probably not too many see that beautiful window

This clock is very unique and elaborate. As seen above on the right, rings move around to show the minute, hour, day and date. The map of Australia above the clock rings is a door that opens at the half hour. The other side of the clock has a similar door. Below you see a ship moving around the clock as the arm piece.

We did have a lovely lunch on the lower level in a vegetarian cafe. A freshly juiced drink accompanied our sandwiches.

Colourful Birds

Every morning at Bruce and Dawn's at exactly 7:15 a.m., Dawn takes out a platter of fruit for the Lorikeets to eat. It is a beautiful sight! Of course, you can hear them all chirping long before breakfast. You don't need to set an alarm. They will be there at approximately 7 a.m. waiting anxiously for their food. Out goes Dawn with the platter and the birds crowd around it, all 20 or more of them, eating silently. After eating, they either fly off for the day or just hang around for awhile.