Tourist Tuesdays Once Again

I did tourist Tuesday again yesterday and took a bus into the city. I’m writing a research paper on Susannah Place, which is a four-attached homes that have been in The Rocks (which is right on Sydney’s harbor near the Central Business District) since the early 1800s. These particular homes were actually inhabited until 1990 by families, so they have managed to stay standing through The Rocks reformation. Originally, The Rocks was a home for wealthy individuals coming to Australia from Britain. It’s location of the harbor provided prime real estate with harbor views. This home was built by a family and split into four units so the family could collect rent on the other three homes for the rest of their lives. After the couples passing, two of the homes went to their daughter and the other two to the Anglican Church.

As time progressed, the Rocks become more a of working-class area because of the shipments that would come into the nearby wharf at Circular Quay. The men of the household would go down to the wharf each day and try to get picked for work. For some families, that was their only income so the kids would be sent to collect bottles and such for returns. The Susannah Place house on the corner was a bit luckier in this regard though because the front of the home was converted into a corner shop and the family had both the income from the shop (ran by the mother and children) as well as the income from the wharf. This house was always kept the most fashionable because of this and the museum foundation had decorated it with pieces to demonstrate as much. I thought it was cool how they had a little window cut out of the wall between their sitting room and the corner shop so they could relax when no one was shopping.

I was also really impressed that one of the homes was inhabited until 1990, when the Historic Houses Trust took over to preserve but not renovate the homes for tourist purposes. Until 2006, two caretakers lived in the corner shop home, which is amazing because being such old houses they had almost no modern improvements. Electricity was sparse, the bathrooms and tubs were outdoors, and they had to heat their water over a fire. The caretakers weren’t even living in the most modern house (where the family lived until 1990) where a handmade shower had been built in the basement. It’s hard to imagine a couple that attached to the past that they would live in such a home.

I couldn’t take pictures inside the houses, but I was able to take some of the outside. The homes are currently surrounded by high rises and no longer have harbor views after a hotel was built behind them, but the scenery was beautiful in the glory day pictures the tour guide showed us.

The front of the houses

And the back.

After the tour, I took the Manly Ferry from Circular Quay over to the beach town of Manly. The ferry ride was nice, but I’m not sure why everyone says it’s something you must absolutely do while in Sydney. It takes you around the harbor and deposits you on the Corso, which is the main walking street in Manly. I figured out what bus I would need to get home and then set off for the International College of Tourism and Management. Needless to say, I was surprised when the college turned out to be a castle. Sydney doesn’t seem nearly old enough for me to go exploring and stumble upon castle grounds. I’m not really sure if I was supposed to be there, but I wandered around anyways. It was too breathtaking not to take pictures of both the school and the view of the harbor it had from its peak. I even went inside to get a look at the grand hall. A couple of people shot me some weird looks though, so I didn’t stay long.

Views from the Manly ferry

My mom and I are doing that in a couple of weeks!

Those are the botanical gardens

Castle!

Views from campus

I'm a long way from home

Afterward, I wandered around the rest of Manly. The homes are so quaint and pretty. It has been a long time since I’ve admired the houses in a beach town, but these were definitely nice. I picked out a few that I would love to have as a vacation home, and that’s saying a lot since I don’t even like beaches.

Some of the pretty houses

View from the sailing club

Manly is surrounded on both sides by the harbor and has to be less than a mile wide (I really have no idea) with a hill set in the middle, so it wasn’t long before I ended up on the other side of the island where Manly beach is located. I walked down to the waterfront and took a couple of pictures. It was getting chilly though because the sun was setting, so I headed back to the Corso for some shopping.

Manly Beach

The Corso

I was able to find a Swiss Ice Cream shop that sells possibly the best ice cream in Australia. It was at least the best that I’ve had. $7 for two scoops is starting to seem normal to me though, so that’s a tad scary. At least they don’t charge extra for cones here. I had the Swiss chocolate and strawberries.

There was a nice-looking bottleshop next door, so I stopped in and found some of the cheapest prices I’ve seen since I’ve been in Sydney. I was pretty far from home, but since I planned on catching the bus soon, I picked up a bottle of wine for $5 and some Bacardi Breezers (not legal in the US). Then I stopped at Aldi’s, which even with the terrible service might be my favorite store in Sydney because of the cheap prices, for a banana bread mix.

I had to take two buses to get back to campus, but luckily I managed to get dropped off right behind my apartment complex, so I didn’t have to walk far with my purchases. 

Tarongo Zoo

This morning I got up early and went to the zoo with the AIFS group. It was included in the price of our semester, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have went. I was pretty bored. The animals are different but it’s still just a zoo. I took a lot of pictures, but it seemed like everything was sleeping. The most interesting part might have been the koalas but that could also have been just because it was the first thing.

Koala :O

Comodo Dragon

Turtles!

They said the lamb is only about a week old

We were literally close enough to pet these

All of the kangaroos were sleeping

Seal show!

Also, Tarongo Zoo is supposed to have some of the prettiest views in the city, but the harbor lookout is pretty much the same view of the Opera House and the Bridge that you would get anywhere else. I think I’m already getting overly used to the major sights here. They don’t surprise me anymore.

The elephants sure get to enjoy a pretty view

They sell elephant artwork in the zoo store -- only $149.95

This is the famous outlook in Tarongo

We drove by Balmoral Beach on our way home though and that was really pretty. I love the houses in that area. It's pretty ritzy so they all have a really nice architectural design.

Chatswood

I went in to Chatswood today since it was nice out and I needed something to do. It wasn’t nearly as entertaining as I’d hoped though. Sarah went with her housemates a couple weeks ago and spoke very highly of the “cute little town.” I was surprised when I got off the train (it’s only three stops away) to feel like I was stepping into a dingy Chinatown, kind of like a part of New York City you wouldn’t care to spend a lot of time in. Almost all of the food places had Chinese characters for names and it was really crowded for a Tuesday afternoon.

The only thing it appears there is to do in Chatswood is shop. I found two huge malls that I got lost in, but the most exciting part of that was finding a bookstore that was going out of business so I could look through their books for a few minutes. It didn’t really help that I didn’t feel like spending money. I probably shouldn’t have decided it was a good day to go shopping.

The one success of the afternoon was finding a decent-looking Moscato in a bottle shop that I passed. The guy behind the counter was really nice and offered to help me like four times, probably because I kept opening up the coolers to pull bottles out and read the backs. The Moscato I ended up picking was on special 2 for $10, so hopefully it ends up being good.

Market Saturday

Yesterday was dedicated as market Saturday. I’ve been hearing a lot about Sydney’s street and flea markets, so I wanted to spend a day checking them out. Sarah and I took the bus into town and ventured first to Paddy’s Market. It reminded me of the flea market I used to go to in Florida with my grandparents. You could find everything from clothes to cookware to luggage to souvenirs. They also had a separate area for fresh produce. The main part of the market wasn’t too interesting because it was just a bunch of stalls selling the same thing at different prices, if you paid close enough attention. However, the produce was interesting to wander through. I found something called a sugar banana, which I’ve never heard of. I bought one—I was totally undercharged as the sign said $3.50 per kilo and he only asked for 10 cents—and tried it. I can’t even describe how weird it was. I felt like I was eating something banana flavored that had a grainy texture like it had been rolled in sugar. It also had a bite of sweetness at the end. I’m not sure why anyone would choose to pay more for them.

Pretty view of the city

Fountains near Darling Harbour

Sugar Banana! (look how fat it is)

We spent near two hours at Paddy’s, which is set underneath a full-service mall, before heading over to the Rocks. I didn’t quite realize that we were on the complete other end of town when I suggested that be our next stop, but oh well. We ended up walking through a really pretty park on the edge of Darling Harbour that we stopped to take pictures it. There was a carousel and giant playground as well, so it was swarming with families. We also passed by the outside of the Chinese Garden of Friendship, something I plan to see eventually.

When we finally got to the Rocks, there market was just starting to close, so we hurried quickly through the stalls. The Rocks is more of an arty market with many paintings, ceramics, and decorative purses on display. It was more fun to look at the items on sale here though.

The Rocks Market

It finally got too cold for us though between the wind chill and the sun going down, so we went to the nearby Pancakes on the Rocks and had mimosas and pancakes for dinner. It was fairly decently priced compared to everything else in Sydney, only $6.95 for a stack of two pancakes with butter. It kind of reminded me of iHop. It seems to be some kind of phenomenon here as there was a huge line out the door. I wanted to buy some of their pancake mix because I haven’t seen a mix anywhere else, but I didn’t want to carry it around with me the rest of the night, so I passed. I did find pancake mix at the store today though and it was $7.50 for a small bottle! It might have been cheaper to buy it in the Rocks...

Some building...

Hunter Valley

Today, I went on a wine tour of the Hunter Valley, which is the wine region nearest to Sydney. I went with a group of international students from Macquarie because the office who represents us organized a trip that was $30 cheaper than any others I could find. I had to get up really early, which sucked, but I was able to sleep most of the 2.5 hour drive out to the valley, so that made it slightly more okay. I felt so useless all day though because all I did was sit in a bus, drink wine, and eat cheese and chocolate.

Our first stop of the morning (we were already drinking wine at 10:30!) was McGuigan Winery where we sampled eight different bottles. My favorite was there 2012 Cellar Select Autumn Harvest Semillon because it was really sweet. Semillon is a really popular white wine in this area because the grapes are easier to grow in Sydney’s particular climate (Shiraz in the most prevalent red). I also liked the 2010 Late Picked Gewurtztraminer, which is a desert wine that we tasted. I wouldn’t let myself buy either of them though because they were priced at $20 and $30, respectively, which at the moment, is just too much for me to spend on a bottle that would last two nights at the most.

The Tasting Room :)

Aging Barrels!

Second, we went to First Creek and were taken on a tour of their bottling and aging warehouses. It was kind of cool, but I was a little bored during it because it was very similar to the tour I went on in Italy, just on a slightly larger scale. It was interesting when she talked a little bit about how the wine seasons vary in Australia though due to the opposite seasons. Apparently, the grapes that are going right now will be part of the 2013 batch because they won’t be harvested until January and February. So Australia is in the future even when they harvest the grapes for their wines!

We tried some of the wines at First Creek too, but I wasn’t a huge fan. Their 2010 Semillon has apparently won a multitude of awards in the wine world, but it wasn’t sweet enough for me. I think I would have liked the raspberry desert wine we tried if I could handle the taste of raspberry. It was sweet, but had a little bit of a kick to it because it was a 17%, which is very high for a desert wine. It was pretty too :)

More barrels!

The bottling machine

With my 2011 Raspberry Wine, I think.

Everyone was a little tipsy after the second tasting because, being college students, we were of course drinking all of the sample instead of sipping a little bit and pouring the rest into the spittoon. It might not be classy, but we wanted to get our money’s worth. Luckily, it was time for lunch at Potter’s Brewery, a small restaurant and microbrewery nearby. They already had our pre-selected meals prepared for us when we arrived. I had ordered the steak sandwich, which was really good. I found the fact that it had beets on it a little strange, especially when I took them off and the bread underneath was purple, but I still enjoyed it. Instead of ketchup, they gave us a creamy dipping sauce for our French fries that was really good too. I’m glad Sarah made me try it (at first I thought it was ranch and refused).

Amazing steak sandwich!

We were rushed to finish lunch though because we were running a little bit behind for our visit to a local chocolate shop. I didn’t enjoy this part quite as much as the other girls, but it was still nice to sample some of their Belgian chocolates. Unfortunately, since we were running behind, we didn’t get to do a tasting at the attached champagne room.

En route to our final tasting, Sarah spotted a group of wild kangaroos on the side of the road. They were just hanging out in someone’s front yard. She freaked out enough that our bus driver pulled onto the side of the road and let us get out and act like tourists creeping up on the kangaroos to take pictures. They actually let us get surprisingly close before hopping away.

They were a bit different than I expected though. I knew in theory that they moved using both their hind legs and on all fours, but it was so peculiar to watch. It was also really funny when they started hopping, which I managed to catch on film. It was cute to watch them for a little while, and we all felt better about being such tourists when a family stopped as well and brought their children out to see the kangaroos, but eventually we had to move on to our final tasting at Tempus Two, a slightly more futuristic looking winery.

Kangaroos!

Fields outside Tempus Two

I really liked the futuristic look

At Tempus, we tried an amazingly good 2011 Brioso Rosa, a pink moscato. I’ve had moscato before and liked it, but the pink was even sweeter than I’m used to. I also really liked the desert option here, a 2008 Botrytis Semillon and it was a great locally-valued wine to end on. After this tasting, we went next door to Smelly Cheese’s to try a variety of cheese. I don’t remember all of the ones we tried, but I know I really didn’t like the bleu cheese. There was one that tasted like a creamy version of feta though that was really good. I was tempted to get some gelato from their store, but I was way too full to even think about stomaching it, even though it did look really good.

The amazing-looking strawberry gelato, reminds me of Italy

Pretty much everyone slept on the drive back to campus because we were worn out from all the food. It was a great tasting. My only regret is that I didn’t buy anything, but maybe I’ll find something when I go on the wine tasting in New Zealand that is both sweet and a little closer to my price range that I like enough to ship home. I’m also really excited that I unexpectedly got to see my first wild kangaroo, so many people come to Australia and don’t even get that because they never leave the big cities.

Tourist Tuesdays

I had a really good day in the city yesterday. Going into town by myself made me feel really independent. It also really made me look forward to go going to New Zealand, particularly Queenstown, where I’ll be completely on my own. I like being self-reliant.

I actually missed the bus that I had planned to take into the city by about two minutes. I saw it go past as I was walking down the hill and since the village’s bus station is pretty minor, it didn’t even stop. It sucks because I was on time, it was just early. I know now for next time though. I was able to walk to the next bus stop, which is on campus, and by the time I got there I caught a different bus that was going to the same place—the Queen Victoria Bus Station, which lets out in the center of the central city.

I spent the day wandering around and touring museums. I took some pictures of centrepoint tower, also known as Sydney tower to tourists. It was once a mere tourist destination as the tallest point in the city, but now it’s being used for advertisement. I went to the Hyde Park Barracks museum, which has plenty of information about Sydney’s past as a convict community. It was entirely interesting, but I took some cool pictures of the barrack recreation. Apparently they slept in hammocks. I find that really weird, for some reason, but maybe the wooden beds overflowing with people is still stuck in my mind from the tours I went on of the concentration camps in Europe.

Pretty fountain in some courtyard

Inside the barracks

Outside of the Hyde Park Barracks

Centrepoint Tower

Next was the Museum of Sydney, which I surprisingly found fascinating. This one wasn’t even on my list of museums to see, but since I could get in free, I figured I would go. The place wasn’t very large but they have a lot of interesting information about how Sydney has progressed as a community. I also really enjoyed their then and now exhibit, which showcased pictures from the past taken in the same place present day. A lot of people found pictures from their parents and grandparents and went to the same exact place to hold up the picture and take another snapshot. It was really cool. They also had two landscape photos of Sydney—one from the 1800’s and another from 2003. It’s amazing to see how much the landscape has changed. For example, there used to be a law that buildings couldn’t be higher than 150 meters, but when that was abolished in the 1950’s the central business district full of skyscrapers sprung up.

Museum of Sydney!

Finally, I visited the Police and Justice Museum, which was a complete waste of time. I took a cliché picture in the mock court room, but other than that, the only interesting thing I learned was that Australia used to have a height and weight requirement for its police officers. The height requirement was 5’9; I’m not sure about the weight. Female officers also apparently didn’t become widespread until the 1970s.

My cliche picture -- the guy who took it for me was cracking up

I have no idea how an accident like this happens

I tried to go to a historic house afterward in the Rocks district, but apparently my information was wrong and you can only see the house by guided tour. I had thought it was open daily from 2-6, but I was told at the information desk that guided tours run for an hour at 2, 3, and 4 only. I was a little disappointed because that was the museum I was most excited about, but I’ll have to go back another day.

I spent the rest of my time on my own wandering around the Rocks. It appears to be the cheaper district in town, at least on the North side, from what I’ve seen. I found a place where I could get a chicken burger for $5.50, which is starting to sound amazingly cheap to me. They also had a lot of $5 happy hours in that area. I was tempted to sit down and people watch with a glass of wine, but it was so cold outside. They have heaters on almost every outdoor patio, but that still only helps so much. Instead I decided to get a $6.50 ice cream from Copenhagen ice cream (so good), which doesn’t really make much more sense since I continued to wander around outside while eating it.

I ended up sitting by the harbor as the sun went down and watching the boats come in to the wharfs and the lightening on the opera house change. Watching Sydney light up at night is really cool. I can’t wait to spend more time in the city once it gets warmer.

My view of the bridge

Darling Harbour at night