Bridge Climb

My mom arrived yesterday and I picked her up from the train station after my tourism class ended at noon. We managed to get her luggage up to my townhouse without too much difficulty, but going grocery shopping was definity tiring. Her jet lag was really starting to show when we entered the windowless mall to shop. She was really surprised by the prices of things too, especially of multi-packs of soda. We found probably the only store in the mall though that sells Mountain Dew and bought a 2-liter, so hopefully that will last us until Perth.

We bought a bus ticket after putting the groceries away and having lunch then wandered around campus for a bit before returning for dinner. I finally let her go to sleep around 9. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t too early or she’ll never break the cycle of jet lag.

This morning, we woke up around 8 to head into the city for the Bridge climb. It was a beautiful day, thankfully, and after walking around Circular Quay, we headed into the Rocks for our climb. There’s actually quite a bit of equipment that they make you take up onto the bridge with you. You have to wear a one-piece suit (clothing underneath optional) as well as clip-ons for any glasses, a hat, a headset, and the latch that hooks you to the tethers on the bridge.

Our group for the climb was rather small, with only two other people, so we were able to jump ahead of another group and spend a bit more time enjoying the scenery. It really is a pretty view. I was able to point out places I’ve been on the harbor to my mom and give her sort of a map of the city. Our guide was pretty informative too. I just can’t remember any of the cool things we learned off the top of my head.

Our Bridge Climb photo

We spent about two hours up on the actual bridge and got our picture taken. I actually really like the group shot, which is good because it’s the only free one that you get with your climb. After coming back down, we walked over to one of the pylons of the bridge because it has a museum and lookout point inside it. If you do the bridge climb, you get into the pylon for free, so we thought we would check it out. We were able to take some pictures of the harbor from the top since we couldn’t do that on the bridge.

Views from the pylon

Next we headed over to the opera house and wandered around the grounds. I hadn’t realized that each of the “fins” of the opera house is actually a separate building nor had I realized the “fins” are made of ceramic-like tiles. It was quite strange. We took some pictures of the layout before heading over to the botanical garden. My mom thought a lot of the trees over there were pretty strange, so we took pictures of those as well as some sunset shots of the harbor, the bridge, and the opera house.

The tiles of the opera house are pretty peculiar

They're actually separate buildings

We headed further inland to see St. Mary’s Cathedral and wandered inside. We couldn’t stay long because mass was about to start, but it’s huge. It’s really pretty too, but I’ve seen enough old churches over time to not really be awestruck anymore.

We tried to go to Jacksons on George for their happy hour, but it was pretty strange. We went into the bar to order but she told us the cocktail special was only upstairs. However, there was absolutely no one upstairs. It was confusing, so instead we left and went to Lowenbrau, which is a German biergarten in the Rocks. I had sparkling strawberry wine and my mom had a Lowenbrau original and we both had a pretzel. They gave them to us with butter, which I thought was actually a really good pairing.

Sparkling Strawberry Wine and Lowenbrau Original with our Pretzels

After our snack, we headed back to the bus stop and caught a ride home, completely exhausted. We didn’t walk nearly as far as I have before but the bridge climb was quite a bit of stairs, so I think that’s what made us so tired.

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.