Sydney is a vibrant and unforgettable metropolis. The largest Australian city with 7.7 million inhabitants is situated beautifully along the coast, has wonderful beaches and is surrounded by national parks. It was our first stop in Australia and we were lucky that we had six days to explore the city.
Me on the Pyrmont Bridge enjoying a fabulous smoothy.
View on the amazing building “One Central Park” (in the back)
Spelling not entirely correct, but funny anyway.
We spent most of our time strolling around the center and enjoying the beautiful weather. Our hostel was located near the central station and it took us only 30 minutes by foot to reach the opera. While walking, we discovered that Sydney has a lot of parks and we had great fun exploring the Hyde Park with the Pool of Reflection and the Anzac Memorial, the Barangoo Reserve, which was formerly Sydney’s oldest industrial sites but now serves as recreational space with only native plants, and of course the Royal Botanic Garden with beautiful plants and flowers from all over the world. From there we enjoyed the best view on the Opera House with the famous Harbour Bridge in the background.
Yves in front of the Harbour Bridge
The Anzac Memorial with the Pool of Reflection.
Having a huge Chinese population in Sydney, the cultural influence is noticeable and we enjoyed not only the vast variety of food in „Chinatown“ but also the wonderful Chinese Garden of Friendship which is an oasis in the middle of skyscrapers.
The Chinese Garden of Friendship is in the middle of the city
Of course we visited the most famous sites, like the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, which was designed by Jørn Utzon a Danish architect. It was quite an expierence to be directly in front of the world-famous opera. For the first time we realized that it is not one but that there are actually three seperate buildings, that they are not white but beige-coloured and that the buildings are not brand new but after 45 years are in need of a renovation. Still, it is one of the most impressive complex we saw and its fame is well-deserved.
The opera with the city in the background
One other main attraction what I would surely not going to miss was the Taronga Zoo. The zoo is located in Mosman and can only be reached by ferry or by bus (the latter takes ages). We enjoyed the ferry ride with fantastic views of the city at this very hot day and then plunged into the fantastic world of animals from around the world. The zoo has a vast variety of native animals and we were able to see Tasmanian Devils, Wombats, Cassowaries, a lot of the very poisoness snakes and of course Red Kangaroos. Other highlights were the Komodo Dragon, the Sibirian Tiger and the baby Elefants who took a bath in the pool to cool down. We also learnt a lot about the protection of wildlife and environment. We really enjoyed the visit. In our opinion the Taronga Zoo is one of the best we‘ve visited so far.
The young elephants playing and splashing in the water
Naturally, we couldn’t visit Sydney without having been in one or two museums. We spent the only rainy day in the Australian Museum, learning about native birds and other animals, Aboriginee culture as well as dinosaurs and mammoths. Unfortunately, we weren’t that impressed by this museum as it was rather disorganized and not very well curated. The Museum of Contemporary Art on the other hand was very good. It was exhibiting works from the Sydney Biennale that took place at that time. We spent some hours strolling through the exhibition and keeping out of the heat, as it was 38 degrees outside
One topic of the Biennale was about time. This excellent art piece consists of three bicycles at ones, and represents past, present and future joined in one single moment.
Afterwards we decided to take the ferry to Manly, had a walk along the famous beach and ate a light dinner. When we took the ferry back to the city centre it was already dark and the lights of the city were reflected in the water – a beautiful sight.
The Opera House in front of the city.
To see a very important part of Sydney – the beaches – we set out one day with the bus to Coogee Beach and walked six km to Bondi beach – the world famous beach in Sydney. We had a great time walking along the shore, enjoyed the stunning views over the city, cliffs, bays and passed several beaches.
Yves had fun crusing along the shore with his board.
When we arrived at Bondi Beach, Yves dared to have a swim in the very wavy water and had great fun bathing in the waves. The beach was pretty crowed – from young to old – fashionable to unfashionable, half Sydney meets at Bondi Beach.
The famous Bondi Beach packed with people.
Our absolute highlight was our visit of the Sydney Opera. We started our experience with a dinner inside the Opera House with a wonderful view over the bridge and the harbour. Later we enjoyed the fantastic opera La Traviata from Giuseppe Verdi conducted by Andrea Licata. We had great seats and enjoyed the fantastic music and singing by Nicole Car as Violetta, Jin-Min Park as Alfredo and many more. It was a classic production and we were transported back in time to Paris in the late 19th Century.
Yves enjoyed the dinner with the unique view very much.
Inside the concert hall. Take your seats now!
Erst einmal weg... 