Sydney Feb 17

Today we explored Sydney Harbour and the lower north shore; partly because of accessibility by train then ferry (included with our weekly pass), close to cafes, and offered outstanding harbour views. The weather was perfect, sunny enough for sunscreen and hats, but with a light ocean breeze. We caught the train shortly after 10 to City Hall, transferred to a 2nd train to Circular Quay and wharf 4 where we caught the ferry to Cremorne Point. Waiting for the ferry our landscape: Opera house to our right; Harbour Bridge on our left; downtown skyline behind us & ocean in front - wow!
We selected Cremorne Point as our first walk for its 3K easy circuit and were told it is crammed every New Year’s Eve thanks to its perfect Opera House and bridge view for the fireworks display. For years I’ve heard about Sydney Harbour and today we discovered why! Cremorne Point was the ferry’s 1st stop but we stayed on to tour the 4 other stops on the loop before disembarking (Harbour tour for the price of admission). Once off the boat we walked along the shoreline stopping numerous times to just look at Sydney Harbour. We stopped at McCallum pool noting again the protective barrier keeping swimmers from the open sea. We followed the shaded path of exotic plants and fragrant flowering plants / trees. There was one “poor” slob slaving away at his wireless laptop sitting on his balcony oblivious to our presence with the view of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House, and Bridge his landscape. Please!
Returning to Wharf 4, we walked 20 minutes to Bennelong Point the Sydney Opera House; we were surprised the roof was more ecru than white with each roof tile clearly defined. We had lunch at a nearby cafe before strolling through the Royal Botanical Gardens back to the train for home. The garden was established in 1816 on the colony’s first farm; lush parkland with over 17,000 plant species. We walked among the Moreton Bay Fig trees marvelling at their buttress roots as we watched overhead for sleeping Grey-headed Flying-fox Bats, which are among the largest bats in the world. The only one we saw was dead, under an M-B-Fig tree outside the condo. However we did see Ibis birds with their long down-curved bills! Not bad for our first real outing In Sydney ... easy to get around providing you take public transit! Now all we are missing is a grocery bundle buggy to tote our wine home; you pay NZ$6 per bottle when you buy 6!