Welcome to Sydney

Sydney actually got off to a bad start and had plenty of problems. Nonetheless, we had one of our nicest evenings there, and we would go back.

The real problem was logistics. When we were planning the trip, things looked very walkable, and for some people it might actually have been walkable, but we found that it really wore us out. Our travel plans may have been too ambitious, at least for the budget we wanted to keep. It was definitely the area where our plans least matched our reality.

The first bad start was that we encountered a really rude taxi driver who refused to take us from the airport. He was at the front of the taxi rank, so we were directed to him and then he started pitching a fit about how there were too many of us. I will admit, he did have a smaller car, with a smaller trunk, but I think the real issue was more one of style. It was more of a town car than a cab, and based on how he was dressed I think he has this image of himself as more of a chauffeur, picking up wealthy businessmen with one bag for the trunk, and one briefcase for the seat, and excellent tips. Anyway, he was arguing with the airport person in charge of the taxi rank, and we're thinking that we really don't want to ride with him at this point, and finally she directed us to another car. He'll be lucky if he doesn't get banned from the airport, because they will remember that attitude, and airport access is very important for cabbies.

The other driver was fine, but we did not give him a large tip because he took three wrong turns getting to our hotel, and we kept watching the fare get higher while this was happening, so we were just not off to a good start. In addition, we were finding that Sydney was huge and traffic was bad. We didn't think we would need a cab again until we left Monday morning, but we turned out to be wrong about that.

You see, not only is Sydney quite large, but it is built upon many hills, and unfortunately we started each day with pointless uphill walks. Friday night, when we arrived, we did not see any restaurants around and we were tired, so we ordered in and it was really expensive. We wanted to eat cheaply after that, so for breakfast we tried to find a McDonald's. The guy in the mini-mart with internet seemed to know where one was, so we started off in that direction, and climbed up and up and up without finding any food, but suddenly finding ourselves in an area of rainbow flags, manpris, and no other females. Nonetheless, we did find a Hungry Jack's here, and we just went for it. (Hungry Jack's is Burger King, but someone in Victoria owned the name, so they just call it Hungry Jack's, even in the other states.)

That out of the way, we started towards the waterfront. On the way down, we found another Hungry Jack's, so that whole uphill trek was completely useless, but we didn't know. So we kept on walking, made it to Darling Harbour (where we found a McDonald's, but too late), and started getting back to our original plans of going to Taronga Zoo. Our plan was to visit there, then explore the Botanical Gardens, including sitting in Mrs. MacQuarie's Chair, and then head over to the opera house, where we were attending the symphony. It was all on the waterfront, so seemed feasible. We were so very wrong.

We did make it to Taronga, and I highly recommend it. The reason it was on our list is that it has the widest selection of native animals that we found. Everyone has koalas and wallabies and kangaroos, but if you want to see platypus and echidna it gets a bit less likely, and it was one of only two places where we saw dingoes. The nocturnal exhibit has lots of smaller things too, like quoll, possum, bandicoot, and bilby of multiple types. You can't necessarily get the best looks at them because it is very dark in there, but still, we did see them.

In addition, the set-up itself is quite interesting. "Taronga" means good view, and the entire place is built on a hill. You can get there by bus or boat (or car, but boat is the way to go), and the Sky Safari carries you up to the top of the hill, where you then work your way down. On your way up, you have an amazing view of the harbor, including the opera house and the bridge. All in all the zoo visit was pretty good.

As we made our way back to Darling Harbour, we realized we were in no way up for walking to the gardens. The coastline is not smooth, so walking from Point A to Point B is not done in a straight line. If you followed the coast, you would be wasting a lot of steps. As it is, you can go to the main road, follow that to the finger you need, and then go out, but somehow it did not appeal.

We had not really looked at the Sydney Aquarium before, but it had gotten good reviews, and it was right next to Wildlife World, and if you bought a pass to both you could get discounted admission, and they were right there, so that's what we did. We went through the aquarium that day, and we were going to save Wildlife World for Sunday. This was good, because it was becoming clear that we were not going to do the bridge climb.

I had started worrying about it on Thursday, and was just getting a bad feeling of dread about trying it. I know a lot of people had recommended it and said they were fine doing it, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we shouldn't go. I hadn't really said anything to my sisters, but they ended up being on the same page. I don't really know what that was about, but I eventually started thinking that maybe my blood sugar would have plunged at some point while I was up there, because that happened a few times on the trip, but never anywhere that would have been as bad as halfway up the bridge. They probably could have gotten me down safely, but possibly have ruined the climb for others. Also, I might not have caught on right away, because generally my low blood sugar symptoms are that I feel weak and break into a sweat, and I might have thought that was just the climb. Anyway, we didn't go.

I'll do a separate posting about the symphony, but basically after the aquarium we hiked up to the street and found Golden Arches, ate there, then just grabbed a cab to the opera house, and took one back.

Our useless hike the next day was to try and find church, at which we failed, but there is a whole saga with church going there that should be treated separately. We headed down to the harbor again, did Wildlife World, and we should totally have forced ourselves to go to the gardens then, but we were tired and there was an IMAX theater right there, so we decided to try that instead. That's where I lost my wallet.

So, for recommendations, I think the first thing would be to stay on the waterfront if you can. Most of the attractions are there, and so logistically you save a lot by being there. It's probably more expensive, but I'd at least check that out.

Taronga Zoo is definitely must see if you want to spot the different types of animals. It is the best place for it, and the sky safari may only be a short ride but it is awesome. The Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife World are okay, but not spectacular. If I were to choose only one of the two, I would go for the Aquarium.

For transportation I would seriously recommend looking into the train system, which probably would have helped us a lot. Or just bring plenty of money for taxis.

We probably could have asked our concierge to point us towards transportation and restaurants, but when they welcomed us they were very helpful in directing us to shopping that was very expensive, and I guess we just didn't want to see the horror in their eyes as we asked where to find Mickey D's. I know it's not exactly good food, but sometimes cheap can really be valuable, and it is tasty.

When we were hanging out before the show, my sisters were saying they would want to come to Sydney again, and I was surprised because we'd had the most trouble there so far. However, I think their point (which I don't necessarily agree with) was that we gotten a pretty good view of Port Douglas, Cairns and the Reef, and Ayers Rock, and so they didn't feel a need to revisit there. I think they felt like Sydney was unfinished, or at least that it could have been done better.

One thing we discussed was coming back and trying the bridge climb again, but I realized that I don't really want to. I can see where it is cool, but it seems more like something that is cool to have done than would be cool while you were doing it. Of course, I am horrible going uphill or upstairs, and even getting much fitter I think I will still kind of be that way. I'm not ruling it out, but it is not a priority.

I would want to try for the gardens and the chair again, and also we found out about a tower that would give you a good view and also has this attraction that I think would be something like Soaring Over California, only it would be over Australia, and I would like to try that. However, it is not a city that I fell in love with, and I don't think that will change.

http://www.darlingharbour.com/
http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/
http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo.aspx
http://www.sydneytower.com.au/