It was just a short 3-hour flight from New Zealand to Sydney, and like the Virgo that I am, I Googled for information on Sydney beforehand to prepare myself and make plans. I found out that there is a regular train service from the airport to the city area, and at the airport there is a baggage holding service where they would hold my luggage for a fee, so I planned to use it for my hand luggage so I wouldn't have to lug it all over Sydney!!! And so Virgo me had it all planned out!!
It turned out that, since coming from a foreign country - I mean New Zealand NOT Perth!!!!, I would be required to retrieve my checked luggage in Sydney and submit it for all the security and quarantine checks. And despite my Virgo preparations and maps of the airport, I managed to get lost just getting to the customs area!!! I thought they would check the luggage BEFORE the passport checks, and to add to the confusion, there were duty free shops BEFORE any customs checks, so I thought I somehow missed it, and doubling back and forth, until a kindly customs officer enlightened me as to where I needed to go, which was the ORIGINAL direction I was going!!! Yes should always go with first instincts!!!!
So it turned out it was passport checks FIRST, then to the luggage carousels to retrieve my luggage, then joining the long queues to submit my luggage to the various checks. And there were items I needed to declare, such as my supplies of chocolates!!!! Now it be an utter catastrophe if I had to give up my supplies of chocolates!!!!!! But I was happy to report that I was allowed to bring my very precious supplies of chocolates through without any drama, the officers must know a choco-holic when he sees one!!!!!!
Now when I FINALLY managed to get through the various customs and quarantine checks, I first went to check my luggage back in for my flight back to Perth..... then left my hand luggage with the luggage storage service, before finally making my way to the train station which was underneath the airport!!! I bought my day-rider ticket which is fed through the machines at the entry and exits of each station which hopefully lets me in or out of the stations. The locals have electronic cards like credit cards, similar to the Smart Rider system that we have in Perth, but being just a visitor who is not likely to be in Sydney very often, I was better off with an one-off ticket.
The trains were very impressive, being two levels on the cars much like the trains in America, and so I would always ride on the upper level even though 90%of the journeys were underground all the way from the airport to Sydney, and mostly around the city area. Virgo me already figured out which station to get off at, having already checked the Google maps for nearby parks, and planning my walk through the parks until I got to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. But again I almost got lost...... until I checked the GPS tracker on my phone!!!!!
So the obligatory exploration of the Opera House, or at least the outside bits anyway..... well I never been there before..... and then once I gotten in the vicinity of the Harbour Bridge I saw that one can actually walk across the bridge!!!! So being such an intrepid adventurer that I am, I just NEEDED to walk across that bridge!!! But firstly I needed to get TO the bridge which seemed to be three miles up in the air from my lowly vantage point by the water!!!! So began my long trek to try find myself a way to get UP to the bridge..... so I followed it back for what seemed like an eternity, slowly but surely going higher and higher up on the ground, until FINALLY I was able to get onto the bridge to begin my long hike across it.......
When I came to the pylon I noticed people on top of it..... uhhhhhhh I wonder how I could get up there!!!!! You know me, I just NEEDED to get up to the top of that pylon, being the intrepid adventurer that I am!!!!!! When I got there, I discovered that indeed we could go up there to the lookout...... for a price..... a very high price!!!!! OK it was expensive, $13 just for a peek-a-boo over the top, but hey, it's not every day I get the chance to visit Sydney Harbour, I mean this was my first time in 52 years!!!!! So just a small price to pay....... as I embark on the long climb up the stairs, which seemed to go almost as high as Mt Everest!!!!! Every so often there were interesting historical displays which help break up the long climb to the top, the most interesting being those puddy cats which apparently lived high up on the bridge while they were building it!!!!! Anything to do with puddy cats always interests me!!!!
Well..... FINALLY I made it to the top...... and the views were very much worth the effort!!!! It seemed like I was on top of the world looking down on that fascinating city that is Sydney.
Then to continue my 3-day hike across the bridge..... well it seemed like a 3-day hike anyway!!!! But it was worth it...... when I finally made it to the other side....... And now all smug and satisfied that I managed to walk all the way across the bridge...... until reality set in..... I would have to walk all the way back!!!!!! Yeah it happens on planet Earth!!!!
Next to explore the CBD and in particular to try find Martin Square and the Lindt Cafe..... you know the scene of the hostage drama...... finding it proved to be a challenge in the seemingly endless labyrinth that is the CBD area, but I figured if I try to walk towards the center of it, sooner or later I would find it...... and LATER I did find it!!!!! There were still coppers all around, and when I took a pix of the Cafe with my phone, a couple of the coppers gave me a funny look..... Hey don't worry!!!! I am not a terrorist!!!! I am just a foreigner exploring a strange city.... I mean someone from Perth!!!!! Foreigner??.... well didn't you know about the two mates at the Sydney airport waiting for a friend from Perth to arrive...... the plane had already landed, and they were wondering why it was taking so long for the friend to come through the gate, when one was heard seriously mentioning to the other.... "well you know them passport and customs checks does take a while"!!!!...... Hey the real reason may be like what happened to me on the flight from New Zealand, we were stuck on the tarmac for over 20 minutes cos the intended gate was still occupied by another aircraft!!!!!!!.... or he got lost IN the airport like I did!!!!!!! Passport checks indeed!!!!!!
Anyway when I achieved my goal to find Martin Square and the Cafe, I decided to catch the rain back to the harbour area.... so I went down the ant hole that is the entrance to the underground station, thinking it just goes around a loop cos it said so on my ride into the city..... until I found out it was more complicated than that!!!!! The line from Martin Square was a completely different line!!!! But fortunately at some point it did cross the loop, so once I figured out which side of the platform I needed to be, I caught the train to the changeover station..... which was still complicated, cos the loop was on a different level to the Martin Square line...... so trying to find my way through the up and down underground labyrinth until I finally got to the correct platform for the loop, and then finally got to back to the harbour, the line goes above ground at that point, indeed high above ground, with the highway even further up higher..... so there's the highway, then underneath the rail lines on I think at least two levels.... then shops on the ground level.
And speaking of shops, well I was feeling slightly peckish so I just went to a fish and chip shop in that area near the harbour and under the train lines. There I saw on the menu a pack containing some squid rings and chips, and well thinking like I was back in Perth, I just thought it would be just the little squid rings and a few chips that we would get in any Perth shop, and well that was all that I needed. Being vegetarian I don't usually eat sea foods, but being on vacation I allowed myself more graces, so a few little squid rings wouldn't do me any harm. So I duly ordered such a pack, and was utterly shocked to see the lady put in five HUGE rings, I mean, it was like from a GIANT squid!!!!!! They were so huge it could have easily fit over my hand and up my arms, wearing them like bangles!!!!!! Plus enough chips to feed half of Sydney!!!!! OMG!!!!!! And me who usually eats like a mouse, well I struggled to eat even ONE of the rings let alone all five..... but I couldn't take it back on the plane cos one is forbidden to take food aboard the aircraft, at least on Qantas anyway, it was one of their rules...... so I had to eat it all...... or give to someone else to eat it all........
Last but not least..... the HUGE ferries that seemed more like cruise liners than just the commute ferries...... it makes the Perth ferry look like just a little tin dinghy!!!! In fact they probably could fit a Perth ferry on top of it and use it as a lifeboat!!!!! Well I didn't have time to ride on the ferries, that will have to be on my bucket list for my next visit to Sydney...... and there will be a next visit..... I just LOVE the place SO MUCH!!!!! It is simply just the most AWESOME spot ever!!!!!!
Well all too soon it was time to make my way back to the airport...... and back on the very long 4.5 hours flight all the way back to this lonely little outpost on the west coast that is Perth...... here in this tiny sleepy little village...... well it is compared to Sydney!!!!!!! It's almost like being in another country...... OK I said it!!!!!!!!!...... it's hard to believe we're still part of the same country!!!!!!!...... hence what the two mates at Sydney airport said....... hehehehe....... !!!!!
A lot of pixs but then Sydney is a BIG city !!!!!!
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