Tuesday August 20, 2019

Road video and map – Sydney to Blue Mountains to Manly

After traveling for 24 hours I arrived at Sydney International Airport early today to begin my “fall” road trip as spring approaches down under. The efficiency of the airport was impressive. No long walk from the gate, no shuttles between terminals, an efficient electronic immigration system that works, fast bag delivery and rental car desks in the terminal with the cars in the car park right outside. We arrived at 7:00 AM and I was in my car by 7:50 having already purchased and activated a local SIM card. I first drove to a nearby shopping center, where I wired up the car for video recording and picked up supplies, before heading to Blue Mountains National Park about 60 miles west of Sydney.

I must admit that, despite traveling business class and sleeping pretty well on the plane, the 14 hour time difference meant that I was still feeling weary and limited myself to short trails to lookouts at several locations in the park. The one longer trail I wanted to do was at the park’s most famous site, the Three Sisters, but the trail head at Echo Point only had paid parking and I only had US dollars so I could not risk parking illegally for the time needed.

The driving offered a good introduction to Australia with city traffic, motorways, main roads, rural lanes and plenty of roadwork  along the way but the views at the park did not blow me away. I returned to Manly, a north eastern suburb of Sydney where I am renting a small apartment, excited but thoroughly exhausted.

Wentworth Falls Lookout offers a pleasant view of the mountains but the falls had very low flow and could not be seen from this distance.
This is the panorama from Lincoln’s Rock. Click for the full size image.
The Three Sisters as seen from Echo Point.

Wednesday August 21, 2019

The car remained in the garage today as I took the Manly Ferry directly to the heart of Sydney for today’s glorious sightseeing. The ferry docks between the city’s most iconic structures, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and offers wonderful views of both

It is possible to climb steps on the bridge arch to the very top and, initially, this was my plan but winds were very strong and even on the bridge deck it was impossible to stand still at times. I decided that spending nearly three hours (and over three hundred dollars) to climb the bridge in these conditions would probably not be worthwhile and so after taking some photos, I decided to concentrate on the Opera House.

Once I was off the bridge and walking around the harbour the strong breeze was welcome as it was beautifully sunny with a high temperature of 20C (68F) and I was wearing a jacket that I had brought for the climb.  I meandered across to the Opera House and was able to get on a guided tour that was just perfect. We were provided with headsets that the guide used to give the tour and that fed the audio for a couple of videos. This meant you could walk around during the tour without missing what the guide was saying and did not have to keep in a small group. The guide was great; very funny, full of fascinating information but not nerdy and, for the first time since 2001, I actually bought the souvenir photo package. This consisted of a hard cover book describing the Opera House with four pages, consisting of photos of me against different backdrops of places we visited, inserted where appropriate plus downloadable images – all for a very reasonable price. The waste always irks me when photo packages are simply overpriced prints that almost nobody purchases. I would estimate that about half of our group bought their package.

I then headed back to Manly for an early dinner at a brew pub. I was not sure what sort of beers to expect as the only Australian beers I had tried were tasteless, ice cold brews but this pub had an excellent selection of tasty brews. Another reason for feeling confident I will enjoy this trip.

The Sydney waterfront and harbour is spectacular. Views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the ferry.
The harbour is very busy with ferries and tour boats coming and going every minute. This is a view from the bridge.
I loved the Opera House. Although famous for the “sails” in it’s roof line the beauty and functionality of its design only became apparent to me on the tour. The roof appears white but it is made up of different colors and shapes of tiles that are specially designed to never need cleaning.
Photos are not allowed inside performing spaces but you get an idea of how patrons experience an event here. This view is from the hospitality deckand from the foyer.
The “sails” are significantly above the internal roof and provide space to put all of the infrastructure needed, such as air conditioning and hoists.

One of my tour photos with the concert hall as the background. A small orchestra was rehearsing when we visited and it sounded wonderful. The organ is the world’s largest with 10,244 pipes.