Sydney

Our next adventure whilst Meghan was visiting took us to Sydney. 

We spent our first day on the requisite “hop on, hop off” bus tour, seeing the sights of Sydney. We also did a tour of Sydney Opera House, which I would highly recommend to anyone planning a visit to Sydney. Plus if you pick up a tourist guide at an info centre, they often have 20% off coupons that you can use on the tour. The tour started with a couple brief videos about the history of the opera house, and then we toured through the different theatre spaces available. Later that night Meghan and I went back to the opera house to see a play by the Sydney Theatre Company (fun fact: Cate Blanchett is the artistic director!). The play was entitled “Australia Day”, about a local council responsible for planning the Australia Day celebrations for the town. Some of the political satire was lost on us, but it was a terrifically funny show and we both really enjoyed it. 

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/australia_day.aspx

Harbour Bridge and Opera House lights

Meghan and Amanda at the Opera House

Amanda and "the coat hanger"

Inside the Opera House, it's just as neat as the exterior!

Did you know that the Opera House is actually covered in cream coloured tiles?

Very interesting architecture

Meghan and Amanda and some building in the background

Self cam!

Opera House at night

We took a day trip to Manly on our next day, and wandered through their weekend markets and took a walk along the waterfront. It was lovely. A portion of the coastal walk had a number of different metal statues on the rocks. (My favorites were the little penguins.)

Found some shade!

Little penguin!

Waiting for the Manly Fast Ferry, a bit more expensive than the regular ferry to Manly but much faster and less crowded!

Lunch in Manly

Alan used to have these plates in his bachelor days!

We headed back to the city, and then over to Darling Harbour for the evening for dinner and fireworks!

A fitting license plate for a pyrotechnics provider

They were beautiful!

We managed to get a front row seat

 We spent our last day at Bondi beach. I was hoping for some Bondi Rescue action (a reality TV show about the lifeguards on Bondi beach) but no luck. However, they had just installed a Sculpture by the Sea exhibition along the coastal walk between Bondi and Tamarama. After some photos of the surfers we set off for that. It was really neat to see all these amazing sculptures in such an amazing setting. The only downside about it all was that there was a lot of people there, so navigating the pathways and taking pictures of the sculptures was a bit tricky. 

Photographers at work. Look at all the surfers!

Cheeky sign sculpture

It's a bear!

Matrioshka shipping containers

Check out all the people!

A dog that reminded me of Jasper.

Paper boat sculpture

Yup, that's a chili pepper

Little creatures.

We certainly didn’t see all the sights of Sydney, but we had a great weekend. Heck, we even got to visit the local Emergency Room! But don't worry, it wasn't anything serious.

Thumbs up for St. Vincent's Hospital!

Countdown corner

Jasper has started his journey to Oz! He is currently in Vancouver and will leave for Sydney on Wednesday night (Vancouver time), he'll arrive in Sydney on Friday morning (Australia time).

2 days until he's in Sydney

32 days until he's with us!