Sydney is one of my favourite cities. I’d been to Sydney several times before and was determined to do something different from the usual, so, no tours of the Opera house or visits to the Aquarium.
I’d arrived in the late afternoon so after checking in I decided to head down to Circular Quay which was only a 30 second walk from the hotel. I’ve photographed the Sydney Opera House many times before and while I think it is an amazing building, I’ve got bored of photographing it in a standard manner. As the sun was setting I noticed that there were a lot of people around so I thought that it would be more fun to photograph people around the Opera house instead of the Opera House itself.
A couple sitting on the steps of the Opera House
People photographing each other in front of the Opera House
The evening was spent enjoying a bit of room service and lots of TV. The following day the weather was a bit different, light rain had moved in and it had got quite cold. I spent the day wandering around Manly and visiting a couple of museums. In the evening I met up with friends from London. For the next days activities I’d booked to go on a wine tour in the Hunter Valley region. I had a fantastic day, my only regret is not being able to buy more wine to take home.
Vines in the Hunter Valley
In the evening I met up with the same friends and we had dinner in Surrey Hills.
I spent the next day wandering around Darling Harbour and also visited the National Maritime Museum. I decided to take a tour on the war ship which was docked close to the museum. A fantastic old gentlemen led the tour, which consisted only of me which meant that I was allowed to sit in the Captain’s chair etc. However, we were interrupted by the rather loud American family who were wandering around the boat shouting at each other about how amazing and ‘cool’ the ‘stuff’ was. ‘Gee honey look at that’ was said at least twice. They showed no respect for the tour guide by going through the ‘Private’ gate where we were standing and started wandering around the control room while he was trying to explain the controls. Grrr, people can be so loud and obnoxious sometimes. Anyway, I took the ferry back to Circular Quay and then headed up to the Executive lounge at the hotel for a quick drink.
The ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay
It was then time to head out for an evening’s photographic activity. I took a ferry over to Luna Park where I got some excellent views of the harbour bridge, the Opera House and the CBD.
The cheeky Luna Park entrance
Walking around near Milson’s Point
Fisherman overlooking the harbour
The sun catching the steelwork of the Harbour Bridge
The view from Luna Park
The Opera House and the Bridge
Once I’d satisfied myself that I’d taken enough photos I took a ferry back to Circular Quay. The crewman working the ferry asked me if I’d seen the moon, I actually hadn’t even noticed but as soon as I got off the ferry I rushed around to get a good a vantage point.
The moonlit Opera House