Once Around on a Bicycle
This is where I entered my fourth Australian state, New South Wales.
I cycled one kilometer out a sandy track and climbed down a dangerous cliff to get this picture. What was I thinking? It's just some weird rocks.
Half of Tathra sits up on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A bad storm was brewing just as the sun was setting this night. The skies were black and orange when I ran to get my camera. It poured about a minute after I snapped this picture. In fact, I got back into my motel room just in time. This was also the only spot in town where cell phones worked. It was funny to watch the tourists, like myself, standing in the park at the top of the hill, checking their voice messages.
This was the beginning of a very long seven kilometer ride. All of the flat roads have already been paved. It's the impossibly steep roads that the Department of Transportation hasn't gotten around to paving yet. I don't know what's worse, completely ripping my quads on the way up, or gripping the brakes for dear life on the way down. Either way, this section of road was not fun.
I came close enough to the bushfires near Batemans Bay to smell and breathe in the smoke. There was a light haze hanging over the whole area. Not a healthy environment for exercise.
Near Milton the bushfires burned right up to the main road, Princes Highway. A lot of road signs were unreadable because the intense heat had burned off the numbers and letters affixed to the signs.
Flagstaff Point juts out into the Pacific at Wollongong. They used to raise flags here to tell sailors what the conditions were at the entrance to the harbor. The cannons are aimed at New Zealand, I think. If the Kiwis should try to invade Australia, Wollongong is ready for them.
The Royal National Park, just south of Sydney, was just the second national park created in the world after Yellowstone. It was burnt completely in the bushfires of 1994. This year only half of it was burned. I rode through the park in heavy rain and didn't mind a bit.
Striking. Graceful. Majestic. Iconic. That big white building in the background looks pretty good, too.
There's that bike again. This time it's in front of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.
I don't know who Phillip was, or what he did for Australia, but this is his fountain in the Royal Botanic Gardens. It's a great place to stroll through. They have one section of rare, endangered plants. One tree is actually secured within a cage. Only 38 are known to exist in the wild, in some canyon in New South Wales. The tree in the Gardens was the first to be successfully re-planted.
Here's Archibald's Fountain. Once again, I'm not sure what he did to deserve a fountain. Even Captain Cook, the discoverer of Australia, only got a statue.
This is Cook's statue. The observation deck at the top of the AMP Tower in the background is the highest point in the city.
In the middle of all of the tall buildings in the Sydney's CBD (Central Business District, I think) is the AMP (Australia Mining & Petroleum, maybe?) Tower. It was added to the top of a pre-existing building. I wouldn't recommend going to the top if you're afraid of heights or acronyms.
I did go to the top of the AMP Tower. The shadow of the tower can be seen on Hyde Park below. I attended Sunday evening mass at St. Mary's Cathedral two weeks in a row. It's a long way from the alter to the pews in the back where I sit. For me to see and hear the entire mass they would have to add a couple of Jumbotrons and the Who's sound system.
To the left of the big Coke sign is my hotel for 4 nights, the Holiday Inn. My room was 7 stories up and had a great view of the harbor. On my first day in Sydney I searched the skyline for a hotel name that I recognized. I saw the green letters at the top of the Holiday Inn and headed directly for it.
Here's the view from from the inside of my $50 US room at the Holiday Inn. Not bad, eh? The room was at least a 4 star, and the Kings Cross subway station was just across the street. It was a far cry from the $20 US room above the pub at the Clifton Imperial Hotel where I stayed two nights prior.
Another Opera House picture. This one was taken from a ferry. Not much else to say about it.
On an evening ferry ride back to Circular Quay I took this picture. The Sydney CBD radiates out from Circular Quay. It's the maritime equivalent of Grand Central Station. There are six docks with ferries and small cruise ships arriving and departing every minute. I used the ferries to get to Manly and to the Taronga Zoo. It's a cheap and convenient way to get around. And, if you can swim, you have nothing to worry about.
I took dozens of pictures of the Sydney Opera House. This one was taken from one of the pylons of the Harbour Bridge. I had considered joining a walking tour to the top of the bridge, but it never happened. It would've taken three hours and cost up to $90 US. The little island in the middle of the harbor is Fort Denison. It was originally a prison. Then, cannons were added and it was turned into a fort when there was a threat of Russia invading Australia during the Crimean War. I cannot guarantee that any of this history is true. I was very tired most of the time that I was in Sydney.
I had to go to Sydney's Taronga Zoo to see a live koala. I think I saw one on the side of the road in Victoria who was a little less active, or maybe that was a very slow wombat. Anyway, the Taronga Zoo, only 12 minutes by ferry from Circular Quay, is a great zoo. There were a few exhibits where the visitors could walk right through, with nothing between them and the animals. You could walk right next to emus, kangaroos and platypus'. The tigers are still behind glass.
This is the famous Bondi Beach. The day before I took this picture was the last of a three day weekend, and it was packed with people. The Life Savers are supposed to be among the best in the world. They have to be with literally hundreds of people in the water at any one time.
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