21 Dec

Days adrift. Click here to see our best and worst experiences so far.

5262

Number of flights. Click here to go to the itinerary page.

35

Bus, train and taxi rides. Click here to see all posts relating to transport. (56 posts)

185

Miles walked. Click here to see all posts relating to walking and trekking. (43 posts)

581

Countries visited. Click here to see what we think of them. (14 posts)

15

Number of species spotted. Click here to go to our wildlife page.

1157

Photos taken. Click here to go to the photo gallery. (105 posts)

13288

Rainy days. Click here to find posts relating to the weather. (50 posts)

63

Number of times scammed. Click here to read all about it! (2 posts)

1

Otters spotted. Click here to go to our website about otters: amblonyx.com

45

...two travellers in search of the world's wildlife

HOME> Australia> Heart of Sydney

16 April 2011

Heart of Sydney

Australia, Photos

Sydney is a big, friendly, colourful city with a lot going on, and a lot going for it. We definitely felt it deserved more than six days, which is unusual for us in a city.

$Everyone\'s first view of Sydney, assuming the sky is clear of course$

Our urban pad. I could have moved in and started living in Sydney

We were staying in the neighbourhood of Newtown, full of beautiful old terraces

$Does anyone know what \'mixed business\' might be? It sounds distinctly sordid...$

King Street, the heart of Newtown. We got to know this road very well

$We enjoyed some very good breakfasts there, including this chocolate-based brekky. Yes, that\'s a pot of melted chocolate$

Of course we also had some nice lunches out on King Street as well

Another place we got to know very well - the platform of Newtown railway station, necessary for trips into the city

$The two icons that instantly say you\'re in the middle of Sydney$

$It\'s almost impossible to stop taking photos of the Sydney Opera House$

The city has some other fine buildings that are much closer reminders of a colonial past

$Water and boats are as much part of Sydney\'s cityscape as the Opera House and the cafes$

Plenty of good people-watching in Sydney, locals at rest and play as well as tourists

Where else in the world would someone walk out of the central train station with a surfboard?

$There\'s something in the water, but is it horrible or interesting?$

Plenty of people keeping themselves fit around the city. Nice pink jogging suit

And of course lots of tourists cluttering the place up and lowering the tone

When it all gets a bit busy, the Royal Botanic Gardens right in the centre of the city are superb

$It\'s nice to just lie in the grass and look up at the clouds scudding overhead$

The gardens are full of eye-catching plants

$Another place where the ol\' camera can easily get worn out$

For us nature-lovers, the Royal Botanic Gardens are also home to a huge colony of urban flying foxes

These fuzzy critters dangle from almost all the big trees in the middle of the gardens

$There\'s plenty of fruit for them in the city\'s parks and gardens$

$Bats aren\'t the only wildlife in the middle of Australia\'s biggest city. This is a red-billed seagull$

And this is the chorus line. In fact these are called yellow spur-wings, and those spurs are clearly visible

$Confident cockatoos browse on the lawns. They\'re completely wild, but oblivious to me a yard away$

On a walk in the suburban Royal National Park we saw signs of autumn drawing in, though the temperature was still 23

And lizards were sunning themselves on the rocks

On our final evening we went back to the Opera House to enjoy a performance

The auditorium is impressively elegant

And the view from the Opera House balcony was almost enough to make us want to come and live in Sydney...

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Tags: architecture, city, people, wildlife

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