We got ourselves up and moving slightly earlier this morning, waking around 7am and getting out of the room for breakfast around 8am. We enjoyed our buffet breakfasts and prepared for this bright sunny day with temperatures near 100 degrees expected, a one-day heat wave. Barb wanted to tackle the Harbor Bridge in the morning in order to get her steps in. We followed Kristen’s suggestion to go to the Pylon Lookout and Museum. We checked with the concierge and got a recommendation for a cafe on the other side of the bridge.
After a short walk through The Rocks to see the neighborhood in the daytime, we found our way to the elevator up to the bridge walkway. We marched our way to the southeast pylon which houses the museum and viewing platform. The ticket agent was kind enough to only charge me to go to the top while he let Barb visit the museum for free. We huffed and puffed our way up the stairs, Barb to level one and me up several more flights to the top.
The view from the top was good but I was a little afraid of the height and the prospect of fumbling my phone over the side. I didn’t enjoy my time at the top as much as I’d hoped. I was also hot and sweaty on this increasingly warm day.
I ran into a pair of fellow Viking travelers – they were also staying at the Four Seasons and we seemed to be on identical schedules; we were both at the zoo the day before. They were a friendly Canadian couple, a white man and Asian woman, but we haven’t learned their names. We just keep bumping into them. They had crossed the bridge from the other direction.
We proceeded across the bridge, Barb falling into conversation with another walker, a lady who was on an Azamara cruise ship that had just arrived in town.
We walked through the quiet, very pretty streets of Kirribilli to find the Flying Bear Cafe recommended by our concierge. It was a cute little neighborhood cafe with seating by the water of a little cove. We got a couple of drinks and cooled off for a bit (we considered getting an Allie’s fruit drink but ended up with a lemonade for Barb and an apple cider for me).
We figured out that the Kirribilli Ferry Wharf was a short walk away where we could catch a ride back to Circular Quay. I couldn’t resist taking more photos of the Opera House and bridge.
Back at Circular Quay, Barb wanted to head back to the jeweler near the Opera House where we had seen some potential opal rings. Barb found a design that she liked even though the stone was a triplet or not a pure opal gemstone. It was also a lot less expensive than a real gemstone. Even so, Barb was happy with the ring and design so we bought it. That may be all the opal shopping we need to do.
We staggered back to the hotel and I changed out of my sweaty clothes. We cooled off for a bit in the lounge then Barb headed down to the pool for the afternoon. I seriously considered taking a tram to Coogee and attempting the Coogee to Bondi cliffside walk but when push came to shove I opted to stay in our air conditioned room with the million dollar view of the harbor. That gave me some time to type up notes before taking a little rest. It was a vacation, after all.
As I watched the endless and interesting traffic roll by in the harbor, it slowly dawned on me what was missing: there were no big commercial ships — no containers, tankers or freighters that make a port more industrial, polluted and grittier. Similarly, there were none of the unsightly towers or acres and acres of parking lots for containers, vehicles or industrial storage. I learned all that commercial traffic was directed further south to Botany Bay and Port Botany, and evidently has been for more than 40 years. It was a great decision as far as Sydney Harbor is concerned. Aside from cruise ships, the traffic is almost entirely either ferries or pleasure boats, all much more visually appealing and less intrusive. I can only guess what it’s meant for Botany Bay, but the bay has been an victim of disrespect ever since the First Fleet landed, found it immediately inhospitable, and quickly decamped to Sydney Harbor.
Later in the afternoon, Barb returned to the room and I got a shower. We considered having an easy dinner somewhere in The Rocks but we went up to the lounge first. That’s as far as we got. The h’orderves buffet and free drinks were all that we needed. We noshed away for an hour or so on dumplings, pork belly, cheese, charcuterie, veggies, dips and other goodies until we’d had our fill. The only problem was we were back in the room by 8pm with nothing left to do but watch TV. I found three episodes of Jon Stewart’s return to the Daily Show on YouTube. After that, it was various murder mysteries on TV. We made it to the Australian news at 11 and declared victory.
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