Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Best Southern Hemisphere Adventure, Day 8

I was supposed to leave Sydney on Wednesday, but by Tuesday night I just knew I wasn't ready to go, so I spent Tuesday night and Wednesday morning trying to change my flight and eventually I was able to. And then I went back downtown to learn more about Sydney.

Something very important I learned almost right away: Sydney has a monorail?! Where am was I, Springfield?


I wandered about the Town Hall area of the city. This would be the Town Hall.


And this is the other stuff nearby (and not so nearby):






This bird looks exotic right? Like, you'd freak out if you saw one here in America, right? But the thing is, they're super common in Sydney. It's like it's some big, long-billed bird that thinks it's a pigeon and doesn't even know it's weird and crazy.



I went to Circle Quay to catch a ferry to check out Luna Park but before departing I noticed this apartment building...more specifically, I noticed the windows to the apartment at the top of the building. Can you imagine the awesomeness of that residence with its floor to double-height ceiling view of Sydney harbor? I don't know how it could be decorated in any fashion other than 1960's retro-futuristic (unless it looks like a ski lodge in there, which I also consider quite acceptable.)


It took some work and some patience, but I figured out which ferry to take.


And there in the distance is Luna Park, which (overstating the facts) we can call the Coney Island of Sydney.


Oh, and finally, a picture of a ferry.



Luna Park. Something important that I learned right away was: Luna Park isn't open all the time. In fact, Luna Park isn't open MOST of the time. But you can walk inside a little, or enough, judging from what I saw.



The Rotor. This appeared to be the old-timey version of the ride Chicagoans would know as "The Cajun Cliffhanger".






When I first saw this boat I thought, "Ha! It says 'Liahona'!" but then I thought, "Wait! That's just a word Mormons know!" So...mysterious, right?


Before returning to Bondi I explored the Kings Cross neighborhood and environs. Yawn.




Here's a tribute to what I ate most nights in Sydney: Wagu steak brought home by Jeff from the Japanese restaurant below Jeff's work. Routines can be good for you, especially tasty Japanese routines.

3 comments:

Scrumpestuous D said...

Looks to me like Sydney is trying to be Australia's Seattle, what with a monorail and a futuristic tower thingy.

Grant said...

I love it Brigham. Great photographs--that dandelion fountain is so beautiful. Well done. I loved your whole travelogue. I'm so happy you made the trek? Are you? I can't wait to go to Australia. What was the best part of the trip. What was the worst?

Brigham said...

Grant,

Good to see you here. Thanks for the photo-props. Your questions have inspired me to make a final "what's best/what's worst about Sydney" post...sometime soon. Because my reports are nearly over, and it will be time to tell it like it is.