Day 19 - November 5, 2018 - Kiwis and Kangaroos

Day 19 – November 5, 2018 – Sydney

After leaving the ship, we rolled all our luggage up hill about 3 blocks to a baggage storage place, then proceeded to do a little exploring on foot.  The dock area was bustling with stores, restaurants and people, while the gigantic Majestic Princess dominated the port while other ferries and tour boats were constantly coming and going. 

The Majestic Princess and the Sydney Harbor Bridge

Sydney Harbor Bridge

As we stroll along the dock area, we immediately see the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge. Built in 1932, it is the tallest steel-arch bridge and sixth largest spanning-arch bridge in the world. It is affectionately called “The Coathangar” because of the arch design. From the dock area, we see the harbor, the harbor bridge and the Opera House, all icons of Sydney!

A little further down we arrived at the entrance to the acclaimed Sydney Opera House. There are many levels and hundreds of steps, all going up, it seemed. There are no elevators but some  

Sydney Opera House

esccalators, with more escalators being planned. The view of the surrounding harbor and view of the city’s high rises was beautiful.  We had already scheduled a tour, which was amazing because I knew nothing about this building at all.  In 1957 the Danish architect Jorn Utzon was awarded the contract for the best design after first having those plans placed in the reject pile! The building was to be built within three years; but politics and construction delays interfered and Utzon was fired, but it was finally finished in 1973  and considerably over budget. It took over 10,000 workers to make it a reality. 

Tiles of the Roof
Sydney Opera House

The roof of the Opera House is actually a matrix of white and cream-colored tiles, 1,0056,006 to be exact! Those tiles never need to be cleaned, as the texture and placement is such that it is self-cleaning when it rains. Plus the cement floor blocks are such that the water flows through the spaces between them back into the harbor. The interior sound stages are free standing and not attached to the outside shell.  There are six concert halls constructed for excellent acoustics, one specifically for musical instruments and another for voice. We were fortunate to spend a few minutes listening to the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra practice. The facility is not just for opera -- actually many different activities from plays to rock concerts and weddings take place frequently.  Trudy and Glenn have tickets to attend a piano concert in the great Concert Hall here tomorrow night!

After the tour and a quick bite to eat, we strolled through the very large and very beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens. Opened in 1816, it extends over 74 acres of Harbour shoreland and is the largest historic botanic garden in Australia, plus is one of the most important in the world.  There were many extremely large trees, flowering bushes, the magnificent purple flowering jacaranda trees, flower gardens, palm trees, etc. etc.  

The Nave of
St. Mary's Cathedral
Sydney

Next we rested and prayed in the gorgeous St. Mary’s Cathedral. After a fire destroyed the original building, this one was constructed in stages, the first stage between 1866 and 1900 with stage two built between 1912 and 1928. It was finally completed in 2000. It is the largest Cathedral building in Australia and is built in an English Gothic style. It has many gorgeous stained glass windows, a beautiful nave, many lovely statues as well as numerous beautiful side altars, including one dedicated specifically to female saints. It reminded me of the churches in Europe … very peaceful and beautiful.

A Side Alter Dedicated to Women Saints
St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

It has been a lot of walking today … but we still had more to do to walk back to our luggage,  then take Ubers to our “home” in Sydney for the next few days, that home being in Sydney’s Olympic Park area about a half an hour from the city center.  But it is a lovely place, where many of games of the XXVII Olympiad took place in 2000. After checking out the area and discovering a nice Italian restaurant, then picking up a few essentials from a small mart, it was early to bed for our tired feet and bones! Good night!