Today was our day to see Sydney….and that we did…a walking day around the downtown Quay area….starting off with taking a close look at the big Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas. We had a good walk around the Rocks area, which is a very historical area right along the water….then walked about 6 blocks to St. Mary’s Cathedral at the edge of Hyde Park…..and then on to the Botanical Garden….all very attractive and clean and a very family friendly area. We ended up going in some shops which are very upscale…including the Westfield Mall and other expensive shopping areas…very impressive….as is the entire downtown area. This is a world class city, and it shows in every respect…very modern and still blending with the old…very well done in a beautiful setting.
We ended up the day with a visit to Pancakes on the Rock…a famous pancakes restaurant along the Quay. We had many laughs from folks we had met during the day, including the man on the elevator that got on and said “he lost his wife walking through the cemetery”…..the way he told the story had us all laughing…..and so it went with others that we met including the man that was traveling around the world in 12 days, etc.
And, we talked about the engineer that I met and talked with on the plane from Cairns to Sydney. A diver with great underwater videos and a world traveling lifestyle that is a software engineer that was born in Indonesia but grew up in Australia and now works for Commonwealth Bank of Australia …. A most fascinating person…..great stories.
These are the kind of experiences that you have when traveling….including the couple that we saw on the elevator from Sitka, Alaska….who said to me “the Cruise Ships park in my front yard”……interesting times…..always.