An Afternoon City Walk, Sydney, Australia, March 18, 2014
After resting for a couple of hours, we set out for a walk around some important sights of the city this afternoon. Starting from our hotel, we walked along Hunter Street which has a slight hike uphill, and made a turn on Elizabeth Street towards Hyde Park.
Radisson Blu at the corner of Pitt Street, O'Connell and Hunter.
Forgot where this was, I think it was somewhere on Hunter Street, I could be wrong though.
Sydney Tower and Westfield Sydney near Elizabeth and Market
Hyde Park entrance at Market Street
a game of chess in the park
one of the many decorated rhinos around the city
Archibald Memorial Fountain and St. Mary's Cathedral
Front of the Cathedral
Many tour groups got off from their coaches here and took pictures outside of the cathedral. It is best to go inside and see the beautiful sanctuary and spend some quiet time there. No pictures allowed inside.
Couple taking their wedding pictures
From the Cathedral we continued our walk on Macquarie Street. At the corner of Prince Albert Road and Macquarie we saw this interesting looking glass panel, which is part of the wall of the Hyde Park Barracks.
Corner of Macquarie and St. James Road.
another colorful rhino
It was 10 minutes to closing, so we missed our chance to see the inside of the museum.
St. James church across the street
Right next to the barracks is the Sydney Mint Museum,
then we came to the Sydney Hospital.
It looks old from the front but they have a huge, newer section in the back from where we could see.
St. Stephens church across from the Parliament House. Next to the Parliament House is the State Library of NSW which I did not have pictures of.
Then we came to the Royal Botanic Garden entrance near Bridge Street.
Conservatorium of Music
From there, we walked down towards Farm Cove.
looking across Farm Cove
Following the walkway along the waterfront of Farm Cove, we went up through Fleet Steps to Mrs. Macquarie's Point because we wanted to see Mrs. Macquarie's Chair.
An interesting looking tree along the way.
Here it is, Mrs. Macquarie's Chair
around Mrs. Macquarie's Point
a great view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge
and the city skyline
walkway along Farm Cove
Looking back near Fleet Steps where the outdoor stage was being set up for the Madame Butterfly performance. They were into their final preparation with two more work days before the official opening, so the workers were very busy when we went past this site.
Another interesting looking tree near the Government House area.
Man O'War jetty next to the Opera House
Walkway around the Opera House
Can't believe that we were actually so close to the most photographed structure.
Bennelong Point
Climbers on the bridge
Another RCCL ship--Rhapsody of the Seas docked at OPT and ready to set sail. It would be our turn the next day.
The very busy Opera Bar/Opera Quays.
Rhapsody was sailing away.
By now we were hurrying a little because we wanted to get to Malay Chinese before they close.
Tried as hard as we could, we did not make it to Malay Chinese in time. The problem was from the Quay to Hunter Street on Macquarie is a bit of a hilly climb. We were all huffing and puffing and had to sit at the benches to take a breath. Christian, BIL, and I walked as fast as we could to get to the restaurant and kept hoping that they were still open. We made it in time alright, but the whole place was dark and the door was locked. We found out later that they actually closed at 7:00, not 7:30 as advertised on their website. Fortunately for us, the Thai restaurant next door, Mr. Bee, was still open. They even had some $5.00 specials in takeaway boxes set out at the counter. Seemed like customers knew about these specials and they were sold out quickly. We were all tired after walking for four hours and that was what we had for dinner that evening. Tomorrow morning, we will be boarding the Radiance of the Seas for our incredible journey to New Zealand.
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