The Trek Downtown

Well I did get downtown. You will notice my extreme photographic skill. The fingers covering part of the lens are a particularly nice touch. As I write they are the slideshow but when that is down they will remain in the photos.

At any rate as Trina works in Hornsby I got a ride down to the train station. The trains are all electric and, as in many cities, they are underground downtown and above ground virtually everywhere else. The trains are different from those I am used to in that the are multilevel. The doors are about half way up and beside them there are just a few seats. There are some stairs as one then chooses the half flight to either the upper or lower passenger sections. About 8:30 I was off- arriving at Sydney Central Station. I wandered around looking for and finding the sort of map which I needed. I headed off toward the opera house.

As I walked I noticed that, at least on the route that I took, there was a building mix of new and old, short and tall. This makes for a rather pleasant diversity. Otherwise the downtown seemed rather like the street system- rather chaotic. I think there are districts (as in ones focussed on finance or whatever) but still there seems much more of a mix.

I first hit Hyde park- Saint Mary's church in the photos is beside it.

There are a couple of picturss of the (fake) Christmas trees that are to be found occasionally. I took them because they looked so completely out of place. I guess I have listened to Crosby sing White Christmas so many times that my brain is permanently set to reject a green Christmas. But aside from that surely a fake tree can only be out of place when plopped amidst the lush vegetation.

Though my goal was primarily to view exteriors I did pop into the church. I noticed a bunch of candles which could be added to. I toyed with the idea, for the sake of all those at Hyatt MB, of placing a candle for the departed Puffadder. The idea was quickly dismissed. The lower regions- perhaps Toyota- would suit the Puffadder.

Along the way I noticed another odd feature (for the blind I have been told). At each downtown intersection there is a button for the green walk sign. They make noise- a sort of slow blup, blup. When the walk sign is green the noise speeds up, sounding just like one of the birds outside. If one starts to cross upon green one will only get halfway across before the sign switches to wait and the blup, blup returns. The theory is that only if one starts across on green will one be guaranteed to get across. A nice touch us that at many intersections there are maps of the surrounding few blocks with the you are here note.

After Hyde Park I passed a few very old government type building- almost all sandstone I think and entered the Botanical gardens. I am not in what one would call great shape- I was tiring and my $10 Zellers shoes were becoming increasingly painful. I was also getting hungry as I, as per usual, had not had any breakfast. I went on as the Opera House was at the north end. The gardens were nice but I rather think Victoria has an edge.

Just after passing Government house I approached the Opera house and the Harbor bridge. I was standing on the steps if the Opera house when I noticed, to my horror, that the pink sock that is the camera case had disappeared. Sigh. I decided I could maybe retrace my path and spot the thing. I went back to the side of government house with no luck. However I could from there retrace the route to the Opera house. And- luck, I spotted the pink beast so all was well.

I then continued on my planned route. But my feet hurt so I stopped a lot and took my shoes off so as to allow the feet brief moments of freedom from the Zellers' attack. I would walk around the circular quay and go up to the rocks. This area is first landing and first settlement. The buildings in the rocks are all old and filled with the sort of shops one expects in such areas. I was starving but was sort of looking for the Lord Nelson pub which I thought I should be near. I just couldn't see it. (It turns out it was several blocks away.) Most of the restaurants seemed quite expensive. But then I spotted (what I now think is part of a chain) a Wokoninn. For 7.50 one could have a daily noodle special. (Oddly enough the noodle specials all came with rice rather than noodles.) The one of the day was chicken teriyaki. It was okay- well okay if you are starving. I think the sauce was maybe teriyaki Other than the chicken there were both green and regular onions. I had sort of expected a hint of some other vegetable, but I guess they were with the noodles.

After eating I went back to the circular quay to catch a ferry for a brief ride. It would be a nice break from walking and would allow me to justify my purchase of a day-tripper pass. I hopped on- several pictures relate to this port- planning to go around the corner (a very short ferry route) to Darling Harbor. I had planned to get off at the aquarium but decided to go on to the last stop. I rather forgot that this stop was on the opposite side of the harbor. Consequently when I got off I proceeded in the wrong direction. I kept thinking something is wrong so I stopped. As I was by now very tired with very sore feet I was not in the mood for anything but a direct route. My day-tripper was good for buses but I had no specific bus map so I was avoiding them.

I did manage to get back on track. I went along an area called Harborside- opposite the aquarium. It is basically a long string of various restaurants. A couple looked not too expensive and mildly interesting so the kids and I might stop when we go down.

It was nearing 3, exhaustion and pain had set in, so I walked the three blocks to the Town Hall train station pausing only seconds to stare at the town hall.

Why the last picture. It is just that I know of no where else where the bathrooms are posted as male and female. Boys and girls, men and women, ladies and gents- but not male and female. I can't help but feel that some at Hyatt MB would view those labels with suspicion as part of a plot by some unknown malign force.

As I discovered later in the evening and also right now I also managed to acquire a mild sunburn. I suppose the foot pain had prevented me from noticing yesterday. Oh well currently I have this nice mix of small aches and pains. Quite pleasant for those of us with mild masochistic tendencies.