More Sydney Sightseeing

It’s a busy life being on holiday –  we have to be up, showered,  and down to breakfast in the hotel bright and early before we head out the door exploring.  There is such a lot to see in the big bustling city of Sydney, and with just a few days here, we can barely scratch the surface.  And we are becoming quite used to the tap-on, tap-off system of using the public transport system.  Circular Quay is busy, that’s where all the many ferries leave from, going to places far and wide, and we have already taken a couple of ferry rides.

Circular Quay

But to me, Circular Quay is forever associated by the haunting song written by Eric Bogle, “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”, written about the Gallipoli Campaign.  Part of the song goes:

So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed, and they shipped us back home to Australia.
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane, those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be.
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity.
But the band played Waltzing Matilda, as they carried us down the gangway.
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, then they turned all their faces away

Now back to travel adventures – we discovered that we could take a train ride across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and that sounded like fun.  Alighting at Milsons Point, we got a good “up close” view of the bridge from another angle.  People pay good money to walk up this bridge, and we have seen them from afar, looking like tiny ants right up the top of the curve.

Sydney Harbour Bridge, from Milsons Point

It was a different mode of transport today, we boarded the Light Rail to Darling Harbour.  Bright red and shiny, it left just across the road outside Central Station.  We need some of these back home!

Light Rail train

Darling Harbour is a very trendy place, lots of hotels, restaurants and bars on the water’s edge, and surrounded by towering skyscrapers.  Busy during the day, and sure to be even busier in the evenings when people come out to dine.  We had a good look around, saw two policemen on bike duty, droves of tourists wandering around, and had some lunch in the Harbourside Shopping Centre.

Darling Harbour

What’s this?  We found The British Lolly Shop, so had a look in there.  Mind you, we were very restrained and just purchased a couple of Fry's Chocolate Cream Bars.  There was too much choice in all those packets and jars to get anything else.

We did the tiniest bit of shopping here 

Walking back over the Prymont Bridge was interesting.  Pyrmont Bridge, designed by Percy Allan,  is one of the world's oldest surviving electrically operated swing-span bridges. The first bridge began operating in 1857 and the current swing-span bridge opened in 1902. The bridge provided the main transport route between the city and Sydney's growing western suburbs while the swing-span allowed tall vessels to access Darling Harbour.  In 1981 the bridge was closed to all pedestrian and vehicular traffic, reopening for pedestrians in 1988 after  Darling Harbour redevelopment is completed and the precinct opens to the public.  The bridge is generally opened for demonstrations on weekends and public holidays – wouldn’t that be wonderful to see.

The Prymont Bridge

We stopped off at Paddy’s Market on the way back to the hotel.  If you wanted cheap bling, this was the place to be, stall after stall of similar goods.  Robin was offered a massage, but he turned the girls down.  So that’s our sightseeing for another day.  It will be our last day in Sydney tomorrow, and we fly home on Saturday.