Spectacular Sydney Harbour - Oct. 27, 2012

After my parents left Adelaide, Ryan came home 3 days later and the next morning we flew to Sydney for a last visit with my family.  It was a 4am wakeup, which was early even for Ryan but worth it because we got to Sydney really early.  After our flight we took the train (only once in the wrong direction) to our hotel, which was the Holiday Inn at Pott's Point.  Supposedly it's in a rough neighbourhood, but we didn't find that out until after we got home so it wasn't a problem.  We had a nice nibbley breakfast with my parents in the hotel room and then ventured out on the town!

Most of our trip was spent in the harbour area, so the first morning we wandered around Circular Quay and The Rocks Market.  I think we were all just in shock that we could actually see the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, so no matter what we did we would have had a good time.  It also helped that it was a spectacular weekend weather-wise.  The food from the street vendors at the market all looked delicious, so we settled on skewers and kept wandering around and shopping. 

There was all sorts of cool stuff for sale (it wasn't a produce market) so that's where I bought some of my Christmas cards.  To finish it all off we stopped for a few beers at a pub just outside of the Opera House while we waited for our show to start.

The show we booked to see at the Opera House was "Blue Planet in Concert", which we thought was something everyone would like.  If you don't know already, Blue Planet was a documentary done by the BBC about the oceans a few years back.  The show started at 2pm, so we took our time looking around before the show.  I can't explain to you how massive the building is, and how interesting it is architecturally on the inside.  I had to be careful to watch where I was walking, because I had a tendency to look up and walk. 

On top of that the show was incredible.  It was short clips from the original show with introductions to each clip by a narrator who I believe actually works on the documentaries with the BBC.  During each clip the orchestra would play, and it was incredibly easy to forget they were even there at all, since it felt so natural for them to be there.  Overall, an unforgettable experience for me.

After the show we went to another pub for some more beer and snacks, then wandered around the area some more.  Mom bought a pair of Aussie Uggs, and we came across this random event called the "White Picnic".  We had noticed them setting up for it earlier, and it turns out it was something people could sign up for to attend.  They weren't told where it would be held until the last minute, but they had to wear white and bring their own table, chairs, food, drinks, etc.  It looked really cool from our perspective, but the people who attended were upset that they had to pay for an event where they had to provide everything.

At 7pm that night we boarded a small ship for a dinner cruise around Sydney Harbour.  That was something my dad has always wanted to do, and I think it was a huge success.  There was a fantastic live jazz singer, delicious food, and of course great scenery and company.  The staff was also wonderful, and we felt well taken care of even though there were hundreds of people.  It was the perfect way to end an amazing first day in Sydney, and I was hardly seasick at all!

It was tough to get a cab that night because of the White Picnic, but the wait was good for people watching.  First of all, it was the Saturday before Halloween so tons of people were dressed up.  There was definitely a party somewhere with a specific theme, because there were all sorts of normal costumes but then they were covered in blood.  Also there were all of the drunk and angry people from the White Picnic, with many of them covered in red wine spills.  We had to laugh a little at that!  We went straight to bed that night, but not before the partying for Halloween started outside of our hotel.  We were definitely in the fun neighbourhood!