Sitting on the Dock of the Bay...

[2009_08_29]
Today I got my Internet up and working in the apartment, woohoo! With it I got a chance to call Anna (via Skype) before heading off to a day of adventure.

The day started off fairly early, I leave the apartment about 11am. I started walking down the hill I'm on toward the bay. I walked toward the Sydney Harbour bridge. Along the way I had some good views of the bay. This picture hardly does the view justice but in it you can see some iconic landmarks. You can see the bridge, behind it you can make out the Sydney Opera House. In the foreground you can see Luna park (an old Coney Island style amusement park).


I continued my stroll and eventually came upon the foot of the bridge. I decided to walk across, what a great experience! Its not often I that I take the time to enjoy a stroll, yet along walk over the Sydney Harbour bridge. The view just kept getting better as I walked along. All the cars rushing past seemingly ignorant of their surroundings, a shame. Walking along the bridge you can see all the iron work hat makes up the bridge, the worlds largest iron arch bridge, As I made it across, the far pylon had a museum and a lookout. I stopped in and learned a lot about the bridge and the area. Quite fascinating. It was completed in 1932.



At the other end of the bridge is an area known as 'The Rocks'. Its one of the oldest parts of the city and still has many old buildings. Its an interesting place to spend time, many shops and cafes. I stopped at the market and bought some German sausage curry. It sounded pretty iffy to me but what the heck, give it a whirl. It was actually quite good! If I had the recipe, I'd try and make it at home. I took my food down the the Circle Quay (pronounces Key). This is where the various public ferried disembark from. While sitting there this strange white birds approached. He didn't stay long, just long enough for me to snap this photo. Have you ever seen a bird like it?


After my late lunch I decided I'd head to the Taronga Zoo. It sits just North East of Circle Quay on the bay and was a 12 minute ferry ride away. It was quite a nice zoo. Its sits on a hill, thankfully they have a 'sky safari' that takes you up to the top of the hill via gondola. It was a very cool ride up to the top, though the view was great, the highlight for me was passing over the Elephant exhibit. It was quite exciting to 'fly' over a bunch of elephants! If you look closely you can see a baby elephant, he was just born here at the zoo a couple of months ago. So cute!


The zoo has a 'Wild Australia' path where you can encounter a variety of Australian animals. I saw many more that I have shown here but here's the highlights. One of the first things I saw was actually an open exhibit called a 'walkabout' where you walk in through double doors (like an aviary) but instead of bird, there are Kangaroos and Wallabies around you. I have a photo of my near them, its really neat that they have it open like this. Soon after I encountered this 'dinosaur' bird. It sure looks goofy! It looks a lot like modern mock-ups of the missing link between dinosaurs and birds. After that Koala bears, they were all high up in a Eucalyptus tree snoozing the day away but I did get to see this guy. Don't you just want to hold him? The next photo is a wombat, I think this one was rather young but I might be mistaken. He a cute little guy too. I'll spare you the rest of the animal photos but if you want to see more, the me know!




Here is another view of the Harbour I stitched together. I just find it spectacular!


On my way home I decided to take a quick walk through Luna Park. I think if I was a kid this entry way would scare me! Just look at those teeth!