Sydney

Driving up from Jervis Bay we took a short side trip over to Botany Bay National Park. Located just south of the city - directly across from Sydney's international airport in fact - it's the site of Capt. Cook's landing in April 1770. Although he only stayed here for 8 days before continuing north to chart the rest of the east coast of what was then called New Holland, his visit had a profound effect on world events. It was his botanist on the expedition, Joseph Banks, who later recommended this place as a viable location for a penal settlement, which the British Parliament finally acted on 18 years later by dispatching the First Fleet to establish a colony. They arrived in January 1788 only a few days before a French fleet sailed into the harbor on its own voyage of exploration. So....by the slimmest of historical margins Australia was claimed and settled by the Brits and not the French. Didn't take the new settlers long to realize that Banks' description of the amenities to be found in Botany Bay were a bit overstated so they went looking for an alternative. About a week after their initial arrival they sailed up the coast a bit, turned left, and entered Sydney Harbor (or Port Jackson as it's officially known), planted the flag, and established their colony. The date, January 26, is still celebrated as Australia Day.




This was the spot where the Endeavor anchored, collected water from a nearby stream, and made first contact with the aboriginal people who had occupied the continent for over 60,000 years...one of whom they shot in the legs when he challenged a landing party at the beach. While the park itself is quite well done, with a nice interpretive walk, good signage, and numerous plaques and monuments like this obelisk to describe the events that happened here, am afraid that the surrounding area detracts a bit from the whole experience. The area adjacent to the historical reserve is essentially an industrial park, with what appears to be an oil tanker terminal just offshore.


After spending a couple of hours at Botany Bay we motored up into the city, crossed via the harbor tunnel into the northern suburbs, and found our rental apartment in the beach community of Manly - our favorite place in our favorite city in our favorite country on earth. There are a lot of places we've found on our travels that we really like, but there's only one that we absolutely love - and it's Sydney.



Looking down from our window at one of the departing ferries. We bought a couple of weekly passes and have been spending our time riding the boats to all of the far-flung suburbs that dot the shoreline around the harbor. It's a 30 minute ride to get from Manly to the main ferry terminal at Circular Quay, from which you can connect to other ferry services to get anywhere in the city.




Looking out another window at Manly cove and the wharf. The main beach is located about 100 yards to the right of the photo - it's a pretty good surfing beach too.



A nice look at the Opera House as we passed by on the ferry. That's Circular Quay just to the right, and the Royal Botanical Gardens are just behind it.





With the weekly pass the ferries were basically a "hop on - hop off" service for us, and we took full advantage to see parts of the city we hadn't been to before and revisiting others that we knew from previous trips. This is the little cove at Watson's Bay - the starting point for one of the many beautiful shoreline walks that surround the harbor.



The British influence is very apparent all around the city and only adds to the charm of the place - like these schoolgirls in their uniforms heading home after school. Stopped along the way on one of our walks to watch some of the younger kids playing Cricket in the park.



Everyone recognizes the Opera House, but the other Sydney icon (which also borders Circular Quay) is the Harbor Bridge...or the "Coat Hanger"as it's known locally.



So, you have the Opera House on one side and the Harbor Bridge on the other, and you get to ride around on little ferries like this one to commute to work every day...or to explore the city as a tourist. Makes you feel like you're in a children's story book at times.



This is a replica of HMS Bounty that was built for the Anthony Hopkins/Mel Gibson movie many years ago. Can take a two hour luncheon cruise on it every day. Floggings are optional.

We'll be here for a total of 10 days before heading up into the Blue Mountains just west of the city.