21st February 2008, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Our second day in Sydney was when we quit the MSVG for a week so needed a bit of organisation, particularly as we had been advised that getting accommodation in downtown Sydney was very difficult on this particular day. Andy confirmed this when trying to get us a room in the hotel next to his apartment on Hyde Park. He had to phone back at lunchtime to see if a room had been vacated. Fellow travellers were told at the Information Bureau there was no accommodation available in the downtown. So we started the day with no idea how it would finish, but agreed to call Andy at lunchtime to see if he had been successful.
We took a decision to do some touristy things and planned to do the $44 deal to visit the Wildlife World and the Sydney Tower as a visit to the zoo - given its location and our constraints - was a little impractical. The problem was, we had to be back at the ship at 5.00pm to collect our bags from Immigration/Customs having waited to get them cleared to take off the ship around 10.30am, which was messing up our planning. Well, in the event M ascertained that the Duckbilled Platypus that she wanted to see along with the roos, koalas and cassowary (which we missed in Daintree) was in the Aquarium and not the Wildlife Park. So, it became the $64 deal to visit all three. This turned out to be a great deal, particularly as both the Wildlife Centre and Aquarium were at Darling Harbour, just five minutes from the ship.
We licked off with Wildlife Centre which we thought would take an hour but we were there for the rest of the morning. We saw all the indigenous animals we expected to see in very well-planned surroundings. M was particularly taken with the cute koalas and the cassowary, but also by the wombat who - after about half an hour of teasing eventually awoke and made an appearance for 2 minutes which we were lucky to spot. D was also well impressed with the reptile collection, particularly the fact that the two most poisonous snakes in the world are from Oz. An excellent morning.
We emerged from the Wildlife Park and M, on a whim, asked the Chinese lady in the shop (all visitor tourist places are now into souvenir shops at the exit) if she knew anywhere 'authentic' where we could eat in Chinatown. She gave us very precise instructions to an eatery on the third floor of a specific building in Dixon Street, right in the heart of Chinatown. It was about a ten-minute walk from the Wild Life Park/Aquarium, so we decided a lunch break of an hour or so was in order with the afternoon pencilled in for the Aquarium. Chinatown was pretty much as Chinatowns are elsewhere, but no less interesting for that. We found the Dixon Building on Dixon Street and went up the escalator a couple of stories. It was not looking promising as these levels contained all sorts of Chinese offices and business specialists. Then, at the back on the 3rd we saw the restaurant. It was very low key, very un-commercial and very busy with only a couple of tables empty out of 25 or 30. We were the only non-Chinese in the place, which included everything from businessmen out to lunch and families with babies. It was excellent. D had sticky rice and soft egg with tiger prawns with lemon tea and M had special fried rice with water. We got change from $20 - cheaper than Cairns. In the 45 minutes we were in there only one other white guy came in with a Chinese friend. It was a real community eating experience with very friendly folk - but all Ozzies are friendly away from the sports grounds! It's not in the guidebooks - probably because it’s unlicensed and doesn't need tourists anyway - so let's keep it that way.
Next, we came upon Paddy's Market by chance because it faces Dixon Street and M bought her Sydney T shirt there. And so, back to Darling Harbour via the Tumbalong Parks and Chinese Walk and the IMAX cinema and into the Aquarium. However, before we went in we phoned Andy and learned he had got us a room at the Hyde Park Inn.
Well, needless to say, we did not see the Platypus; neither did anyone else. A couple of Canadian girls hung around for over an hour and a half waiting for something to happen. They came there after we had arrived and had spent 15 minutes trying to route these beasts out and were still there when we left. So, that afternoon no one saw this illusive creature. (We were to learn later on Taz that dusk at around 6.00pm-7.00pm is the best time for a siting). However, we did have a good time elsewhere and saw a large female Saltie as well as a freshwater crocodile. Apparently, the Australian Saltie is the most feared reptile in the world and in Africa, even lions defer to Nile crocs eating their kill. (Only the hippo is feared by the croc - but there are none of those in Oz). We did see a multitude of fish too including many sharks and rays as well as cute sea horses. The great thing about both the Aquarium and the Wildlife Centre is that they both specialised exclusively in Oz fauna.
We got back to MSVG at around 5.00pm, sorted out a few things and decamped at 6.00pm, picking up our bags from customs (we hadn't been allowed to take them back on board) and headed for our hotel. We checked in, got sorted and decided it would be a good idea to do the Sydney Tower over dusk, so arranged to meet Andy after seeing the city from its high point. We got to the top without queuing (as we had pre-purchased tickets) just at the point of sunset and had about 20 minutes before it started to get dark. Like everyone else we did the full round and took a range of photos in the light and the dark. However, as in the Aquarium, some pics turned out better than others, irrespective of whether or not we used the flash. After completing the Tower - also known as Centrepoint - we did the OzTrek (included in the deal) a 'tacky forty minute "virtual ride" introduction to a clichéd Australia'. Difficult not to agree with this guidebook description. We met Andy on exiting. He had researched M's request for a Mexican restaurant and said there was one in North Sydney.
We took the train from Winyard to North Sydney; only two stops, but it did go over the Harbour Bridge, quite an experience too. We then set out to find the Had to Happen restaurant. had a nice Mexican meal - Andy and D with beers, M with wine before returning by train and walking to our hotel with Andy whom we bid farewell as we were off to the Blue Mountains next morning.
