Travelin' Geezers (TM): Touring Sydney

I woke bright and early the next morning for a bus tour of Sydney. It was given by freetourssydney.com.au. It did cost $18 Australian, which is supposed to be the cost of operating the bus. The tour met at Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park, so after some toast and orange juice, I headed to the city bus stop for the trip to Hyde Park. The bus dropped me off what I thought was across the street, but was actually in the middle of the park. The park was beautiful in the early-ish morning light.

I was confused with this sign, though. Apparently, they have several killer trees in Sydney. This was the first, but not the last time I saw similar signs!

The Archibald Fountain was lovely!

While I was waiting for the tour to start, I decided to take out my selfie stick and see if I could figure out how to use it! After multiple tries, this was the best I could do! Notice that Archibald is cut off right about the hips!

I also enjoyed stalking the ibis that were all over the park. One of the grounds keepers said he hates them because they get into everything!

The tour was on a nice bus with a very knowledgeable guide, who took us all over the place and gave us a lot of information about the various places. After passing the art gallery and entering the Royal Botanic Gardens, our first stop was Mrs. Macquarie's Point for some iconic shots of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and to have a sit in Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. For just a bit of background, the British governors loved to name things after themselves and their family members. Governor Lachlan Macquarie was apparently the most prolific at that, so if you don't know what to call something, just add Macquarie before whatever it is, and you've got a better than 75% chance of getting it right!

I tried some more selfies here, too. I think it may be getting a little better. Still have a long way to go, though.

We got back on the bus and passed through Woolloomooloo, past the Finger Wharf, the Garden Island Navy Base, my Airbnb (not mentioned on the tour), Potts Point, Kings Cross and the Al Alamein Fountain, Rushcutter's Bay, Double Bay, and Point Piper, the most expensive suburb in Sydney and and home of Wolseley Road, at one time the most expensive street in the world. We stopped at the Rose Bay Marina, which accommodates quite a variety of vessels, for snacks and a bathroom break.

We went past the Kincoppal-Rose Bay girls' boarding school in Vaucluse (which kind of reminded me of Hogwart's),

the Macquarie Lighthouse (the oldest lighthouse in Sydney),

to Watson's Bay,

where we stopped at Gap Park. Gap Park has high fences and multiple security cameras. These aren't meant to keep people in or out or for random crime. Rather, the cameras are monitored for potential suicide attempts. There are also several kiosk-style dedicated phone booths where people can just pick up the phone and talk to a hotline counselor. The Gap is also the site of a famous shipwreck, the Dunbar, in 1857, in which 121 people died and only one person survived. Gap Park has beautiful views, but is very rocky. I did not trust my ability to walk off of the paved area, and I really did not want to be another victim of The Gap.

From Watson's Bay, we headed to Bondi Beach, which as packed, since it was a school holiday and an incredibly hot day.

From there, we headed back to Hyde Park, where the tour ended in front of St. Mary's Cathedral. Since this was on my list of places I wanted to see, this seemed like the perfect opportunity!

One may think that's enough for one day. But wait, there's more! The Rocks is the first settlement in Australia, and much of that convict history has been maintained. There was an evening "convict" walking tour of The Rocks that piqued my interest. So, I took a train to Circular Quay to eat, rest, and catch that tour. Knowing there was going to be a lot of walking coming up, I grabbed a sandwich and sat on a bench in the quay, in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art. I was up and down, mostly resting, but wanting to get up and see everything. I practiced my selfies, charged my phone in the Customs House (I think I got a little nap in there at one point under the glorious air conditioning), but I was recharged in time to meet the tour in front of Cadman's Cottage.

The Customs House has a diorama of Sydney under the glass floor. Here is the section with Bennelong Point and the Opera House along with part of the Royal Botanical Gardens and Government House. I

The Convicts, Murders, and Hangings tour of The Rocks was very cool. It started at dusk, but it quickly became dark, so pictures are a bit scarce. The Harbour Bridge was lit with colors of the two final teams playing each other in the national football (rugby) finals later in the week. You can just see it peeking through the trees with a little strip of red along the top arc.

The tour took us through The Rocks, telling tales of the early days of Sydney and how convict labor was conscripted from one of the bars by getting the patrons drunk and chaining them in the basement to be taken out to service. There was also the Suez Canal, where sewage was dumped to travel downhill to the harbour, wearing a slick groove into the ground, which has been preserved. There was also the Nurse's Walk that was a path traveled by nurses going to and from the hospital. There were also alleys, including Suez Canal, that gangs hung out in. They would lure people into, sometimes by use of female gang members who posed as prostitutes (and sometimes weren't necessarily posing), and the poor sot would be mugged, clocked, potentially killed in the alley. They had some backlit sillhouettes of some of the more famous gang members on the sides of the buildings along Suez Canal. There were 3 different bars that claim to be the oldest in Australia. It was really an awesome tour, but I was barely able to make it. I had to hit my inhaler a few times, and without Chrissy there to help keep me stable, I wasn't always sure I would stay upright on the old, uneven steps and ground. Here are some pictures that I got during the tour.