From our temporary residence in Port Macquarie we moved to Sydney. Since all restaurants and bars are closed, we booked another Airbnb apartment and brought some of the left-over supplies from Port Macquarie. We took the train which took about seven hours going slowly through the countryside. It was a beautiful ride with nice views over the green hills but considering it takes almost twice as long by train than by car it is not a very popular service.
Our apartment was right in the city center close to Darling Harbor and the – now closed – Sydney Aquarium. From there we walked around the city along the waterfront. We crossed below the Harbor Bridge and got our first view of the famous opera house. This was already quite the highlight for us because with everything going on corona-wise we have not been sure that we’d be able to see it. Also, there are no cruise ships in the harbor which usually dock directly opposite of the opera house. Overall it was obviously not very busy and only the regular ferries and some sailing boats were on the water. We walked along the harbor to Circular Quay and then to the opera house. A short walk away is Mrs. Macquarie’s point from where we had a spectacular view over the harbor with the opera house and the bridge. On a side note: Macquarie was Governor of Australia in the early nineteenth century and is basically the founding father of Australia. We sat down on a bench to wait for the sun to set but were soon asked to keep on moving by patrolling cops since you are only allowed to be outside for exercise. These are the moments where we realize how lucky we are living in Germany because restrictions of personal freedom are introduced much more reluctantly and are – in my opinion – the existing rules are more tailored to fit the goal of keeping people apart and not necessarily at home. But being a visitor here it’s not our place to complain.
The next day we wanted to take a boat trip towards the Olympic Parc. The public transport system is really neatly done. You don’t have to worry about getting the right ticket for the right number of stops / rings / honeycombs / etc. Instead you can just tap in and out with your credit card and once you reach a daily limit you won’t have to pay more. While a single ticket is rather expensive with about 8-10 $ the daily cap is 16 $ and only 2.80 $ on a Sunday.
The Olympic parc is not that spectacular but it offered an opportunity for us to look up some facts about past Olympic Games. Do you remember the name of the Australian runner who won at sprinting and also lit the Olympic Fire? Cathy Freeman and she won gold at the 400m-sprint. There is a small park in front of the Olympic Stadium named after her now.
The area around the harbor is called ‘The Rocks’. Here is still a bit of the ‘old’ Sydney visible. The houses are much smaller and some only have one or two stories. There are old warehouses and old hotels and pubs – sadly, those are closed. In normal times this is a busy and touristy quarter but everything was quiet and almost deserted. The many souvenir shops were all closed and not many people were in the streets despite the blue sky. In the Queen Victoria Building, a beautiful shopping mall, only few shops were open. We walked up to the former observatory and crossed the harbor via the harbor bridge. The neighborhood on the other side is rather upper class. Here is traditionally also the home of the Australian prime minister, a mansion with an excellent view over the harbor. Just a quick reminder, Sydney is not the capital of Australia; Canberra is. But it is an artificial town built as a compromise between Melbourne and Sydney. We were told it’s not very attractive. 😉
Lucky for us the the Botanical garden was open to public. We were surprised how many different flowers can grow in the Australian climate without any glasshouses. There are also cockatoos and other birds to be watched.
The proper name: Strelizia
Sydney’s beaches are part of the cities charm and we spent our last day here (even though they have made some unflattering headlines during the Corona crisis). While the beaches are no longer completely closed it is only allowed to use them for exercise and Bondi Beach is only open to swimmer and surfers. We started our day at the beach early to take the Ferry to Manly to get a good view of the harbor in the morning sun. Manly lies on one of the arms forming the harbor gate. The ferry docks on the harborside and a five-minute walk brings you to the beach at the Pacific. From Manly we walked towards the opening of the harbor area to the Ocean. There the land rises in steep cliffs from the ocean. On top of the cliffs used to be a fort to protect the harbor. It is no longer in use and is a popular destination for the locals. Last summer’s bushfires reached this area. It had never happened before that the fires came so close to the city.
Bondi beach is just on the opposing arm to Manly. While it is the most (in)famous beach due to its size, there are a few more beaches. We walked along the Coastal Walk and took a break to watch some of the surfers in the water. It was interesting to see how there were more international people here. We heard a lot of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. Here, we also felt that the people were less considerate and the social distancing rules were not strictly adhered to. Maybe we had been in a rather thoughtful small-town-bubble the last few weeks but it felt a bit weird and uncomfortable to us.
From Sydney we took a plane to Melbourne where our adventure is about to end.