Week Four

Mrs. Macquarie's Point

Old Government House

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Well, it's about that time again! As I mentioned in last week's blog post, I will be discussing my recent trip to Sydney over this past weekend. I will be talking about some of the iconic landmarks I saw while there, as well as some places slightly off the beaten path that I found very charming.

 

The first thing that comes to mind when an American (or at least most Americans) think of Australia is probably the kangaroo. To us, Australia is the "Land Down Under" a strange, exotic place full of deadly spiders, snakes, koalas, and wallabys with a rugged terrain personified by its most famous landmark, Ayers Rock (or Uluru as it has been traditionally called by Aboriginal Australians). This was more or less the concept of Australia I had prior to doing more research and actually visiting the country. Australia is actually much more of an urban and suburban country, perhaps maybe more so than the United States. While it is certainly true that practically the entire middle portion of the continent is a remote, inhospitable desert (the "Outback") the vast majority of Australia's population live along the coast, particularly the southeast coast, or just slightly inland (like Wagga Wagga). While in Sydney, I witnessed vast suburban sprawls with houses that were closer together and had smaller yards (or gardens as the Aussie terminology goes) than most American suburban dwellings.

 

Nevertheless, for those of us that are aware of the fact that there are cities in Australia and that children don't ride kangaroos to school or carry boomerangs with them everywhere, the most popular image that comes to mind has got to be the Sydney Opera House. Needless to say, that was probably the thing I was most excited to see in Sydney, and it definitely failed to disappoint. It was a very vast, remarkable piece of architecture and I was quite surprised at how long it took to get around all of it. In most photographs you see of the Opera House, the most common backdrop is probably the lovely Sydney Harbour Bridge. While it is less commonly known than the Opera House (I didn't know the name until shortly prior to arriving in Sydney) it is certainly one of Sydney's iconic landmarks, sort of like their Golden Gate Bridge. The Bridge extends from one side of the harbour to the other leading to a lovely arrangement of buildings on hills on the eastern side. While I was in the area, I also paid a visit to the Australian Museum of Contemporary Art which contained some fascinating exhibits, my favorite of which were the installations by French artist Annette Messager.  

 

After I was done at the harbour, or Circular Quay (pronounced "key") I continued on to the Royal Botanic Gardens, which consisted of a lovely stroll through one of the most beautiful parks I've ever been to. A main attraction in the Gardens is Mrs. Macquarie's Point (named for the wife of Lachlan Macquarie, an early Governor-General of New South Wales) of which I have provided a photo above.

 

On Sunday, my second full day in Sydney, I spent most of the day in the western suburb of Parramatta, which I found to be a pleasant departure from Sydney's Central Business District. I have often heard Sydney described as Australia's New York, in that it is very large, somewhat difficult to get around in, and very busy and crowded. I have heard Melbourne, the second largest city, is more like Los Angeles in that it is very planned, very easy to get around in, and much more of a relaxed environment.  But anyways, it was in Parramatta that I found what turned out to be my favorite place in the entire Sydney metropolitan area. I had heard about Old Government House, one of the oldest buildings in Australia dating back to the late 18th century, from the lecturer in my Local History class. It was a very quaint building with a shingled roof (indeed a true rarity in Australia) and is in the middle of Parramatta Park, a very pleasant, European feeling park that I was fortunate enough to visit at sunset.

 

By the time I had finished in Parramatta, it was time to catch my departing train back to Wagga. The train was delayed a good 40 minutes, meaning that I didn't get home until 4 in the morning, which was not the most pleasant experience I had over the weekend. But overall, I had a wonderful time in Sydney and I'm incredibly glad I went and got to see things I've only ever seen before in pictures. For the sake of space, I've only included four pictures in this post, however more photos of my exploits in Sydney can be found on my Facebook page. Thanks again and you'll hear from me again next week!