Sydney, part 1 of 2

Our 4 day mini-break in Sydney flew by, we can't believe we are already back at home in Brisbane.  We really loved Sydney!  As it is such a short distance, we decided that we would rather have a nice relaxing vacation, instead of cramming 10 days worth of tourism into 4 days. We took it easy and just visited what we could, with plenty of time to sit and people watch over a wine or a coffee.

Our first day we went to the Taronga Zoo.  The Taronga Zoo is situated across the harbour from Circular Quay and takes about 15 minutes by ferry to get to.  It is a very nicely laid out zoo, with very few cages (only for birds).  The habitats are well laid out and the animals seem to have plenty of room to roam around.  The highlight of the zoo for us was seeing the Indonesian Fishing Cat!  This is a cat that is about twice the size of the standard housecat, with large close set eyes and long claws.  It pats the surface of the water with it's paw to get the fishes to come to the surface and then WHAMMY!, good-bye fish, hello dinner.  At least that is what the sign on his enclosure said.  We went to see the cats twice and both times they were sleeping...someone must just bring them fish.

Fishing Cat

We also went to the Manly suburb, which was a fishing village (hopefully not run by the lazy cats at the zoo!) in the early 1800's and was gradually encompassed by Sydney.  It is now a quiet resort community about 25 minutes on the ferry from Circular Quay.  It was a lovely place to spend a day, we had a walking route from a guide book that took us through the village and part of the national park.  The beaches were pristine and it was easy to imagine being there in the height of summer and spending the day in the water.



Houses bordering the Manly marine walk

Saturday and Sunday were a little drizzly so we spent those two days walking around the city when it wasn't raining, and in museums and shops when it was.  We went to the Maritime Museum which was full of artifacts from Australia's maritime past.  There were relics from shipwrecks and old navigational instruments.  The highlight, however, was reading about how in the 50's and 60's the main way that most Australians vacationed was to take a cruise.  On the cruise ships there was activities for everyone and the children were looked after by the Children's Hostesses, affectionately referred to as Chilly Hos! 

We walked all around the city and through the parks.  There are so many parks in Sydney, the biggest park area that we saw was the Botanic Gardens and Hyde Park.  There are also smaller parks and green areas everywhere.  The parks are very well kept but still retain a natural feel.  The gardens are planned but not very formal.  Hyde Park has a massive fountain that is across the street from the fantastic St Mary's Cathedral.  We got there too late to go in, but will definitely hit it next time.

Statue in Hyde Park

There was so much to see that there is no way that we won't be going back soon.  It was easily as picturesque and vibrant as many of the European cities that we have been to, and the gorgeous weather makes it that much better.