Dec 18 - Sydney

Another day in Sydney with unknown weather.  BOM predicted rain (80%) in the morning yet it was dry all day.  It was mostly sunny and warm, drifting toward hot.  

We walked south from our hotel to Hyde Park, then drifted southwest into Chinatown.  Lots of interesting things in the big city.  

Here's what we see as we leave the hotel.  On the left are the ANZ ATMs that I have visited to get AU$.  On the right is the convenience store open 24/7 and the source for our daily banana, Coke/Diet Coke in 600ml bottles and the country's best biscuit, Tim-Tams.   

Prices are expensive in Sydney.  But Sydney is a big city, so compare pricing to NYC rather than Boca Raton.  The AU$ is only worth about 0.75 US$, so that makes things appear even pricier.  A 600ml Coke goes for about 4-5AU$.  An Egg McMuffin is AU$4.50.  But it's all part of traveling.  Consider it a "vacation tax."

The northern entry to Hyde Park and the Archibald Fountain.

 Just east of that is St. Mary's Cathedral.

 Captain Cook hails us from further south.  Ask him about a Hawaiian vacation.

 At the southern end, the ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Memorial.

 Interesting memorial.  I think this is a repeat from our ATW blog posts.  The standing bullets represent those who served and returned home; the fallen bullets are for those who died in service to their country.

 Chinatown shopping area.  The steps are lit with changing colors.

 Inside a mall

Lots of shops in Paddy's Haymarket, but they sold normal stuff.  No hay.

 We turned back north from Chinatown and we were back at Darling Harbour.  At the southern end is the Chinese Garden of Friendship.  A very calming space in the middle of busy Sydney.

 Darling Harbour looking like the Mississippi River.

 Santa in the apartments overlooking Darling Harbour.

 Rather than walking back to the hotel we found a ferry that took us from Barangaroo (really) to Circular Quay.  The ferry probably went 5km to transport us 1km, but it was a fun trip.  The ferry was catamaran hulled, fast, and went under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

 Leaving Circular Quay for the 2-block walk back to our hotel takes us past Mac's where we've had our Egg McMuffin for breakfast every day (here it's called a Bacon and Egg McMuffin).  Cynthia's coffee comes from the attached McCafe (she drinks a Long Black, which sounds more impressive than "coffee") and my Diet Coke is dispensed by an automatic machine that vends the cup, moves it underneath the ice dispenser, then on to the drink nozzle.  We get there early to get a jump on the thousands of people streaming by as they leave the ferries and head into work.  Even during the week before Christmas.