Thanks to Bruce for his organisation and liaison with the tour company. The rest of us just had to relax and enjoy the ride. He took the photos which can be found here.
Wednesday, February 3rd 2010.
We left for Tullamarine airport in the bus that Bruce had negotiated with the company. At the airport we met our tour guide, Jan, and were fairly soon flying over this wide brown land to Sydney.
 |
Before going to our hotel we were taken on a tour of some Sydney sights.
The first was Elizabeth Bay House. Here is a very brief description of the origins of the house, taken from this site.
Can’t afford your dream house? Neither could Colonial Secretary, Alexander Macleay. He had the vision to develop the site from 1826 onwards as a fine landscape garden and build Elizabeth Bay House – then dubbed ‘the finest house in colony’– but his children asked 'where was the money to come from?' Macleay’s life long obsession with entomology plus the loss of his government post in 1837 required him to seek numerous loans from his eldest son William.
Though this house looks grand, it is unfinished and a mere six years into his stay William foreclosed on him, effectively forcing him to leave.
Here is a more detailed description of the house and its history.
We were given afternoon tea and taken on a tour of the house.
The eliptical dome in the centre of the house was a highlight ...
 |
 |
Our next destination was the Gap at South Head. On the way there, Bruce took this photo of Sydney and the harbour.
.jpg) |
 |
Our hotel was on the north shore of the harbour at Milsons Point. Just down the road there were spectacular views of Sydney Harbour.
After dinner in the hotel, we had free time, some of our party visited the local leagues club, some went for a walk and other rested in their rooms.
Thursday, February 4th
After breakfast at the hotel, our coach driver took us to Mrs Macquarie's chair for more spectacular views of the harbour. The description below comes from this site.
Mrs Macquarie's Chair (also called Lady Macquarie's Chair) is an exposed sandstone rock cut into the shape of a bench, on a peninsula in Sydney Harbour, hand carved by convicts from sandstone in 1810 for Governor Macquarie's wife Elizabeth. The peninsula itself is named Mrs Macquarie's Point. It is part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, at the end of Mrs Macquarie's Road.
Mrs Macquarie was the wife of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. Folklore has it that she used to sit on the rock and watch for ships from England sailing into the harbour. She was known to visit the area and sit enjoying the panoramic views of the harbour.
The peninsula sits between the Garden Island peninsula to the east and Bennelong Point (where the Sydney Opera House resides) to the west. The chair itself faces north-east towards Fort Denison and the Pacific Ocean. The area around it on Mrs Macquarie's Point is a popular lookout position for the view to the north-west of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.
View from near Mrs Macquaire's chair ...
 |
We then proceeded to the nearby Botanic Gardens, for a stroll morning tea, a walk down some of the paths and a ride on the trackless train.
As you can see from the video and photographs below we viewed animals as well as plants ...
... bats hanging in a denuded tree ...
 |
... Ibis and bats in close up ...
 |
... the trackless train ...
 |
... the Opera House, from the train ...
 |
Our next destination was the monorail ...
... followed by free time at Darling Harbour.
In the evening we attended the highlight of the trip, the Sydney Military Tattoo, at the Sydney Football Stadium.
(Turn on your sound for the Tatto videos.)
Before the main event started, we were entertained by a Royal Airforce big band called Swing Wing.
As noted on the website:
Formed in 1989, ‘Swing Wing’ concerts feature the melodies of a truly golden age in music, when Swing meant much more than ‘a piece of playground equipment’.
Following the Swing Wing the massed pipes and drums marched on to the arena, to great applause from the audience.
In the following video you will notice the rain start to fall. Luckily for us it only lasted for about 10 minutes.
 |
The massed Scottish Dancers entertained with some modern music as well as traditional tunes
The "exciting New Zealand Army Band"
Americans ...
Chinese ...
New South Wales Police Horse Display
Norwegians ... watch for the hat!
Trinidad and Tobago Steel Band
The finale involved all performers on the field at the same time:
 |
As we returned to our hotel we all agreed that it had been a great night. We saw the Tattoo without going to Edinburgh!
Friday, February 5th 2010
Friday morning we were driven by our coach driver to the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately we were not able to view the famous sights over the Jamison Valley,through the clouds. The swirling mists, though, added to the atmosphere of the mountains.
We enjoyed some of the famous attractions of the area such as the Scenic Railway ride into the Jamison Valley ...
 |
... waterfalls in the valley ...
 |
... exhibits describing the history of coal mining in the valley ...
 |
... and the ride out of the valley on the Cableway ...
 |
In the evening we cruised Sydney Harbour
... eating a delicious meal ...
 |
 |
... and viewing the harbour - spectcular at night - from the observation deck.
Saturday, 6th February, 2010
On our last morning in Sydney we toured some of Sydney's northern beaches, passing Middle Harbour on the way ...
 |
... before free time and lunch at Manly ...
 |
In the afternoon we flew back to Melbourne tired but with many great memories of our four days in Sydney.
Thanks again to Bruce Rosan for his original idea and his liaison with the tour company. Thanks also to our tour guide, Jan.
1 comment:
What a great way to spend a Thursday morning rather than doing housework. I enjoyed the photos and videos. Thanks Jean B
Post a Comment