A weekend in Sydney

On Thursday we took a train from Melbourne to Sydney, an 11 hour trip.  The aging train had about 7 cars.  We were in first class which allowed an extra 0.1 m (about 3 inches) of leg room for Jake’s long legs but not much else.  Not even a plug to recharge our ebooks.  And only instant coffee in the café car!  Good thing we brought some snacks with us.  The countryside we passed was a lot of rolling hills with sparse trees and brown grass, then as we got closer to Sydney rolling hills with green trees and grass.  Lots of sheep and cows.

View from the Melbourne - Sydney train

Our hotel was in the heart of the Central Business District near or within Chinatown.  “Chinatown” in both Melbourne and Sydney may be a little outdated given the ethnic diversity of shops and restaurants within the neighborhood.  Sydney has a great public transportation system consisting mostly of double decker trains.  My 20 year old map showed an aboveground tram system which apparently went away but is recently being reinstated. We got a late dinner near our hotel at a Japanese restaurant, curry for Jake and a very good ramen noodle soup for me. 

Jake thinks they look like Conquistador helmets from this angle.

An Irish bar and Chinese restaurant visible from our French cafe in Chinatown

A dead end street in The Rocks

Friday morning we got croissants and coffee at the nearest French café, then walked up to the Sydney Opera House and over the The Rocks neighborhood, an old area with stone buildings and narrow streets reminiscent of historic parts of Paris.  The “foodie” market was disappointing there though with mostly food to eat there as opposed to the selection of goodies I was hoping to pick up as a present for our dinner hostess that night.  So we took a train down to Central Station and walked over to Paddy’s Market, the big wholesale/retail food and goods market in the city.  There were a lack of gourmet stalls here too, but there was a wine shop, nut and dried fruit vendors, and plenty of exotic fruits to be found at the regular fruit and vegetable stalls.  I picked up a bottle of red wine, a bag of pistachios, and a dragonfruit.  So gourmet may only be a matter of perception.

In the afternoon we took the Illawara line out to the eastern suburbs, disembarking at Oatley.  Helen, a friend and former roommate from grad school, met us at the station.  She showed us around the town of Oatley and we picked up her kids at the local primary school.  School kids in Australia all wear uniforms and cute little sun hats. The younger kid went off to a playgroup but her 10 year old daughter Margot came with us.  We stopped for a coffee and snack in Oatley before heading to the Oatley Reserve, a very nice park along the water with paths through the bush.  Despite hearing about the sharks and jellyfish that inhabit the water, poisonous snakes and spiders and huge ants to watch for along the paths, we only saw some innocent little lizards and birds.  And a lot of cool plants!

We picked 7 year old Elise up from her playgroup and headed over to Helen’s house a few minutes drive away.  Helen fixed us a nice casual dinner and then we caught the train back to the city.  

Banksia tree

Gum tree (Eucalyptus)

Water View from Oatley

Eating a healthy snack on the ferry with Helen, Elise and Margot

A beach at Manly

Saturday they all met us at Circular Quay where the ferry boats depart.  We caught the ferry to Manly, about a 15 minute ride with great views of the city, opera house and islands.  Manly has a couple beaches and reminded me of a lot of beach towns in the US.  We walked along an esplanade over to Shelly Beach, a smaller, more sheltered beach but with reasonably deep water.   The water was cold, but I finally made it in and once in stayed in for awhile.  A lot of divers were practicing at the beach, so big groups would troop into the water with all their gear on.  Helen said the snorkeling is really nice there with views of groupers and other smaller fish.  Jake got us a selection of lunch items from the café nearby so we could continue to hang out in the sand.  In the late afternoon we were entertained by a wedding party that set up right in the middle of the beach!

A very public wedding on the beach - note the diving class walking by

After the wedding we headed back to the ferry dock and caught a fast private ferry to Watson’s Bay for dinner at the famous Doyle’s Restaurant. The kids loved the roller coaster ride of the first part of the ferry as it headed near the mouth of the harbor.  Helen and I not so much!  Doyle’s has a beautiful view across the bay to the city skyline.  The food was quite good, but priced for the view more than the quality I think.

From Watson’s Bay there is a fast public ferry back to the city center.  We stood up at the front and watched the city lights and the opera house come closer and closer. 

On Sunday we took the train to Bondi Junction and bus to Bondi Beach to meet a college friend.  He and his friend Renee had made reservations for us at Icebergs, a restaurant right on the beach overlooking the breakers and a huge swimming pool.  Icebergs has a celebrity chef and between the chef and the view the prices were higher than Doyles.  Eric insisted on treating us to lunch though. He had a gorgeous looking steak and I got a very nicely cooked piece of snapper.  Jake had a pasta dish with short rib pieces.  Eric became a radiologist and after the company he worked for sent him to Australia kicking and screaming for a few months he decided he really liked it here and stayed on.  Now he is opening a second radiology clinic south of Sydney.  His friend and colleague Renee helps run the businesses. 

The view outside of Icebergs

At the art museum in front of Eric's favorite painting

Eric’s main hobby is collecting modern art so after lunch since it was raining hard Renee drove us into the city to the New South Wales Art Gallery.  Eric clearly knew his way around their collections and showed us some of their famous pieces and the Australian artists collection.  I was interested to see how many women are represented among the Australian artists.  It seems as though it was more than usual.

In the evening it was still raining, so we went to see a movie and picked up some snacks at a convenience store for dinner.  Monday we caught a plane back to Melbourne.  The plane trip was much shorter than the train ride, but it still took a lot of time since the plane was delayed and you have to catch a bus and a couple trains to get back into the city.  Sydney has a very efficient train system out to the airport, so that didn’t take much time at all!