Australia Day 21: first Day in Sydney

​Our Australia trip has come full circle.  We have arrived back in Sydney where we will be for a week, the first couple of days with the OAT Tour, and then another 5 days on our own.

We started the day with a bus tour of many of the sites of downtown Sydney. Along the way, our leader, Rod, gave us a variety of recommendations for places we might enjoy in the coming days.  We are definitely going to have to make some tough choices.

After winding our way through historical areas and learning a bit of the history of Sydney, our first stop was the famous Bondi Beach.   Normally a festive place, the area was still in shock from the recent massacre.  Also, it was raining off and on. 

We enjoyed the beach anyway, watching the surfers, noting a rainbow, and putting our digits in the water.  

If you look closely, you can see the rainbow. 

Next we journeyed to the South Headlands of the Gap, the space of water between two headlands that protected the port of Sydney, to look at the lovely cliffs.

We strolled thru the Don Ritchie Grove down to Watson Bay.  We had lunch at the famous Doyle’s Fish and Chips resto, then boarded the ferry to Circular Quay.  

After a brief history lesson there, we enjoyed a tour of the iconic Sydney Opera House (our 6th World Heritage Site). We got to visit the Concert Hall and The Opera Hall, and learned a lot about the engineering and drama of the 16 year construction process. We even saw dancers practicing for the Romeo and Juliet ballet, and then bought tickets to the performance for later in the week.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped in to see a model of the downtown area that was located under the floor at the Customs House. 

Another major highlight of a busy day was a fascinating presentation about opals. We learned about how and where they are formed and mined, as well as the various types and colors, and how they are used in jewelry. We saw the largest gem-quality opal in the world, and held an opal ring worth over $300,000.

After a rest in our hotel room, we headed out to find dinner.  We are in the same hotel for the whole week, at a very central location a block from Chinatown.  We enjoyed some sushi a few blocks away, and then explored a nearby grocery store that had an entire aisle of breakfast bars!

It was a lot for our first day - but there is lots more to come.