Hard to sum up my Sydney experience in a few words, but I'll just say it was my favorite city I visited here in Australia. Sydney's harbor setting is it's crown jewel. It has some 66 little harbors or bays along its main harbor that stretches for miles. Everywhere the shores are lined with beautiful homes valued in the 2 digit millions.
Captain Cook was the first to discover the eastern coast of Australia, landing in Botany Bay south of Sydney in 1770. Twenty years later the first inhabitants of Sydney were 1000 prisoners brought in from England. Countries in many places in the world used Australia as a prisoner dumping ground, England being the largest dumper. Australian governors recognized most prisoners were charged with petty crimes and after light servitude to locals and engaged in labor on city buildings, they worked their way into Australian society. One former prisoner became a well known architect designing many of Sydney's city buildings. I visited the Hyde Park barracks, a control point for prisoners assigned to locals as servants. It's now a World Heritage site.
And then there is the icon for Sydney, the Sydney Opera House also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is an amazing site. And ... Yes....I did buy a ticket for an opera..my first...." The Marriage of Figaro"..had to experience it in that house!
Went to famous Bondi (that's "bond-eye") beach, where the surf clubs established in early 1900's, were the father of our modern life guard systems. Lucked out, it was a beautiful San Diego sunshine day that day, the rest were rainy.
Sydney was a nice combination of modern high rise, historical buildings and parks, all right on a beautiful harbor setting...in many ways like my own San Diego. It was my favorite.
Well great trips do end sometime, enjoyed this one a lot, thanks for coming along.
-Bill
