nsidering Matt works and I am painting all week we have become pretty proficient at squishing alot of touristy stuff into a weekend. Such was the case of our visit this past weekend to Sydney. We did and saw alot! Funnily enough almost everything we did in some way made either me, Matt or both of us nauseated. First thing was my brilliant idea.... Sydney Tower and OzTrek. OzTrek is a simulated ride around the whole of Australia. Located in the bottom of the tower it seemed to me a good place to start our day of touris
m. The first part of the ride was tame enough with little movies of the outback, great barrier reef and rainforests, however the second part was a little rougher. It was one of those hydraulic deals where your seat jerks around while the movie on the screen moves and sways to make you feel like you are flying. I thought I was going to throw up about 2 seconds into it and had to stare at the wall not to feel sick. I looked over at Matt who was white as a sheet. He was laughing but muttering a few expletives obviously not enjoying the OzTrek experience. After that was finally over we got in line for the tower. Built in 1981 the Sydney Tower is the highest point in the city at 1014 feet and has a super fast elevator which only takes 40 seconds from bottom to top. This is a perfect activity to partake in when you are barely holding onto the inner contents of your stomach. The view was beautiful but not enough to keep us up there in the tower for long.We w
alked over to Darling Harbor and Cockle Bay. Fresh air was a wonderful thing. Making up for my wonderful idea we headed over to the LINDT (Matt loves this Chocolate) Cafe for a milkshake. Cockle Bay was home to the Sydney boat show last weekend so full of massive yachts. We walked around the bay until we found a water taxi stand that would take us to the Sydney Zoo. We were talking to three guys from Newcastle, Australia who were very friendly and funny. We got on the taxi with them and our driver, Kevin. There was one other couple on the boat but they didn't talk to any of us or each other. We were all joking around and enjoying the incredible view of the city. When Kevin slowed the boat down to tell us a little trivia the rocking almost killed me. I was puffing up my cheeks 
like I was going to be sick which was very funny to the guys from Newcastle. I told them not to worry as one of them was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and his hood was right in front of me...a perfect place to be sick. They all laughed. Matt was trying to whisper something to me. All I could understand was 70's and song so I told him to tell me later. Kevin pointed out all kinds of interesting stuff. There was a replica of Captain Cook's boat, and a fort in the middle of the water were prisoners body's were hung and left as examples to others. He also pointed out that Paul Hogan aka Crocodile Dundee had worked as a rigger on the Harbor Bridge. We went past alot of military ships. The USS Kitty Hawk was docked in 
Sydney a few weeks ago. Kevin said it was like the King was coming. All the Australian ships were moved out to make way for the big important American ship. Being the only American on board I had to pipe up and say "That's the way it should be!" This was very well received with hissses, groans and the quick removal of the hood that was to be my makeshift sick bowl. After many protests of "I am joking!" I was restored to the Australian's good graces and we had a great boat trip out to the Zoo. After we said goodbye to Kevin and the guys from Newcastle Matt told me the one named John was John Paul Young a famous Australian singer. I knew his song Love is in the Air, which was featured in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNC0kIzM1Fo
alked over to Darling Harbor and Cockle Bay. Fresh air was a wonderful thing. Making up for my wonderful idea we headed over to the LINDT (Matt loves this Chocolate) Cafe for a milkshake. Cockle Bay was home to the Sydney boat show last weekend so full of massive yachts. We walked around the bay until we found a water taxi stand that would take us to the Sydney Zoo. We were talking to three guys from Newcastle, Australia who were very friendly and funny. We got on the taxi with them and our driver, Kevin. There was one other couple on the boat but they didn't talk to any of us or each other. We were all joking around and enjoying the incredible view of the city. When Kevin slowed the boat down to tell us a little trivia the rocking almost killed me. I was puffing up my cheeks 
like I was going to be sick which was very funny to the guys from Newcastle. I told them not to worry as one of them was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and his hood was right in front of me...a perfect place to be sick. They all laughed. Matt was trying to whisper something to me. All I could understand was 70's and song so I told him to tell me later. Kevin pointed out all kinds of interesting stuff. There was a replica of Captain Cook's boat, and a fort in the middle of the water were prisoners body's were hung and left as examples to others. He also pointed out that Paul Hogan aka Crocodile Dundee had worked as a rigger on the Harbor Bridge. We went past alot of military ships. The USS Kitty Hawk was docked in 
Sydney a few weeks ago. Kevin said it was like the King was coming. All the Australian ships were moved out to make way for the big important American ship. Being the only American on board I had to pipe up and say "That's the way it should be!" This was very well received with hissses, groans and the quick removal of the hood that was to be my makeshift sick bowl. After many protests of "I am joking!" I was restored to the Australian's good graces and we had a great boat trip out to the Zoo. After we said goodbye to Kevin and the guys from Newcastle Matt told me the one named John was John Paul Young a famous Australian singer. I knew his song Love is in the Air, which was featured in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNC0kIzM1Fo Now once we got off the boat we couldn't just walk into the Tarong
a Zoo. We had to take an air gondola. Luckily this didn't rock too bad so besides my fear of heights the "nauseous" factor wasn't too bad. It was pretty cool flying over the elephant enclosure. The Zoos here really are fantastic. None of the enclosures have a cage feeling but more of a small recreated habitat. The exhibit that I enjoyed the most was the nocturnal exhibit. Photos aren't allowed because the animals eyes are super sensitive to light but we saw the greatest little animals. There were bilbys, poteroos (which I had never heard of and are similar to bilbys), all size and shape of gliders and bats. When the zoo is open the exhibit simulates nighttime so the animals are active and when the zoo closes the animals think it is day. Ther
e were many other animals I have never seen before (atleast not that I remember) like platypus, dingos and a sleeping tasmanian devil. I couldn't find the rhinos even though they were listed on the map. Rhinos are my favorite. I did find this sculpture of one.
a Zoo. We had to take an air gondola. Luckily this didn't rock too bad so besides my fear of heights the "nauseous" factor wasn't too bad. It was pretty cool flying over the elephant enclosure. The Zoos here really are fantastic. None of the enclosures have a cage feeling but more of a small recreated habitat. The exhibit that I enjoyed the most was the nocturnal exhibit. Photos aren't allowed because the animals eyes are super sensitive to light but we saw the greatest little animals. There were bilbys, poteroos (which I had never heard of and are similar to bilbys), all size and shape of gliders and bats. When the zoo is open the exhibit simulates nighttime so the animals are active and when the zoo closes the animals think it is day. Ther
e were many other animals I have never seen before (atleast not that I remember) like platypus, dingos and a sleeping tasmanian devil. I couldn't find the rhinos even though they were listed on the map. Rhinos are my favorite. I did find this sculpture of one. After the zoo we took another boat (Yay!More rocking!!) back to Circular Quay 
so we could walk thru the Botanical Gardens and Hyde Park which were both fantastic. I have always loved trees. There is one huge oak in the Cummer Garden in Jacksonville that was always my favorite growing up. I would live in Australia simply to look at the trees here everyday. Even though it is winter here the parks and gardens are filled with flowers and green plants. My favorites are the bottle brush plants. In Hyde Park they don't have pigeons they have Ibis. These birds are everywhere,
bathing in the fountains and picking in the trashcans. They were all very busy collecting bits and pieces for a big nest in the trees. There was an exhibit of orchids and carnivorous plants unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there. I still got Matt to pose in the flower face. He LOVES when I get him to take touristy pictures.
so we could walk thru the Botanical Gardens and Hyde Park which were both fantastic. I have always loved trees. There is one huge oak in the Cummer Garden in Jacksonville that was always my favorite growing up. I would live in Australia simply to look at the trees here everyday. Even though it is winter here the parks and gardens are filled with flowers and green plants. My favorites are the bottle brush plants. In Hyde Park they don't have pigeons they have Ibis. These birds are everywhere,
bathing in the fountains and picking in the trashcans. They were all very busy collecting bits and pieces for a big nest in the trees. There was an exhibit of orchids and carnivorous plants unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there. I still got Matt to pose in the flower face. He LOVES when I get him to take touristy pictures.Sydney 
itself is a pretty city but lacks the blend of architecture that Melbourne has. Both cities have beautiful old buildings and very modern buildings but somehow the architecture in Melbourne flows more smoothly together. In Sydney the stark difference of styles stand out rather harshly against each other. No, I haven't been biased by my Melbournian friends! The Sydney Harbor for sure wins the water front competition which was displayed that night when we went to dinner. Doyle's is one of the most famous restaurants in Sydney. The Doyle's opened their first restaurant in 1885 and have had the family business for five generations. We chose their location on Circular Quay with the most beautiful views of the harbor and Sydney Opera House.
itself is a pretty city but lacks the blend of architecture that Melbourne has. Both cities have beautiful old buildings and very modern buildings but somehow the architecture in Melbourne flows more smoothly together. In Sydney the stark difference of styles stand out rather harshly against each other. No, I haven't been biased by my Melbournian friends! The Sydney Harbor for sure wins the water front competition which was displayed that night when we went to dinner. Doyle's is one of the most famous restaurants in Sydney. The Doyle's opened their first restaurant in 1885 and have had the family business for five generations. We chose their location on Circular Quay with the most beautiful views of the harbor and Sydney Opera House.After dinner we walked around the quay to get a closer look
at the Opera House. One thing I hadn't noticed from the distance is the whole thing is covered in tiles. The Opera house itself has an interesting history. Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect, won a design competition in 1957 to design the Opera House and came to Australia to oversee the project. Due to differences of opinion over construction and a budget that ballooned from $7million to over $100million Utzon left the project and Australia in 1966. The Sydney Opera House was opened by Elizabeth II in 1973 and has become one of the mos
t iconic buildings in the world. We arrived during an intermission of Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio so we snuck inside to take a peek. I loved the portrait of Dame Joan Sutherland, Australian dramatic colorature soprano, who helped bolster attendence when preforming in Offenbach's, The Tales of Hoffmann (my favorite opera) in 1974.
at the Opera House. One thing I hadn't noticed from the distance is the whole thing is covered in tiles. The Opera house itself has an interesting history. Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect, won a design competition in 1957 to design the Opera House and came to Australia to oversee the project. Due to differences of opinion over construction and a budget that ballooned from $7million to over $100million Utzon left the project and Australia in 1966. The Sydney Opera House was opened by Elizabeth II in 1973 and has become one of the mos
t iconic buildings in the world. We arrived during an intermission of Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio so we snuck inside to take a peek. I loved the portrait of Dame Joan Sutherland, Australian dramatic colorature soprano, who helped bolster attendence when preforming in Offenbach's, The Tales of Hoffmann (my favorite opera) in 1974.After a drink at the Opera Bar which had a beautiful view of the Harbor Bridge we got into a cab that smelled like something had died in
it and a driver who drove like he was on fire. This was all in keeping with the tummy challenge of the day.
it and a driver who drove like he was on fire. This was all in keeping with the tummy challenge of the day.