Saturday - exploring Sydney

So, today we had decided to immerse ourselves in a day of sightseeing (after our day off yesterday).  We started out with a hearty breakfast and then made a pack lunch to take with us.

First things first we hit the information centre to get clued up on the best sights and where they were, and then headed off to the Sydney Harbour Bridge to do the bridge walk - sadly not the stupidly over priced 'bridge walk' (where you can don grey jump suits and climb to the top of the metal 'coat hanger' frame) but instead the free version of walking the length of the foot bridge across to North Sydney.  The clear day offered perfect views across the City and in the opposite direction off towards the Blue Mountains.   We decided to grab some even more stunning views from the top of one of the pylons, and ascended the many stairs to the top.  The bridge, which was built many years ago in 1932 didn't look a day old from up top...and according to Wikipedia we found out that the rivets were apparently all made in Ashton-Under-Lyne!!

After descending the steps and walking back to the City side of the bridge we walked the short distance to the Sydney Observatory, where we stopped for lunch overlooking the harbour.  We also took advantage of the free museum inside the Observatory (below picture) and went in for a quick look around.

Next stop was round the wharfs to Darlington Harbour, an up market place with many nice smelling eateries and bars.  It was also home to the impressive Maritime Museum, where there were several decommissioned Navy ships (Grandad Chorley we took a few pictures for you to admire; 11 = Vampire, 83 = Advance and the Submarine = Onslow).

After getting our fill of the harbour we walked into the centre of the City along Market Street, through the majestic Victoria Building, a very posh and out of our price range shopping arcade.  Outside was a very overwhelming statue of the Lady herself and also a statue of her favourite dog (which talked!).

Onwards though, to Hyde Park, The Domain (another park) and the Royal Botanic Gardens - which according to our guidebook started off life in 1816 as the Colony vegetable patch!  We walked through the gardens to Mrs Macquarie's Point to wait for the stunning views over Sydney whilst the sun set...2 hours later we got what we had come for!!  As the sun went down and the lights came on it was an impressive sight.  What also came out as the sun went down were hundreds of huge bats!

As our stomachs moaned for dinner (it was by now nearly 7pm) we walked back to the hostel and made a feast - bangers and mash!!