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Sydney Sojourn, An Urban Australia Adventure
Lived in by aborigines for over 40,000 years, the winds of change blew to the Australian continent in the 1700’s when Englishman Captain James Cook sailed up the east coast and claimed it for the British Crown, who subsequently set up a penal colony. The legacy of convict and pioneer settlement has given Australians a sense of independence and larrikinism that most people, except the really uptight, find relaxing and fun. Children especially love Australia and its wide open spaces and the spectacular Sydney Harbour provides a playground for sailing, cruising and sightseeing.
Sydney Attractions by Sea & Land
We were keen to have a look at Sydney’s waterways and joined Captain Cook Cruises (61 2 9206 1100) for a lunch tour. One can only envy the lifestyle that harbor households enjoy by the sparkling warm waters (at least it was sparkling when we sailed). The spectacular views of water, hills, ocean and cityscapes from the hills surrounding the harbor command some of the most expensive real estate prices in the country. We could see why.
As we munched on fish, chicken, salads and pastas, thousands of yachts floated by, testimony to an active outdoor lifestyle for the residents. The visiting Danish Crown Prince and Princess were racing each other and much color and pomp surrounded the two yachts. Promenades swirled along the edges of the harbor, parks offered picnic areas and outcrops of rock stumbled into the water.
The harbor is dominated by the Sydney Harbor Bridge, locally known as The Coathanger, referring to its arched shape. Passing under it, we could see little ant-like people puffing up the rim of the arch on a walk to the top of the bridge. Due to this adventure tour's success with the public, the 75-year-old bridge can now be explored more intimately on a Discovery BridgeClimb.
We decided to walk into history, and the place for that is The Rocks, a preserved patch of Sydney that gives a glimpse into the ‘how it was’ ambience of early colonial living. We set off with an outfit called The Rocks Walking Tour (61 2 9247 6678; a self-guided tour booklet is available at the Sydney Visitors' Centre), dove into forgotten alleyways and learned about the secret escape routes that drunken convicts used to get out of the old hotels. Churches and brothels jostled for the moralities of colonials (has anything changed?) and terraces of brick revealed the small hovels of the poor. It was a fascinating look into historic Sydney, without being too strenuous or too long.
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