Sydney and the Ferry to Manly

Hotel 59 was booked for the next few days, so we had to drag our roller bags up the street to the hotel a few blocks away. It wasn’t much to look at, but the staff was friendly and helpful and the price was right. With the dollar tanking daily, even budget hotels weren’t any bargain.

We headed out with our Lonely Planet and followed their walking tour of Sydney. We ended at the Opera House and took the tour of this magnificent facility. The Opera House was once the site of a municipal tram garage- but in the competition between Melbourne and Sydney, the Sydney officials decided to put up a concert hall in the city. They held a competition for the design and ultimately chose a design by a Danish architect, Jorn Utzon. Construction began in 1959 with an estimated cost of $7 million. It turns out that the roof was top heavy and just working out the construction of the roof took five years (the entire project had been projected to takes six years!). The project was completed in 1973 at a final cost of $102 million.

Outside, the views of the Harbour Bridge were spectacular. The Opera House and the Harbor Bridge are the ultimate picture postcard of Sydney. The bridge was completed in 1932. It stretches 1650 feet- and the same year that it opened, the Bayonne Bridge in NY quietly opened, and was found to be 25 inches longer.

The day was sunny and bright and the ferries were beckoning. We raced to the docks, bought a ticket and ran onto the ferry to Manly. Even on a Friday, the place was filled with Aussies out to enjoy the sun and beaches. We found a spectacular little Thai restaurant across from the water then walked to the beach to check out the scene. John took a few photos of the girls in their skimpy suits and struck up a conversation with an old guy who had come to Australia years ago from Sicily.

Once back at Kings Cross, we were determined to find a pub. Heading the other direction from our hotel, down Victoria Street, passing the strip joints and Internet cafes, we found a beautiful outdoor café by a fountain. Our luck- it was happy hour – two for one. After many, many glasses of wine and an interesting conversation with a local – originally from Serbia, we headed home.