Sydney - Day Two

Sydney, Thurs. Oct. 17 - Today we went to the Sydney Aquarium, where we saw a platypus and walked through underwater tunnels to view the ocean floor. After the Aquarium we walked to Darling Harbour via a promenade across a pedestrian bridge that offered great views of the harbour. Darling Harbour is an area of urban redevelopment that has many shops, cafes, and restaurants overlooking the bay. From Darling Harbour, we walked to the Sydney Fish Market. The best way to describe the Fish Market is to imagine about a dozen Wholey's all spread out and under one roof. There was a tremendous variety of seafood: prawns, mussels, oysters, shrimp, crabs, lobsters, etc. We then headed back to Darling Harbour where we took a stroll through the Chinese Gardens, which consisted of beautiful Chinese plants, shrubbery, and trees in a very peaceful environment, yet actually located in the heart of the city. Next we rode one of those double-decker sightseeing buses around the city area, where we saw many beautiful views of the Harbour. (You just can't get too many views of the Harbour when in Sydney!) We got off the bus at Bondi Beach, which is a world-famous beach. It is crescent-shaped and is about 1 kilometer long. The sand is actually a gold color. While at Bondi Beach, we saw a sign that said "Dangerous current - no swimming." In the background and in full view of the sign were people swimming. The word Bondi is an Aboriginal word meaning "water breaking over rocks". Another interesting story about word origins is about the word kangaroo. The story goes that when white man first set foot in Australia and saw a kangaroo, they asked "What's that?" The Aboriginal's reply was "kangaroo", which is Aboriginal for "I don't understand what you're saying." And the name stuck! The only thing about Sydney so far that we don't like are the pesky flies. These are small, persistent flies that buzz around, especially your face, constantly. They fly up your nose, they land on your lips, and they don't shoo away easily. The strong wind coming off the bay doesn't even seem to bother them. They are extremely annoying. Joe said that he would gladly spray his face with poisoning pesticide if it meant that 5 of those flies would die."