The Royal Botanical Garden and the Rocks

On Thursday morning the sun continued to shine so I decided to return to the Royal Botanical Garden to further explore the area. I had waked through the Gardens on Sunday, but wanted more time in nicer weather. I once again took the train to Circular Quay and walked past the Opera House. The Gardens are spacious with many trails crisscrossing it. There are also signs encouraging visitors to walk on the grass. I walked around the large bay area to reach Mrs Macquaries Point. I took a seat and enjoyed the view for a while. I also found a few other tourists willing to take my picture, this time without the coat and hat so I don't look I'm on a polar mission in the photograph. I also walked around the point to see Mrs Macquaries Chair, a ledge carved into the limestone by Governor Macquarie at Elizabeth Macquarie's favorite place to sit. After enjoying the view I ambled back through the gardens taking time to stop at some of the many benches.

I walked through the Quay to arrive at the Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney now a restaraunt/shop/pub district. The buildings are old and has a distinctly European feel. It reminded me a lot of Edinburgh. I walked through the twisting streets to Dawes Point, the park at the base of the south portion of the Harbour Bridge. I had a snack at the park before walking up and under the bridge to Observatory Hill. The highest area of downtown Sydney, it was once the focal point of the city. In the 1850's, an observatory was built to both observe the stars and to signal to the ships in the Harbour the correct time. Each day at 1pm it would drop a ball down a mast, like in Time's Square at New Year's, so the ships could set their clocks. The hill lost its prominence when the Harbour Bridge was built right next to the hill robbing it of its view of the eastern Harbour. It is now a museum, but still drops the ball at 1pm. I toured the museum that houses the original telescopes and has a variety of astronomy displays. The Observatory still has an impressive view of the western Harbour from its tower. At 1pm I was at the Observatory and watched as the ball drop, although I was probably the only one who saw or cared.

I left the Observatory and walked back into the main streets of the Rocks. By this time the sunny morning had given way to a rainy afternoon, so I decided to leave the Rocks and take the train to the central business district. There I did a little shopping before returning to the hostel. I was beat from all my walking and relaxed the rest of the night. I wrote a journal, spent some time on the internet, packed up my bags, and got to bed early because I was leaving Sydney the next morning.

Sydney is a wonderful city. It has everything one would want out of a large metropolitan city. It is a very familiar city and I felt as if I had been there previously. The people also seem so familiar and I felt as if I would round the next corner and run into someone I knew, even though I know no one in Australia. I would be happy to call Sydney home, although I would need a salary increase from what I currently earn because Sydney is a very expensive city. I found it easy to navigate and well marked with good signage. The train system is quite complicated, but I was able to figure it out and it proved to be a great way to get around the city. I'll be back through Sydney a few times in my upcoming journey, but the large majority of the trip will now be elsewhere in Australia and I am looking forward to experiencing other parts of this vast country.

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