A Day in Sydney

After my time in Adelaide, I flew back to Sydney for my last three days of the trip. I spent my final day in Australia exploring Sydney. It is an amazing city with lots of history, great views, neat buildings of historical significance, various gardens, and of course water. Sydney began as a British penal colony in 1788 as a means to relieve the overloaded prison system in England. It was meant to be a once-off but, they soon discovered, their prisons were just as packed as before. So another convoy of convicts was packed off to 'New South Wales', as it was first known in the Mother Country (New South Wales is now the name of the state in which Sydney is located). Then another convoy was sent, then another - this continued well into the 19th century. Other Britons also began making the months-long journey voluntarily, seeking economic opportunity, land, etc. It's an interesting heritage. Sadly, as in the Americas, the native Australians - the Aborigines - were marginalized throughout the settling process.

Below are a few sights of the city. Enjoy!

Hyde Park.

St. Mary's Cathedral, built 1828.

Built in 1819 to accommodate convicts, this historic building is now a museum. 

For a mid-morning break, I found a cafe and ordered a chocolate croissant to accompany my flat white. It was the most amazing I've ever had! Instead of the hard strips of chocolate, which seems typical for chocolate croissants, this one was sliced open and given a thick, rich layer of gooey-chocolate-and-choco-shavings-mash, all melting into a warm, chocolate-y goodness. Again - amazing!

The National Library.

Botanical Gardens.

This is the oldest bridge in Australia, built in the early 1800s by Gov. Macquarie for his wife, who liked to take her chaise and horses through the Botanical Gardens to a lovely point overlooking the Harbour. She did this everyday, and this particular overlook is now known as 'Mrs. Macquarie's Chair.'

The Botanical Gardens were beautiful and filled with many amazing trees - here's an example.

The famous Sydney Opera House.

The Opera House is emerging from my left ear...

Notice the fancy McDonald's. They don't look like that back home in Indiana!

This looks suspiciously like another fast-food burger chain in the U.S. -can you guess which one?

These neat buildings are in an area known as The Rocks, and are located right on the harbour were the original convicts once lived. Later, store houses were built for all growing loads of cargo coming and going through the port.