AUSTRALIA : Sydney Opera House 2/8

On our 4th day, we finally were in Sydney. Chose to take the train for obvious reason. First destination.....the infamous and iconic Sydney Opera House. Been here many times and had even went for a tour of the inside, but the building never failed to mesmerized. The harbour setting, coupled with the Harbour Bridge and the myriad of boats just provided a beautiful ensemble of a picture perfect postcard view.

There it was, partially hidden behind a newly-built apartment block.

View of Circular Quay from the Opera House.

A closer view of the harbour.

Sydney Harbour Bridge. Opened in 1932, the 1149m long bridge is the tallest steel arch bridge in the world. It has always been a superb backdrop for firework displays during celebration of Australia Day and New Year.

Taking time to soak in the atmosphere.

The Sydney Opera House was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon, who won the competition in 1957. The building however, was only completed in 1973. The history behind the actual construction is a very interesting read, including the resignation of Utzon from the project team, six years prior to the actual completion date. He even refused to attend the opening ceremony in1973. It was only in 1999 (26 years later) that the Sydney government managed to persuade him to finally visit his masterpiece. He died in 2008.

Various views of the Opera House in different lighting conditions.

Sydney's skyline, viewed from a ferry.

Aboriginal performances at Circulay Quay.

An aboriginal didgeridoo player. Didgeridoos are interesting aboriginal wind instrument made from hollowed eucalyptus tree trunks. These trunks were naturally hollowed by termites and only minor adjustments were made to ensure the right tones. They produces bassy haunting sounds. Traditionally, women are not allowed to play or even touch them.

An unique metal sculpture just outside the Museum of Contemporary Art.

A historical building at the Rocks. The Rocks were the site of the very first settlement by the British in Australia in 1788. It now houses many art galleries and eateries and being close to Circular Quay, a very popular tourist destination.

Overseas Passenger Terminal, designed by the architect Lawrence Nield. One of my favourite building in Sydney. Saw the QE2 luxury cruise liner berthed here once.

The other end of the building.

The Rocks, Harbour Bridge and part of the Park Hyatt Sydney Hotel.

Right smack (almost) below the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Circular Quay. A unique transportation hub where one can catch a train, ferry or bus and the gateway to the Opera House, the Rocks and the Harbour Bridge.

A 'yellow cab', unique to Sydney.

Since we were short of time, opted to take the famous Sydney Explorer bus and just sat back and soak in the views. This is going across the Harbour Bridge.

Sydney's skyline across from the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The Sydney Tower, with a statue of Queen Victoria at bottom right.

Sydney Hospital, next to the Parliament House. A beautiful colonial building.

So sad that we could not allocate time to visit The Australian Museum.

St Mary's Cathedral.

Just loved the clear, cloudless blue sky.

View of Market City at the edge of Chinatown. Popularly known as Sydney's Paddy's Market, this is the place for souvenirs hunting,

Typical Australian houses with colonial architectural elements. Notice the wrought iron railing and friezes.

We were lucky to be in Sydney during 2010 Biennale of Sydney which is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years. Part of the event was the play of colourful lights and patterns onto the  white roof of the Opera House.

Another pattern.

Harbour Bridge is beautifully lit at night.

Stunning night view.

Circular Quay train station. Sydney is well connected with public transportation. Be it trains, buses or ferries, and they were in service until very late. The cheapest option is to go off-peak and get a family ticket.

 CityRail Millennium double decker electric train.

Clean, sleek and spacious.

Seats can be reorientated, depending on the direction that we want to face. The LED panels showed the name of the next station. Convenient way to travel. Beat the traffic jams and the huge city centre parking rates.

Next installment - Manly, Darling Harbour and Blue Mountains.

AUSTRALIA : Coolangatta to Sydney 1/8

Two-week trip to Australia in June 2010, covering the states of Queensland, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory. The plan was to travel to Sydney from Coolangatta over 3 days, with overnight stays in Ballina and Coomba Park. 4-night stay to explore Sydney and surroundings. Another 2 days travel back to the Gold Coast with overnight stay in Armidale. The last 4 nights will be spent in the Gold Coast with short travels to Brisbane and the theme parks in Surfers Paradise.

Flight : D7 2702 KUL-OOL 04/06/2010
Aircraft : AirAsia X Airbus A330-300
Reg. : 9M-XXA 

The waiting lounge at LCCT where all the passengers were anxiously waiting to board the plane. Ours was a red-eye flight and were scheduled to arrive at Coolangatta Airport early the next morning.

Our ride to Gold Coast, Australia. AirAsia X Airbus A330-200 9M-XXA

It was the mid-year school holidays, so the flight was quite full.

1st Day. Arrived Coolangatta early morning. Picked up our rental car and head to the nearest shopping mall in Tweed Heads for our food supplies. Will be spending the night in Ballina. Since it was less than 150km journey, opted for the longer journey through Murwillumbah and Lismore. A nice countryside drive. Should have been an interesting introduction to Australia for the kids.

Our accommodation for the first night in Australia. This was in Avlon Gardens Motel in Ballina, New South Wales. Good enough for our family of five.

The local seafood shop in Ballina which also serves the best fish and chips in town, as recommended by the motel's operator.

Prawns, prawns and.....more PRAWNS! Well, they didn't construct the Big Prawns statue here for any other reasons. Anyway, we did not take any photos of the infamous Big Prawn as it was in a very sorry state and about to be demolished. They are going to build a replacement soon!

Our meal for the night - fish and chips and scallops (surprisingly no prawns). Yummy...

Australian rockmelon. Look at the bright colour. Delicious!!

2nd day. A long 500km journey ahead today. From Ballina to Coomba Park. With stops at Grafton and Coffs Harbour.

Town of Grafton. Being a Sunday, it was deserted as most of the shops were closed.

A 'must-stop'. The Big Banana in Coffs Harbour.

A quick lunch at the Big Banana's cafeteria.

Fancy seeing a fellow Malaysian in Coffs Harbour.

It was a long and tiring journey to Coomba Park. We reached there quite late. The bungalow that we rented was nice and spacious. It came equipped with a fire place, a blessing because being winter, the night was quite chilly.

A very bright and crisp morning. The children getting acquainted with the local fauna. 

Friendly rainbow lorikeet perched on our balcony.

Feeding time.

On the way out, we found our first sighting of wild kangaroos.

After a short detour to Williamtown, we finally reached Newcastle. That's Nobbys Head in a distance.

It was cold and windy and the were high waves pounding the shore. This was somewhere near the Newcastle Bath where I used to frequent.

The Foreshore on left, Newcastle Railway Station straight ahead and Hunter Street Mall to the right. Wished we could spend more time, alas had to rush to Sydney for the night.

Ferry terminal to Stockton on the other side of the Hunter River. Brought back a lot of memories. Used to fish here. The only drawback was that you have to reel in your lines whenever the ferry came to dock. 

Made a short detour to the university to show the kids where mum and dad used to study and then off to Sydney. Today's journey was over 350km. Had arranged for a 4-night stay in an apartment in Campsie, It was close to a train station for the trips to City Centre and a short drive to Lakemba, where we were able to purchase halal food.

Next installment - Sydney Opera House.