Day 16: Sydney (Day 2)

When I woke this morning I was determined to have a game plan rather than just roaming around the city. I had gotten a map from the tour guide the day before, so I took it and mapped out all the sights I wanted to see and then started my day.

First stop was through Hyde park again to get to St Mary's Cathedral. I am such a sucker for old and ornate cathedrals.

The journey continued through Hyde Park I reach the "rum hospital" again and this time I had time to rub the procelino's nose and hope for good luck!

A short walk away I got to the Royal Gardens and spent a good amount of time wandering through those grounds. It was overcast and so the gray cloud cover made the day feel rather chilly, but the grass was that much more inviting and smell of the flowers was that much more aromatic.

There is a part in the gardens were it juts out into the Harbor and it is from there that the more popular images of the Opera House and the Harbor bridge.

It is also in this spot where I found Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. Mrs Macquarie was the wife of a prime minister of Australia and she loved to sit in this spot and watch the ships come in. There are a lot of places around Sydney names for this Prime Minister, and this spot is for his wife.

I made my way aimlessly across town to the Sydney Aquarium next. The Aquarium is attached to a Wildlife park too with kangaroos and koalas, but since I had seen those already, I was only interested in the underwater life.

 Now I have seen my fair share of fish and stingrays, and clown fish. After the Great Barrier Reef, I feel I had gotten enough of them. So going through the aquarium, I was most excited about the sea turtles, mantees, and sharks. Especially the sharks!

 The sharks were pretty dang awesome. I will confess, I stood in front of this window exceptionally long trying to get a good picture with a shark in it. I finally got a good one of me smiling and low and behold, it turns out the shark behind me was smiling too!!

I think one of the most fun parts about my time in Sydney was being able to aimlessly walk around the city and loose myself in the streets and the maze of buildings. I would sit or walk and had no expectation for the day. I could decide on what I wanted to do and had no one I had to run it by. It was heavenly to be able to think and dream and spend hour after hour talking to God... sort of like I was on a date with Him.

After the aquarium, I walked along Darling Harbor for a bit and looked in the shops and stuff. I even sat in a coffee shop and had a chair tea with biscotti. Then I made my way to Paddy's Markets. This market is a huge indoor shopping area with countless stands selling useless touristy, knock-off junk - I loved it!!! It reminded me so much of Camden Markets in London, but without the high fashion and delicious asian food. I bought a pocket watch there and generally enjoyed being able to scan the merchandise.
Then it was back to the hotel where I nursed my horribly aching feet.