Sydney my Second Home

The New year as usual was a laid back day. Ganesh and Family had left to Ballina in Northern NSW near Gold Coast as Raja had a cricket tournament and they had pre booked the trip a few months back and could not be avoided. Rest of us had a lazy day with complete rest to wear off the hangover and get our strength back for the next few days. Though we did go out to the nearby shopping mall, The Warringah mall at Dee Why for a little bit of home shopping.

Monday the 2nd Jan was a Sydney city tour day and we decided to use public transport. Thanks to Opal cards the all transportation card which can be used for Monorail, Tram, Metro, Bus and Ferry (Yes, Sydney has all these public transport facilities which is amazing). Cannot forget the inumerable trips taken on the Bus 136 to and from Chatswood interchange to catch the Metro or to Manly to catch the

Ferry to go to the city.

We took the bus to Chatswood and then a Metro to Wynyard station which is the entry point to the city. Our self planned day tour started with a visit to the harbour bridge. We went on top of one of the Pylons of the bridge and had an amazing view of "The Rocks" area comprising of the Opera House, Circular Quay etc..Eventhough we wanted to do the harbour bridge, wifey found it to be not very interesting and hence had to suffice with the Pylon climb.

After the harbour bridge we walked all through the laneways of Sydney and reached the Harbourside or the Docklands which is a busy tourist spot with its eateries. Through the Darling harbourside we reached the Australian Naval maritime Museum where we had the privilege of witnessing the inside of a Submarine and thereafter a naval freighter and Captain Cooks maritime vessel which was used for his expedition to Australia few centuries ago. The museum visit was an eye opener.

The Museum visit did consume a longer time than we had anticipated

and hence had to cut short our city tour as everything closes at 5 PM except for thursdays when they are open till 9 PM. Since we could not sightsee any further we spent some time at the park and walked back to one of the oldest Metro stations, the Museum station enroute back home via the Ferry service between Circular Quay to Manly and through Bus to home.