SYDNEY HARBOUR
I have been after a photo storage unit for a while now so that I can clear the flash cards for my camera easily while I am on holidays and away from my computer. I came across a unit the other day which will accept compact flash cards plus others with an adapter, record from TV, video and radio, is an MP3 player, has an FM radio, can output to a TV or projector, can be used as a 40 GB external Hard Disk - in fact I am still finding out exactly what it can do ! Fortunately it was on special (I suspect a new model is coming out) so I decided to go ahead and order it and I arranged to pick it up at the retailer's shop in Sydney.
It was such a great day that I decided to take advantage of my concession ticket into Sydney and boarded the ferry to Manly where I had lunch on Manly Wharf before heading back to Circular Quay again on the journey home. With clear blue skies, warm breezes, sparkling water, plenty of yachts and workboats and two or three old sailing ships, I couldn't have chosen a better day. I enjoyed it so much that I intend doing the same thing again soon but next time I will take the ferry to Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney which is much further inland than the Harbour Bridge. Naturally I had my camera with me.
One of the first things to be seen after leaving Circular Quay is the clown's face at the entrance to the Luna Park, a world famous amusement park in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge.
Over the last few years it has been possible to not only cross the Harbour Bridge on the footpath at road level but also to climb over the Bridge itself in a guided tour party. It isn't cheap at $249 and the climb takes approximately 3 hours, but what a view if you have a head for heights !!!
Just across the water from the Sydney Opera House is Admiralty House, the Sydney residence of the Governor General of Australia.
One of the most famous buildings in the world - the Sydney Opera House.
Quite close to the Opera House is Fort Denison, a Martello Tower built on a small rock jutting out above the water just around the corner from Circular Quay. In the early settlement days before the fort was built, this used to be known as Pinchgut since it was a punishment place for convicts. Very little food was given to the convicts while they served their term of punishment here so you can understand how it got its name. It is possible to visit Fort Denison on a ferry cruise.
Sydney Harbour is very much a working harbour and there are many boats like this security boat helping to keep the harbour safe and clean. Ted Noffs, after whom this boat was named, was a clergyman who did a lot of good work with the down and outs of the notorious Kings Cross area of Sydney.
One of these days I would love to take a flight in a seaplane like this. The flight is combined with a 75 klms per hour jet boat ride round the harbour and then you are taken to the Rose Bay flying boat centre where you catch the seaplane which flies over the centre of Sydney and out to Bondi Beach at a height of 500 ft. The entire trip, boat and seaplane, takes 80 mins and costs around $200. There are other companies offering similar trips.
The lighthouse on the tip of the South Head at the entrance to Sydney Harbour.
This Schooner had just cleared the Heads of Sydney Harbour as the ferry I was on turned into Manly Cove. A few more minutes and I would have missed it. I am not sure but I think it is the 'La Violante'.
There are at least 3 Manly ferries on the Circular Quay to Manly run. The trip takes roughly 30 minutes with the ferries leaving every 20 minutes. There is lots of work being carried out to improve the facilities on the Manly Wharf and while it looks a bit of a mess now it won't be long before it is thoroughly modernised. This ferry was the next to arrive after the one I caught.
There are a number of Tall Ships which are based in Sydney Harbour. The first tall ship is the 'Svanen' which took part in the Bicentenary fleet sailing from England to Sydney in 1988 and the larger ship to the right of it and below is the 'James Craig', a metal hulled ship from the 19th Century which has recently been restored.
Australia Day, 26th January, celebrates the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. It is a public holiday and in Sydney, while there are celebrations in all the suburbs, the main ones are on the Harbour. One of the events is a Ferry Race when the various ferries strive to become the fastest on the day. The race this year was won by the 'Sirius', seen here, and named after a ship in the First Fleet.
I am looking forward to the trip to Parramatta now travelling west of the Bridge instead of east as this one was.
I have been after a photo storage unit for a while now so that I can clear the flash cards for my camera easily while I am on holidays and away from my computer. I came across a unit the other day which will accept compact flash cards plus others with an adapter, record from TV, video and radio, is an MP3 player, has an FM radio, can output to a TV or projector, can be used as a 40 GB external Hard Disk - in fact I am still finding out exactly what it can do ! Fortunately it was on special (I suspect a new model is coming out) so I decided to go ahead and order it and I arranged to pick it up at the retailer's shop in Sydney.
It was such a great day that I decided to take advantage of my concession ticket into Sydney and boarded the ferry to Manly where I had lunch on Manly Wharf before heading back to Circular Quay again on the journey home. With clear blue skies, warm breezes, sparkling water, plenty of yachts and workboats and two or three old sailing ships, I couldn't have chosen a better day. I enjoyed it so much that I intend doing the same thing again soon but next time I will take the ferry to Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney which is much further inland than the Harbour Bridge. Naturally I had my camera with me.
One of the first things to be seen after leaving Circular Quay is the clown's face at the entrance to the Luna Park, a world famous amusement park in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge.Over the last few years it has been possible to not only cross the Harbour Bridge on the footpath at road level but also to climb over the Bridge itself in a guided tour party. It isn't cheap at $249 and the climb takes approximately 3 hours, but what a view if you have a head for heights !!!
Just across the water from the Sydney Opera House is Admiralty House, the Sydney residence of the Governor General of Australia.
One of the most famous buildings in the world - the Sydney Opera House.
Quite close to the Opera House is Fort Denison, a Martello Tower built on a small rock jutting out above the water just around the corner from Circular Quay. In the early settlement days before the fort was built, this used to be known as Pinchgut since it was a punishment place for convicts. Very little food was given to the convicts while they served their term of punishment here so you can understand how it got its name. It is possible to visit Fort Denison on a ferry cruise.
Sydney Harbour is very much a working harbour and there are many boats like this security boat helping to keep the harbour safe and clean. Ted Noffs, after whom this boat was named, was a clergyman who did a lot of good work with the down and outs of the notorious Kings Cross area of Sydney.
One of these days I would love to take a flight in a seaplane like this. The flight is combined with a 75 klms per hour jet boat ride round the harbour and then you are taken to the Rose Bay flying boat centre where you catch the seaplane which flies over the centre of Sydney and out to Bondi Beach at a height of 500 ft. The entire trip, boat and seaplane, takes 80 mins and costs around $200. There are other companies offering similar trips.
The lighthouse on the tip of the South Head at the entrance to Sydney Harbour.
This Schooner had just cleared the Heads of Sydney Harbour as the ferry I was on turned into Manly Cove. A few more minutes and I would have missed it. I am not sure but I think it is the 'La Violante'.
There are at least 3 Manly ferries on the Circular Quay to Manly run. The trip takes roughly 30 minutes with the ferries leaving every 20 minutes. There is lots of work being carried out to improve the facilities on the Manly Wharf and while it looks a bit of a mess now it won't be long before it is thoroughly modernised. This ferry was the next to arrive after the one I caught.
There are a number of Tall Ships which are based in Sydney Harbour. The first tall ship is the 'Svanen' which took part in the Bicentenary fleet sailing from England to Sydney in 1988 and the larger ship to the right of it and below is the 'James Craig', a metal hulled ship from the 19th Century which has recently been restored.
Australia Day, 26th January, celebrates the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. It is a public holiday and in Sydney, while there are celebrations in all the suburbs, the main ones are on the Harbour. One of the events is a Ferry Race when the various ferries strive to become the fastest on the day. The race this year was won by the 'Sirius', seen here, and named after a ship in the First Fleet.
I am looking forward to the trip to Parramatta now travelling west of the Bridge instead of east as this one was.
posted by Needlelacer | 11:12 PM
1 Comments:
Super pictures and posting Hazel. tell you what - I'll go halves with you on that seaplane flight! If the one I took in Norway is anything to go by, it's worth EVERY penny (or should that be cent????).
Les xx
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