Warning: The Hop On Hop Off Bus is NOT worththe time or money...

Today we took the Hop On Hop Off Bus to Bondi Beach, aside from getting us there.. the tour was really not very good. Our first real dud.  The recorded commentary was poor, the buses were in poor condition and the wait for the buses was long.  ANYWAY... that did not dimish the beauty of Bondi Beach as you will see from the pictures. The weather was perfect, the water a bit chilly but we did get our feet wet and had an amazing view for lunch from an outside cafe. We went to another Bavarian Bier Cafe and had their haus suasages that had saurkraut, pickles, lettuce, and mustard on them. The Hofbrau was tasty too. I met an adorable little girl on the bus and she chatted it up with me. She is 5 1/2 and is starting school on Monday. She is going to St. Mary of the Snows. She said I looked like and talked like her granny Helen from Ireland.  Her twin sister fell asleep on her mother's lap while this little one was just as friendly as could be.  When she got off the bus she told me I was a very nice person. Isn't that just so sweet?

Australian trivia:  They call shopping malls "arcades"

This is a shot of the street as we came into Bondi Beach. Lots of cafes and shops

THE beach

A life guard statue. There were plenty of surfers out in the water but not a lot of wave action today.

Lots of boats in the harbor

To answer your question Gwen, this is the little bag we take on day trips. It is light weight and we can put lots of stuff in it. 

Thursday, January 30,2014 - Sydney Town Hall and St. Andrews Cathedral Concert

This is the Sydney Town Hall George Strreet. It was opened in 1889. It is next to the St. Andrews Anglican Cathedral.  It is actually built on an old cemetary where all of the graves were dug up and moved outside the city of Sydney.

This is the orgimall chamber which has a beautiful domed ceiling. 

This is Centennial Hall with a hugh beautiful organ.

Viewof the organ from the second floor.

Captain Cook who founded Australia

Our guide Kieran Tonge, a retired 40 year employee in the Town Hall. He told a joke:  What do you call a french crabby insect?  Andwer:  A crossant.

Captain Phillip who founded Sydney

Art gallery in the basement of the Town Hall

Stained glass window in the St. Andrews Anglican CAthedral. It was built in 1868 aand is the oldests cathedral in AU.  The gentleman who was the "Welcomer" at the CAthedral told us a joke.  What is the difference between a terrorist and a organist?  Answer: You can negotiate with a terrorist.  We were at the cathedral for a lunch time organ concert! 

Banana split gelatto sundae for lunch at the Westfield 5thfloor.

January 29, Wednesday - Sydney

The underground train

Hyde Park fountain

Check out the turtle spitting water at the HydePark fountain

The Australian Museum - three floors of animals, minerals and bones.

A stuffed penguin at the museum.  These are the little fairy pengins that swim in warmer water

The AU Museum opened in 1855. They are now working on cloning extinct animals!

AU has two species ofo crocs and NO alligators.

This is a drawing of the inside of this museum.

A little comic relief at the museum

A Vietnam restaurant at the Meyer Bldg.  Excellent.

We went to a lunch time organ concert at St. James Anglican Church.

Some observations of Sydney

When you thank someone in Sydney, they respond "No worries."

When you see a price for "concession" they mean senior price which is quite reduced than the adult admission prices. We saved 60.00 today when we bought our second weekly transporation pass when we asked for "concession" price. They will not offer it to you. You must ask for it.

We discovered a great place to have lunch or dinner. It is the 5th floor of the Westfield Department Store/Sky Tower.  There are about 20 self service restaurants on this floor. It is tastefully decorated (upscale) but the prices are reasonable (much better than traditional restaurants)  We both had a wrap from a mediterranean place and it was very good.  We will go back for sure. It is about 6 blocks from our apartment. Located on Market Street.

January 27 and 28 - Sunny days AGAIN!

This is a sign on a building very close to our apartment. 

We saw the movie "Wolf On Wall Street" last night. I do not recommend it but I was happy to meet the star of the movie.  Gee, he is taller than I thought!

Interesting facts about Sydney and Australia

The Sydney Eye Tower while it was being built. We enjoyed the 4 D video (included  the floor moving, a mist of water, and smoke)

The views from the Sydney Tower Eye were just fascinating, especially since we could recognize so many parts of the city.

This is St. Mary's Cathedral

A cricket stadium

A war memorial in Hyde Park

Hyde Park

Darling Harbor 

The Opera House and Bridge in the background

We could see our apartment building from this view

A funny sign in the underground train station. 

We took the ferry to Cockatoo Island. It has a long and illustrious history dating back to the time of first settlement.  Once it was a convict prision,then an industrial school for girls, and Australia's biggest shipyard. It is a World Heritage Site.  There are tents to camp in... some are "glamping"  (tents complete with two cots) and old army tents.

There are several tunnels under the buildings and outcroppings.  

The layers of sandstone are really quite beautiful.

It was a very hot day and we found this adorable oub on the island that had great views and cold beer.