Our last stop on our Australian vacation was Sydney. When we planned the trip, there really was nothing in particular that we had on our list to do when we got to Sydney. Shortly before we left for the trip, Tony did find an overnight stay at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. He booked that but there was not much else we had on our list. I had read about Sydney and had wanted to visit The Rocks but was okay if we didn’t do that.
The Rocks is the area where Sydney was founded. It is the oldest section of Sydney. For those of you who don’t know about Australian history (and why should you?) the British government sent ships full of British and Irish prisoners to penal colonies in Australia in 1788. These prisoners built the penal colony which they would inhabit. Why did Britain send their prisoners to Australia? At the time Britain’s corrections system was over burdened because of the harsh economic times which caused many to steal food to survive. Thus they became prisoners and criminals and when the prisons were overcrowded, they were shipped off to Australia.
The Rocks is the gateway to/from Sydney Harbor where you will find the Sydney Bridge and the Opera House. What I hoped we’d be able to do was at least take a bus tour of the area so I could say I had see the Bridge and the Opera House. Tony wanted to see these too and he wanted to see Darling Harbor and some of the other landmarks.
We arrived in Sydney mid-afternoon and rested for a little bit. When it was time for dinner, we headed out of our hotel and stood right in front with no idea of where to go. Tony asked if I wanted to go right where it was obviously the downtown area, or did I want to go left which appeared to be a little less busy but we couldn’t see too much because it was a little hilly and the road we were on curved. I chose left, not wanting to get into the hustle and bustle of the downtown area. We walked about a block and a half before we realized we were in The Rocks! Being the oldest part of Sydney, the buildings were made of stones and bricks and the streets were very narrow. We found a small Italian restaurant where we ate and after dinner, although the winds were howling and blowing very mightily, we decided to keep going in the direction we had been heading to see what was out there, figuring that if we got too far, we could hail a taxi to get back to the hotel.
Well! We walked around the corner where the street dead-ended and got a glimpse of the Sydney Bridge! We walked across the street and down a very narrow stone staircase and we found the harbor with the Sydney Bridge to our left and the Sydney Opera House to our right and the harbor all around us! Without knowing, we had found what we had wanted to see, all within a few hours of landing in Sydney!
A few pictures below:
The Rocks
The Rocks
Sydney Harbor, Sydney Bridge on left
Tony with Sydney Harbor and Opera House behind.
Wasted Days And Wasted Nights 