A Walking Tour of Sydney

My hotel is located in Sydney’s CBD (Central Business District), within walking distance of many great parks, restaurants, shopping and museums so I decided to take a little walking tour of Sydney and get the lay of the land.  On my way through the airport I had picked up a free pocket guide to Sydney.  It included a map so I knew from that that the Sydney Opera House was only about 1.5 miles from the hotel.  So that’s the direction I headed stopping at several points of interest along the way.

I first grabbed an early lunch at Caffe Cherry Beans (I can’t live on Violet Crumbles alone!) and then it was on to Hyde Park where the ANZAC War Memorial is located.  I met a nice employee there who had served in Vietnam and had become friends with a couple of US soldiers while he was there.  I continued through the park admiring the carvings in the trees that lined the Pool of Reflection.

Adjacent to the park is the Hyde Park Barracks Museum which has a fascinating history of being used to house convicts, orphan girls during the Irish Famine and later as an asylum for elderly women.  I really enjoy visiting places like this – a building that was constructed almost 200 years ago and is still standing.  I like to run my hands across the old bricks and imagine that I have placed my hand on the exact spot where one of the residents from long ago had placed theirs.  

After the Barracks Museum I made my way down Macquarie Street towards the Royal Botanic Garden passing by The Mint, the Sydney Hospital and the Parliament of New South Wales along the way.  I saw on my map that I would pass by the State Library of New South Wales just before reaching the Botanic Garden but did not intend on stopping there until I laid eyes on it.  There were people everywhere actually using the library!  I admit that I do not go to the library very often.  In fact, I’ve probably only been once in the past year.  But I just assumed that with the technology we have, that the library was becoming a relic that had served its purpose.  I mean, most people I know do their research on-line and if they want to read a book they take their iPad and go sit at Starbucks, right?  So I walked in and looked around and there were more people than I could count.  A majority was using laptops but many of them did have actual books in their hands.  This brought a smile to my face.  Yes, I’m old fashioned; I prefer hardback books over e-books, singing old gospel hymns over new praise choruses and I will take a phone call over an email or a text message any day of the week.  I made my way through a couple of art exhibits that were on display in the library and then came upon what would become my favorite spot in the library, the Mitchell Library Reading Room.  It’s a very large room with floor to ceiling shelves of books, a glass ceiling and stained glass windows at each end.  I felt more intellectual just being in this room. 

Just outside the front door of the library is the Royal Botanic Garden.  I did not spend too much time there as I was getting a little hungry and I knew the Sydney Opera House was just on the other side of the Garden.  Also, I had already planned to make the Botanic Garden a regular running spot for the next week.  So I pushed on past the Conservatorium of Music and as I rounded the Government House I looked up and there she was – a place I had only ever seen on television and never really thought I would be standing here on its footsteps.  I stood there and admired the building for several moments, walked all around it and took a few photos.  There is a café right beside the Opera House that sits on the water of Sydney Harbour and provides a great view of both the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  I stopped there, grabbed a snack and just soaked it all in for a little while – the view, the sun, the wind, the harbour, the conversations of the locals sitting at the table next to me.  It was simply amazing.   

It was getting late in the afternoon and I still wanted to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge so I put my shoes back on and headed off again passing through the neighborhood of Circular Quay and stopping in The Rocks to do a little shopping at the outdoor market.  I made it to the Bridge and took more photos of the Opera House from this great vantage point and eyed a couple of spots on the other side of the Harbour that I wanted to run to while I’m in town.  

By this point I had been on my feet for about 6 hours, jet lag was setting in and I was ready to get to the hotel, take a shower and catch some sleep.  So I walked straight back only stopping long enough to grab a quick bite from Pie Face (think mini pot pies with a variety of flavors and fillings).  

I have a pretty good view of Darling Harbour from my hotel room and just as I was getting ready to turn in a fireworks display began right over the water.  I just shook my head and smiled.  Blessed.

View all of my walking tour photos here.

First Things First

While I was in the Army stationed in Hawaii I discovered the most delicious candy bar ever known to man – the Violet Crumble.  It’s a simple candy bar really, just a bar of honeycomb dipped in chocolate.  It’s light and crisp and as my late Grandmother Mc used to say, it has a “more-ish” taste to it (meaning, I need a little more of that!).  It’s made in Australia and as far as I know the only US state where you can find these little pieces of Heaven is Hawaii.  I left Hawaii in 2001 and I have not had a Violet Crumble since.  Needless to say, my #1 priority upon arriving in Australia was to get my hands on a Violet Crumble.  So I dropped my bags at the hotel, made a bee-line to the closest convenience store which was about 1 block away and purchased 10 of these bad boys, one for everyday I’m in Sydney.  I’ll replenish my supply when I get to Melbourne.  And yes, I’m considering buying a case and having them shipped home.   

Finally made it!

G’day and Hello from down under! :) 

It has been a long couple of days.  I woke up around 4am today and for a moment I could not figure out what day it was or where I was. 

The flight from Atlanta to San Francisco on Thursday afternoon was smooth and uneventful.

I was to have a 3 hour layover in San Fran before departing for Sydney at 10:30pm Thursday.  Around 9:45pm we boarded the plane; the nice flight attendant brought me a glass of OJ, a snack of warm mixed nuts and took my order for the main course; I watched an entire episode of The Middle and then around 11:00pm the pilot announced that we were going to be delayed at least 30 more minutes due to some sort of maintenance issue.  So I laid my seat completely flat, curled up in my blanket and took a little nap.  When I woke up everyone around me was up out of their seats and collecting their belongings.  I looked at the guy sitting next to me and said “It seems like I’ve missed an important announcement”.  He told me that the maintenance issue couldn’t be repaired and we had to switch planes.  Finally around 1:15am our new plane pushed back from the gate and we were on our way to Sydney. 

My body felt like it was 4:15am and I was pretty tired so I again laid my seat completely flat and instantly fell asleep.  I missed dinner and dessert.  I wasn’t too sad about missing dinner but dessert was your choice of vanilla or chocolate ice cream with a buffet of toppings to choose from.  That would have been nice.  

And let me tell you, Business/First class is a MUST for international flights.  I have sat in First class before but only on short flights from say Atlanta to Toronto so I’ve never experienced the seats that lay completely flat.  I don’t know that a 15 hour flight can ever be enjoyable but being able to lie down, curl up with a full size pillow and actually sleep made it at least bearable. 

The flight finally landed at 10am on Saturday then I caught a cab to the hotel.  I was in transit for about 30 hours from the time I left my house until I got to the hotel.  I thought I would be exhausted and just want to take a nap by this time but I was wide awake.  So I just dropped my bags and went and explored the city.  More on that later.

For now here are a couple of pics from Business class – my seat and me enjoying being able to lie flat. 

Mic Check 1, 2, 3

I am headed out of the country for about 7 weeks and thought I would write a blog while I am gone so my family and friends can keep up with me.  I've never really written anything for the public to read other than a longwinded Facebook post every now and then so please bear with me if I start to ramble or get a little boring.  I do find writing to be somewhat enjoyable.  I hope you find reading this at least tolerable. 


So here it goes...


The day that I have been anticipating for about eight months has finally arrived.  At 5:32pm EDT today I will board a flight headed for Sydney, Australia.  The flight doesn't land in Sydney until 7:25am on Saturday.  That includes 20 hours of actual flight time – about 5 hours from Atlanta to San Francisco and then about 15 hours from San Francisco direct to Sydney.


Two perks come with flying such a great distance. One, my employer allows me to fly Business Class on all international flights. And two, I will accumulate enough airline miles to buy two round trip tickets to New York City in November 2015 to run the NYC Marathon which I had to withdraw from this year due to this AU/NZ trip. 


I will be in Sydney from Sat, October 25 through Monday, November 3. I will then fly to Melbourne and stay there until Friday, November 28. And after that is Auckland, New Zealand where I will stay through Friday, December 12. And then I head home just in time for Christmas!


I am leaving behind my sweet husband, Jonathan, and my cutie pie Scottish Terrier, Jacoby.  If someone could take them a home cooked meal occasionally I know they would really appreciate it.