Author: Grant and Barbara

How to even scratch the surface of a large city in a few days? Recommendations help, based on other’s experience and local knowledge. Inevitably you get drawn to the ‘cultural experiences’ and the “must-do” sights. Knowing you are part of a tourist circus and to relax and soak in the atmosphere. And to look at the buildings old and new.

Not a criticism as you can spin for days and see nothing. After last night’s photo shoot by the Opera House we got to experience Friday night Circular Quay atmosphere- quite a few posh clothes on show as standard. That pseudo-sophisticated code was also evident today as we perused the Art Gallery’s two galleries and the Botanic Gardens.

Enjoying the Art Gallery – particularly the immersive “Tank” audio-visual 7 screen show The Rites of When- also made me realise how galleries point you to interpret the art through their views and bias. Notes pointing out what the artist intended – which we may know from the modern art, but earlier paintings surely not? And if you need notes to understand then is that not something the artist hasn’t made obvious? So I came away thinking the old “I don’t know what I like but I like this” approach is solid. A lot was great, some just pretentious. I suspect the latter gets oohed and aahhed over most – just like the impenetrable Waiting for Godot.

The Botanic Gardens are a busy oasis near the business centre. Weddings galore have flocked there to drink the settings. Nicely central, they were founded on the land of the first farm (1788) on the Australian continent in 1816 by Governor MacQuarrie. “I say chaps, I know we’re busy trying just to live, but do let’s build a nice botany garden, near the bay. Whilst you’re at it – can you scum convicts please build my wife her own private road with a bridge too?” The 1816 bridge, Australia’s oldest, remains in situ in the gardens.

There’s a wedding on in St Mary’s Cathedral – completed in 1928. Fairly traditional inside, as is the wedding party’s clothing. Hope they had a great day.

Saturday night is party night so we’re up late at 9:40. Tomorrow a climb….

….a small city of 5.6 million people. So a bit of a shock to cycle into a mmetropolis after days in mainly rural hinterland.

A great day though. Almost completely on cyclepaths on our 60 Mile route. Sea Cliff Bay Bridge, some 635m of cantilever engineering-holding it over the sea, sweeps around a bay. Opened in 2005 it replaced an old road, the remains of which can be seen hanging impossibly onto the cliff.

We’re on the NSW Coastal route which shares some of the way with the Grand Pacific Drive, the scenic way to Sydney. A few wee hilly bumps too – given our experience with Pembrokeshire or Cornwall and coastal roads we should have expected them. The world’s second National Park 1879 (following Yellowstone and 11 years before Yosemite and long before the UK’s first, the Peak District in 1951) shapes the latter half of the morning.

Then a passenger 30 minute ferry from Bundeena to Cronulla on the cute Curranulla, the oldest commuter ferry operating in Australia. It filled up with a hoard of Duke of Edinburgh kids. We were able to squeeze into a spot between theirs.

On the other side, with 20miles to go, kiss immediately busier, more hectic. The city centre is a maze of cycle paths – no relaxing as often there is focused fast bikes cadencing towards you.

We enter Sydney proper by what seemed to be an old district. As the city dates for 1788 there are probably lots of old bits.

Tomorrow to scratch the surface, day 1…

Via dingadong is the temptation, we avoided it. Instead we took the pretty route via the magnificent 1898 MacQuarrie Pass, Hewn into the hillside, with 8km of steep twists and turns as it descends from the Southern Highlands to the coastal plains below. It is still resisting pressure to develop it further and I hope it is allowed to remain in it’s present state. Much like our own Bealach na Ba, it needs looking after.

The Sydney ‘sprawl’ effect starts quite far out near Albion Park with multiple new housing developments underway.

We enter Wollongong via its industrial park on another good network of cycle paths. The steel works, annual production of 3 million tonnes of crude steel, with supporting infrastructure reminds us of Port Talbot’s current demise – which was a similar scale of production until this October. Good things are still being made.

Wollongong is the third largest city in New South Wales (population 300k) after Sydney and Newcastle. An industrial hub and port. We even pass a TK Max in the centre.

Tomorrow to Sydney on a route which avoids one of the busiest commuter corriders in Australia. And the end of this leg of the trip, Wow!

Mittagong, gateway to the Southern Highlands, Australia’s first iron works and 6000 people. We reached it from Mittagong via a mid day thunderstorm of biblical proportions. Crashes and bangs overhead, either side. Rain was impressively torrential. 1.5 hours of it – quite exciting in a way, frightening in another.

It’s also a wine, or rather winery region. Greener than previous days and the insect and bird-song has returned. Perhaps farmer’s chemicals have something to do with this?

All the places seem to have a claim to fame. Bundanoon is the world’s first bottled water free town. One shire is a coal mining free area. It doesn’t say if they boycott products or power produced by coal – I suspect not. Marulan is on the 150 Meridian East of Greenwich.

One thing they all do well, and common to all the little bit of Australia we’ve been in, is street art, murals and creative signs/post boxes.

The freight trains are impressive, many 10s of carriages long. A chap in a cafe in Bundanoon where we had a sheltering coffee, told us they were spending million of AUD just down the road to separate tracks so the passenger trains can go faster – seems they are doing a better/simpler job of that than us with HS2.

A lovely creek led us to a final hill to Mittagong. The request to wash our bikes before we brought them in was received with slight incredulity. We did that in the rain……

Tomorrow another gong….