- Pancakes
- Hyde Park
- Botanical Gardens
- Flying Foxes (Bats)
- Woolloomooloo
- Kings Cross (Neon-paradise)
I am finally starting to feel a bit more connected to Sydney. We've now made our way around on foot, bus and train at an average of about 20,000+ steps per day. To put that into perspective, I believe that is the equivalent of walking about 6 - 9 miles every 24 hours. Tomorrow, we've decided, will be a lighter day b/c our feet won't tolerate this frequency. Nonetheless, we are off this morning to enjoy one of Sydney's more noteworthy tourist eateries (and the locals don't mind it either), Pancakes on the Rocks. We've included a photo of our morning delights. Chad and I agree that the vanilla pancakes with the chocolate ice cream is the best combo.
In order to walk off some of our Pancake Pleasure, we take a harbor tour by foot along the boardwalk all the way back to Darling (more or less). We stop back at Rod's house in order for me to catch up on journaling for this blog and gather our strength before heading out for an afternoon of sightseeing.
We first make our way to Hyde Park, one of the best places I've been so far in Sydney. We sit on a bench and watch the crowds. I should have mentioned before now, but it happens to be "World Youth Day 2008" right now in Sydney. Gaggles of teens have converged here to see the Pope. They are everywhere with their parochial chaperones in full clergy-wear. This is quite amusing as you find yourself with nuns and priests in the strangest places. We enjoy Tim Tams (dark chocolate variety) which are also a local favorite. Chad has put away more than a hundred of these chocolate covered wafer "biscuits" during his short stay here. Addiction to cookies -- Chad -- never.
Next we are off to the Botanical Gardens so that I can see these giant bats I keep hearing about in person. They actually refer to this species as the "Flying Fox" because they really do look like miniature foxes with wings. I have to tell you that these are the biggest damn bats I have ever seen. They must have something close to a 3 - 4' wing span and hang about 12" down from their trees. They actually are starting to harm the trees in the Gardens so they are trying to figure out ways to control their populations. We had the luxury of seeing this massive group both during the daylight and then again at sunset when they took off for evening explorations. A pretty neat experience actually. (In case you can't make them out in this photo - they are the 25 black hanging masses from this tree.)
After the BG, we head over to Woolloomooloo for no other reason than to actually say we've been in a place called Woolloomooloo. Turns out that Woolloomooloo is Australian for "the projects." It's a little "dodgy" (aka sketchy) in this part of town and we decide right then and there that we will not, under any circumstances, be walking back through Wooloomooloo during the wee hours of the night. Because it is winter in Australia right now, it gets dark at about 5:30 p.m. and we head off to King's Cross to take a quick run through this much-discussed part of town.
King's Cross is full of a select number of things: (1) neon signs of all shapes, sizes and orientations, (2) prostitutes of all shapes, sizes and orientations, and (3) hostels of all shapes, sizes, and questionable building standards. if you only get one chance to take in the sins of the city, do it here. In the middle of all this neon village of eye candy lies one great little bakery serving up the most unusual meringue treats. We grab a duck and head back home to rest our tired feet and grab a dinner close to home at the Pyrmont Hotel (in photograph from Day 2). We hit the grocery late this evening to grab some breakfast items and snacks for the next couple days. More tomorrow!
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