Sydney - 1st leg proposed itinerary
 

This is our first leg of our journey in Australia when we will be staying in Sydney for and initial 4 nights and then back on our last day from Cairns on Sept 30th in the morning. Staying at Travelodge Hotel Sydney. Thinking of switching to Travelodge Martin. Not doing car hire but Sydney Pass public transportation thanks to everyone on the boards advice.

Sept 13 ? Check in hotel around 8 am from trip from LA and do a little walking and sightseeing. Take tour of Opera House, walk through Rocks, eat Lunch at the Hard Rock Café (a must, I have been to at least 13 in the world), go through the Royal Botanical Gardens, Manly Ferry Cruise, then off to the Aquarium and then bed.

Sept 14 ? Go to Featherdale Wildlife Park in the early morning. Then down to the Harbour Bridge Pylon Look Out, lunch and shopping and then an evening Harbour Cruise.

Sept 15 ?If weather permitting a day trip in the Blue Mountains via public transportation with the 16th as my back up if weather not so great.

Sept 16 ? Trip out to the Koala Park Sanctuary, some touring of the Chinese Garden upon our return and after dinner a trip to the Sydney Observatory for some stargazing.

Sept 17 ? Depart for Melbourne in early morning hours ? part of 2nd leg proposed itinerary posting that I will add soon to site.

Sept 30 ? Depart Cairns at 7am and arrive in SYD at 10 am. Last day before we fly out at 10am for LAX and then to Minneapolis. Staying near airport at Hotel Ibis Sydney Airport. Doing anything we missed, perhaps Bondi Beach day trip and in later evening if still running take in the Lion King at the Capital Theatre.

Here are a few other things we were thinking of doing in the area and not sure after the shopping what to add or drop:
? Shopping for a Diji at Didj Beat Didjeridoo's in the Rocks District ? Clock Tower Square
? Shopping for an Opal for my 10 yr. wed anniversary gift to wife - ? on a Jeweler
? Sydney Olympic Park visit
? Day trip on 30th? To Travis Bay
? Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel and The Hero of Waterloo Breweries
? Walking from Manly to Spit Bridge

The Travelodge at Martin Place is in a much nicer position in the city than the other one which apart from being in a 'not so nice part of town' is also quite a distance from Circular Quay and most of the other tourist spots you will want to see.
Martin Place is right in the centre of the CBD and is adjacent to train and bus stops and an easy walk to both Circular Quay and Darling Harbour.

hi brazoo - the best place I know to buy a didj is at the Pier Marketplace in Cairns - George should be there every Sunday, he's Aboriginal and his didj's are genuine hand made.

Hi, brazoo!

I think you are wise to switch to the Travelodge at Martin Place, given that most of your activities centre on that part of Sydney. There are a couple of ways to streamline your itinerary so that you don't have to do a lot of doubling-back:

After the early morning Featherdale Wildlife Park, continue by train from Blacktown to the Blue Mountains. If you decide to do a guided tour of the mountains, you can get one that stops at Featherdale on the way up. DON'T go all the way to Blacktown (nearly an hour by train!) JUST to see Featherdale (only a ninety-minute stop, although a very pleasant one), and then spend another hour going back to Sydney. An hour the other way will have you at Wentworth Falls, almost in Katoomba. You could have dinner in Leura, and take an evening train back to Sydney (they leave Leura hourly, and the journey to Sydney takes about two hours).

Walk through the Rocks on the same day as you do your Pylon Lookout and Harbour cruise -- they're all within a few minutes of each other. A nice idea here might be to start the day by hopping on a train at Town Hall or Wynyard subway stations and go to Milson's Point (only five minutes). There are some lovely views of Sydney from here (the best view of the Opera House you will get anywhere), as Milson's Point is just over the bridge. Then WALK back across the Harbour Bridge, calling in at Pylon Lookout (it's the one closest to Sydney)on your way, Then continue down to the Rocks for lunch and shopping, and then do your harbour cruise. If you have time to spare mid-afternoon on this day (and you may, as the shopping in the Rocks won't take that long) then you could hop the Darling Harbour ferry (ten minutes)for the Aquarium visit right then, returning the same way in time for your (evening?)Harbour Cruise. This makes more sense than returning from Manly by ferry just to hop on another fery and go out to the aquarium. And, also, there is a small but interesting shark
aquarium at Manly (phone first to see what time in the afternoon they are feeding the sharks and try to co-ordinate with that), and you wouldn't want to do two aquariums in the one day, I'd imagine.

With the Rocks taken out of your Opera House/Botanical Gardens walk (which is, I think, quite an ambitious first day, given that you have just stepped off an all-night flight), you may be able to substitute the easier (geographically) Macquarie St to that part of the day. From the Travelodge Martin Place you could do Macquarie St first (try and visit the old Mint and the Barracks), walking down hill only, to (and through)the Botanical Gardens, and then around to the Opera House (don't know where the Hard Rock Cafe is, so I don't know how it fits into this walk). Then off to Manly in the afternoon, as you planned. The ferry ride back will have you good and drowsy by the time you disembark at Circular Quay -- you really won't regret leaving the aquarium until another day!

Hope there are a few ideas in there you can use!

You won't, I fear, do much stargazing at the Sydney Observatory, even though it's a nice place to visit and has some good exhibits. It was probably a great place to see stars when it was built, but in the last hundred years or so the city has sort of grown up all around it, and a combination of the bright lights and the inevitable pollution mean that nowadays it's a good place to get a great look at the flags on the Harbour Bridge. The observatory at Wentworth Falls, in the Blue Mountains, doesn't have such a large telescope or such a great old building, but viewing conditions there may be better, if you are a "serious" viewer.

Dear brazoo,

Why just the pylon, the bridge climb was one of the most wonderful experiences of our recent month down under. We went up at dusk and the lite city is like a dazzling pirate's treasure chest.

Try and see a performance at the Opera House complex. It really makes the halls come live.

Spit to Manly, excellent walk w/ beautiful views of the harbour.

I don't know what you pay for a "Harbour Cruise", but we did multiple cruises courtesy the excellent ferry system , included on $30 AU weekly Red Pass or if you are going to Manly $40 AU Green Pass

We also spent a nice morning at the Gallery of New South Wales, at the far side of the Botanical Garden. I think its interesting to see a country through the eyes of its artists. There is a performance of modern aboriginal dance downstairs at 11 or noon.

cheers
AndrewDavid

Hi brazoo..I think your itinerary sounds fine except for the first day . Except if you are on something, I don't think you can manage all that in one day especially after a long flight from LA ( hey what would I know..I'm an old fogey!)