Iconic Sydney Photos

I could flood my blog with pictures of Sydney for the next month, but honestly I think you'd get sick of them after a while!  Instead, I have gone through my photos, and I am posting my favorites.  Believe it or not, I've got over 500 pictures of just the Sydney Opera House.  So, I'm going to attempt to narrow things down somewhat!

Look at this tree! Royal Botanic Gardens.

Sydney Observatory. See that ball on the roof? It drops at 1 pm every day.

Hey, look at the lion and unicorn on the post office!

These cockatiels are everywhere.

Manly Beach!  Love these beaches!

 More beach!

View from the Toranaga Zoo across the harbor to the Opera House.

The Opera House.

The bridge.

More from the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The Rocks

The first part of Sydney developed by the English settlers, The Rocks is a very old, very well kept up historic gem just up the hill from Central Quay.  Beautiful cobblestone streets, old brick buildings, small streets, tiny courtyards, and historic sites make this one of the most memorable walks!  Not only did we explore the Rocks, we walked across the Bridge and explored the Observatory. 
Below are some random pictures that I took while roaming through The Rocks.  

New South Wales Library

Our hotel in Sydney was just down the street from the New South Wales Library.  This gorgeous showpiece of a library is centrally located in Sydney near Central Quay.

New South Wales Library Website: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/

The Lobby is breathtaking....

Computers.... and people....

 
and more computers, and more people...

The Reading Room.  I love this room!

Hey look!  It's a card catalog!

I love the light in here!  I love the space - there are outlets everywhere - so it's easy to charge a phone, or use your laptop.  This is gorgeous!

My pictures don't even begin to capture the elegance of this library.  It is a gorgeous, well utilized space that is heavily used.  There were people using library resources everywhere you looked.  I think I work in a beautiful library, but this building just takes my breath away. 

Australia

I've been very quiet lately, I know.  I was busy knocking a big item off of my bucket list.  I had the opportunity to travel to Australia.  We found out in March that Husband was traveling there on business for a month.  I took all of the leave that I have, and flew out to meet him at the end of his business so that we could explore together.

Train Station in the Blue Mountains.

Do you remember the song "I Had the Time of my Life" from Dirty Dancing?

That sums up my experience!  It was amazing!

I've been back for a couple of weeks now - attempting to catch up on laundry, work, and chores around the house as spring slowly creeps into the Mid-Atlantic.  I've got to move fast - because spring changes over to summer so very, very fast!

So, what are my thoughts about Australia?  The flight is very long.  Very long.  Fly at night if you can.  On the way out, we left Los Angeles at 10 pm local time - that's 2 am East Coast time.  Let me tell you, I was out cold before we even pulled away from the gate!  I slept on and off for a good 8 hours.  There were still many hours to go once I woke up, but sleeping for a good chunk of the trip is an excellent thing.  Coming back, we left at 9 am local time - and 13 hours later - just about the time I would have naturally fallen asleep - we landed in Los Angeles - at  6 am.   There really does need to be a better way to do that trip back. 

We stayed around Sydney and used their marvelous public transportation system to go everywhere we wanted to go.  Never once did we need a car, or a taxi.  Our hotel was near a ferry terminal and a train terminal.  Australia has a fabulous public transportation system!

The country is absolutely beautiful, and the people are genuinely friendly.  (And why not?  They live in Australia!!!!)

I'll be posting some pictures and some stories over the next couple of weeks.  I hope you'll join with me as I share. 

You know, I miss having the kids at home, but there are some advantages to being empty nesters.  Being able to pick up and fly out when an unexpected opportunity comes along is one of those advantages!