Royalty goes to visit the Beaches in Sydney, Australia!‏

After the weekend came & went while we were Down Under so did the baseball games that we saw. For those of you who thought our party was over because you thought we just flew 7,500 miles each way to see sporting events, think again. Just like we did when we went to Tokyo, Japan back in March 2000, we planned to get cultured as well. 

After getting a good night sleep Sunday night, the King & I decided to use our time wisely on Monday. First we cleaned ourselves up then we had a hearty breakfast at the DeVere Hotel where we stayed when we were in Sydney. When we finished, we left the hotel for the day to explore what Sydney had to offer. 

 

King Cross Train Station

We proceeded to walk over to nearby Kings Cross which is much different in the daytime. We went there because that's where the closest train station was to our hotel. It was only a 5-10 minute walk away. When we arrived at the train station, we decided to buy a one day pass for $23 which gave us unlimited rides on the buses, trains & ferries. It may seem like a lot of money for one day but when I did my research as I was planning out this trip it made perfect sense to invest in it. If you take a bus somewhere, you have to pay for each ride. They don't give you a free transfer either. That's $2.20 for each single ride. You can buy a 10 ride card which gives a ride for $1.84 each. In addition, what they charge per ride is based on distance on the trains so by my way of thinking those rides to go from place to place will add up fast. So with that being said, the one day pass was a no brainer for us.

Once we bought it, we hopped on the train. Unfortunately we got on the wrong one. We went in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go that being towards the ferries at Circular Quay. After we realized we were going the wrong way we got off the train after a handful of stops & we waited for the train to come from the other direction. After a short wait, we got back on the right track. It was a good learning experience. As a result, we got to see other areas of the Sydney suburbs. We had plenty of time on our hands for a change so it didn't really matter. When you couple that in with the fact that it was raining we needed to stay dry anyway. 

 

Manly Ferry

After taking a scenic route, we finally got to Circular Quay. We walked over to the ferry area. We saw that the next ferry to Manly Beach was five minutes away so we walked over to that wharf & we got on board. By the way, if we didn't wisely buy the one day pass like we did earlier, it would have cost us $16 each round trip to take that ferry ride to Manly Beach & back. More proof that we did the right thing. 

 

Sydney Opera House

Once we left Circular Quay, we passed by the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge on the left side of the ferry & the iconic Sydney Opera House on the right side. As we continued on, we passed by some amazing scenery along the way towards Manly. As we got further & further away, we saw the City of Sydney in the distance. We finally arrived at Manly about 40 minutes after we left the Circular Quay. 

 

Manly Wharf

Manly Local Guide

Manly Beach

We got off the ferry & we walked through the Wharf towards the beach. Along the way, we passed through an area where there were places to eat, drink & shop. Despite the less than ideal weather conditions we made the best of the situation. We wandered around by the beach area. We sat down & relaxed as we watched people who were swimming and/or surfing in the water. It was cool to watch the surfers took a beating as they fell off their surf boards as the waves came roaring in at them. After an hour or so, we decided to head back to the ferry area. Since the weather wasn't great, we decided to take the next ferry back to Cingular Quay.

 

Bus 333 to Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach

People getting ready to surf at Bondi Beach

When we got back there, we decided to take a train ride to Bondi Junction which was the last stop on the blue line. When we got there, we saw a sign for the 333 bus that went out to Bondi Beach which is the famous beach in the Sydney area. After waiting a short time, we hopped on the bus which we didn't have to pay for since we had our handy unlimited day pass. Since it was later in the afternoon, I think the bus was making limited stops. It was a pretty good ride to get there nonetheless. All of a sudden, we saw the beach so we got off the bus. We wound up walking around for a little while. Just like at Manly Beach, there were some people swimming and/or surfing there. We walked around & we took in the gorgeous scenery. It would have been better if the sun was shining on us. After we decided we had enough, we went back to the bus stop so we could catch a bus back to the train which took us back to Circular Quay.

 

Lord Nelson - Sydney's Oldest Hotel

Lord Nelson Brewery

We then decided to take another ferry ride. This time we went to the other Harbour which is known as Darling Harbour. Since we had the day pass we were able to go joy riding to pass some more time. While we were doing so, I was able to get WIFI for a short time. As a result, I got in contact with fellow ballpark chaser David Schaffer who was staying in a hotel in the Rocks. I told him that the King & I needed to eat dinner. He said he was planning to go out for some drinks at a bar near his hotel called the Lord Nelson. We arranged to meet him there around 8:30PM. With that being said, it worked out well for all of us. We got to see him again & we got to eat dinner while we all enjoyed some drinks. The King & I wound up having fish & chips. It was a decent meal. The King was a very satisfied customer. Being such a picky eater, that's saying a lot. I'm glad we found a place to his liking. 

As for David, he wasn't hungry so he just enjoyed a few adult beverages as he likes to call them. While we spoke he told us that he was hanging out earlier in the day at a Pub called Fortune of War. All of a sudden, fellow ballpark chaser Ken Liu popped in. It was raining & miserable outside so they both lucked out as they got to enjoy each other's company again. They wound up spending three hours together he said. They also met some ladies from San Diego while they were there. As a result,  it turned to be a great day for them too. 

After spending a few hours with David, we said our goodbyes & we wished each other a safe trip back home. David was going home on Wednesday. We asked him about the Taronga Zoo since he had gone there when he arrived in Sydney on Thursday. He said he spent a few hours there. He said it was worth our while to go there. I told him we planned to. We appreciated his input which gave us an idea of what to expect when we got there.

Stay tuned for another special post that will go into further detail about our visit to the Zoo on that Tuesday while we were still Down Under.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman