July 29th 2009
Believe it or not we are sort of wishing it to be bedtime. We have been going strong since we got here but are about ready to collapse. It isonly 5:30 PM but we have been advised we need to try to keep awake until around 9. I don't think that will happen' After we had a bite to eat at the Internet Cafe across form our hotel this morning we went sight seeing. We did it all by walking. We left our hotel and the first landmark we saw was the Sydney Tower. This is right next to our hotel. We then proceeded down the street and walked through Hyde Park. It was amazing how many people buy their lunch and picnic in the park.
Across the street from that was the most amazing church I have ever seen ... St. Mary's Cathedral. It is the Mother Church of the Catholic Community in Australia. There were at least 6 altars in this church. The architecture and size of it are quite impressive. It would take a bride 10 minutes to get down the aisle. The organ pipes were "Huge." Inside the church is a memorial trribute to the soldiers who have died in war. To get to the choir loft, you better not be afraid of heights. It sure would be awesome to have the Commonfolk folk group to sing there. We do plan on going to mass there on Sunday. It also has a Cathedral School as well as a Crypt.
From there we walked down towards Mrs. Macquerie's Chair and Macquerie's Point.As you walk there you see boats, yachts, freighters. John O. you would have a lot of freighters to chase here. From these locations you have one of the most scenic views of Sydney Harbour. You can see both the Circualr Quay and Sydney Opera House. We saw both but will actually visit them later this week. History has it that the chair was made for Mrs. Macquerie by her husband as she used to love to watch the harbour. The chair is actually made from sandstone with slabs of sandstone for sitting and viewing pleasure. When Jen went to Australia, I remember her talkingabout this and seeing a picture of her and her whole group there.
Next we proceeded to the Royal Botanical Gardens. This garden borders the harbour. The flowers were too numerous to count yet well marked. We just walked part way into it as you probably need hours to explore, but will probably revisit before we leave. Kathy Schuler would be in her glory walking through the gardens and along the harbor.
We sure did get a lot of walking in. Besides having to watch cars driving on what is to us the wrong side of the road, we had to watch out for joggers. We started the walk around noon. We think that many people jog during their lunch hour. There were so many joggers it looked like a marathon/race was occuring.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped again in Hyde Park and listened to a guitarist performing. We then explored the Shopping Galleria food court to see what we wanted for dinner. Upon entering there you go to the lower level and the largest food court imaginable. The most amazing thing was walking in the area on one side of the street, walking around, checking different levels and when you exited you were 1- 2 blocks down from where you entered and across the street. No idea how that works, but it was a bit disorienting at first,
Once back at the hotel we got our room and took a well deserved & needed shower and unpacked. We went to dinner and then headed back for the night.