The end of my time in Australia was fast approaching and there were so many things to see and do in Sydney that it was difficult to choose.

Our first afternoon began with a brief walking tour of the city, to identify some of the landmarks and help navigate on our own later . On our walk down George Street, we passed St. Andrew's Cathedral, Town Hall, and the Queen Victoria Building. It was interesting to see how the Victorian Facades had been preserved while modern high rises were built behind them. In other instances the buildings had been adapted for modern uses. For example, The Queen Victoria Building was built in 1898 as a concert hall that also included warehouses, showrooms, coffee houses, and shops for a variety of merchants and tradesmen. Today, it is an elegant high-end shopping mall, so maybe its purpose has not changed that much. We then stopped in the beautiful Marble Bar. Originally built in 1893, it has been preserved and restored to its Victorian excesses of marble arches, stained glass doors, elaborately carved mahogany bars, and a gallery of charming period nudes. After enjoying a glass of wine we headed down Market Street to Darling Harbor where we had our first view of Sydney's waterfront. Our walk back to the hotel was through Hyde Park with views of St . Mary's Cathedral and the Anzac Memorial. We kept a lookout for some of the possums that inhabit the park, but either it was too early or we were too noisy. Then we were free for dinner on our own before an early night.

It was an early start on the second day, with an 8 am bus tour of some the Sydney's major sites. Our first stop was at Mrs. Macquaries Chair. It is an exposed sandstone rock hand carved by convicts into the shape of a bench. Local folklore says that Elizabeth Macquarie, the wife of Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, would sit there to admire the view and watch for ships from England sailing into the harbor. Today it provides a great view of Sydney, the harbor, the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. Our bus tour continued around the south side of Sydeny Harbor to South Head, where the harbor meets the sea. We had views of both the bay and the ocean, before going on to Bondi Beach. Because it was a cool, early spring day, there were only a few surfers in wet suits in the water, but the beach was beautiful and a great place to enjoy a mid-morning cup of tea or coffee .

After the beach it was back to Circle Quay (pronounced "key" in Aussieland) and a lecture on opals, then time for lunch and a short stroll, before our cruise of Sydney Harbor. It was a sunny afternoon, and a good lunch combined with some warm sun, made it hard to keep my eyes open, but it was nice to get a water perspective of the Sydney sights. After the cruise, it was a short walk to the Opera House for our guided tour. The Opera House celebrated its 40th anniversary in October, and although we missed the formal ceremonies by a few days, there was still lots information about its design and history. Most of the group made arrangements to see a performance at the Opera House. Mimi and I chose to see South Pacific and we spent a wonderful evening at the theatre, and it truly was an enchanted evening.

Our final full day in Sydney was a free one, and there were lots of choices. Mimi and I began the morning by investigating the Paddy's Market which was a short walk from the hotel . After two days in Sydney it was easy to find my way around the city and we had decided to visit a number of places along Macquarie Street. We decided to skip the Barracks Museum because we had visited convict museums at Port Arthur and in Melbourne, so our first stop was at the Mint. When the settlement was originally established in Sydney, there was a shortage of coinage and rum was the local currency. The building which became the mint was originally part of Sydney Hospital. It was built by contractors between 1811 and 1816 in exchange for 45,000 gallons of rum. After gold was discovered in New South Wales in 1851, the south wing of the hospital was converted into offices for the Mint and coinage building were built behind it. Today, it is operated by the Historic Houses Trust and contains a small café with tables on the upper verandah where we enjoyed our morning coffee break.

After coffee we walked past the Sydney Hospital to Parliament House which was originally the North Wing of the Hospital . It was difficult to reach the entrance to Parliament House because the sidewalk was occupied by several groups of protesters. It seems that the Senate was debating a proposed by to permit gay marriages in New South Wales, and supporters of both sides of the issue were present. Getting into Parliment House was very easy, only an x-ray of our bags and a walk through a metal detector were required. We had a choice of observing a session of the House or listening into the debate in the Senate Chamber. Again, entering the Senate Chamber waas easy, just walking to the anteroom and agreeing not to take photographs. The speakers were civil and the arguments were basically procedural.

We made a brief stop at the State Library, another beautiful Victorain building that had an amazing mosaic map of Australia on the floor of the foyer. Then we continued on to the Botanic Gardens. Because it is spring in Australia the roses and other spring flowers were blooming, and it was pleasant to stroll through the gardens towards the Harbor where we boarded the ferry to Manly . Manly is a small beach town,located near the North Head of the harbor.   It was only about a 10 minute walk from the harborside dock to the seaside beaches, were we had a late lunch while watching people enjoy the beach. Then it was back across the Harbor. in time to catch the free circulator bus and return to our hotel for our farewell dinner.

It was hard to believe that our trip was almost over as we gathered in the oldest pub in Sydney for our dinner. I have learned so much about Australia that I haven't included in my blog--the politics, the geology,the animals, and the people. Just three weeks ago, I was standing in the departure lounge at LAX tring to figure out which of my fellow passengers would be in our tour group. Now, they are all my friends and the flight home tomorrow will be so different than our outbound trip.