Another busy but enjoyable day but I'm afraid no time, at the moment, to catchup with the rest of my stay in Perth and the Indian Pacific train journey.
It has been a day for getting to grips with how to exit the hotel since it is surrounded by overpasses and under passes but with the help of the splendid Concierge team, I managed to find my way to Stop 18 at the Chinese Gardens to begin my Big Bus Red Route tour of Sydney.
This evening - it's about 9.00pm local time as I write - I have finally found my way to the waterfront at Darling Harbour and enjoyed the Fried Fish of the day and a Baileys Creme Brûlée to follow but more importantly I have found the way to walk to the Ferry Terminal at Kings Wharf since tomorrow evening I am booked to take a Starlight Cruise of the Harbour with a meal aboard.
I must admit that I haven't found it easy to navigate around this beautiful but vibrant city but after this evening I have made substantial progress. It has, however, taken a couple of hours this afternoon to work out the connections between the Harbour Cruise out to Manly tomorrow morning in time to get the Big Bus back to the hotel and then ready for the evening dinner cruise.
Not much to say about the Hop On Hop Off tour - the photos say it all really and you will undoubtedly recognise all the sites! The tall Green Building deserves a mention, it's 16 storeys in height (180metres) and the revolving mirrors are used to reflect sunlight on to the vegetation. The building is known as One Central Park and houses two apartment blocks as well as a shopping centre. Here are a couple of links if you would like to learn more about its construction and green credentials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Central_Park
https://www.ubm-development.com/magazin/en/timber-tower-sydney/
One other photo that requires additional description is the El Alamein Fountain in the Kings Cross area of the city. The El Alamein Fountain was commissioned as a memorial to Australian soldiers who died in 1942 during WWII in two battles at El Alamein, Egypt. Again take a look at this link for more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Alamein_Fountain
The Westfield Sky Tower also features in the photos. If I get time I think scaling the tower – by lift of course – it will be on my visit list.
