day 85 Sep 17 Sat Newcastle to Sydney

Sadly and ironically our gas bottle runs out mid kettle boil and with no bbq for our last eggs and bacon breakfast we drive towards Sydney and the Formule 1 at the Olympic Park where we will stay for the next 3 nights. Our room overlooks the Olympic Stadium and the Athletics Stadium and is on the 5th floor. 

We all leap into the shower and allow ourselves a different outfit from within the rucksack which has been stored safely away unopened for the last month. Our other clothes are relegated to the laundry pile to be tackled later and we take our last van drive to the Jucy depot to say goodbye to the van. We then catch the bus and train to the Circular Quay and catch our first glimpse of the wonderful Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. 

The girls are overjoyed to see such an icon in the flesh and happily listen to yet another one of "Mother's interesting information sessions"! This time all about the Opera House! 

• The building covers 1.8 hectares (4.5 acres) of land and is 183 metres (605 ft) long and 120 metres (388 ft) wide at its widest point. It is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 metres below sea level.
• Conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally being opened in 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II. This was a long time after starting with his competition-winning design in 1957 - the delay largely due to the fact that the design was beyond the engineering capabilities of the time.  
• The roof evocative of a ship at full sail was actually inspired by the segments of an orange and if deconstructed would fit together into a sphere. 
• The house is host to over 2500 events every year and as more than 5 performances spaces.
•  1,056,006 glossy white- and matte-cream-coloured Swedish-made tiles although they look white from a distance.
• The Concert Hall, with 2,679 seats, is the home of the Sydney Symphony and contains the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, the largest mechanical tracker action organ in the world, with over 10,000 pipes.
• Sydney Opera House was formally recognised as one of the most outstanding places on Earth with its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List on June 28 2007.
• IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND WE LOVE IT!

We contemplate trying to get tickets for a performance just to "tick that box" - we have a choice of Bryan Adams at $140.40 each or the opera Lakme at $75, sadly La Boheme is not being performed tonight and we err on the sensible side and vow to come back to Sydney again to enjoy its' delights.

 

We walk through to The Rocks district and wander through the Sunday markets, lunching on sushi roll, a Japanese omelette and a hot corn on the cob on a stick. We enjoy just being within the hustle and bustle of the city and within such an iconic location. The views of the cbd (that is central business district to you and me and our new favourite abbreviation),

 

the bridge and the opera house are amazing whichever direction you walk in and the afternoon draws to a close and the sun sets on the city and we spend time just strolling, standing and gazing and taking in our surroundings. We catch a train back to Central, another to Lidcombe and out to Olympic Park before enjoying supper at an Italian restaurant in the park complex.