Sydney General Tips by pchamlis

Favorite Thing: Everyone wants to SEE the Sydney Opera House. Most people tour it in some form or fashion. I'd think that the most entertaining and memorable visit would be to see or hear a show of some kind.

Among the entities that call the Opera House home are..

The Australian Ballet, www.australianballet.com.au, Phone 02/9223 9522

The Australian Chamber Orchester, www.aco.com.au, Phone 02/9357 4111

Opera Australia, www.opera-australia.org.au, Phone 02/9699 1099

Sydney Symphony Orchestra, www.symphony.org.au, Phone 02/9334 4644

Fondest Memory: I only wish we could have had an opportunity to hear the Sydney Symphony or Chamber Orchestra in the Opera Hall. They were not performing during our visit to Sydney.

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Favorite Thing: When we first began thinking of visiting "Mrs. MacQuarie's Chair" and the Royal Botanic Gardens, I was perplexed to see that going to the end of Victoria Street, which seemed the logical direction, might not work. You see, Victoria kind of dead-ends up above the Wooloomooloo Bay area.

No worries, said Chris Bahr, owner of the Victoria Court Hotel. "Just take the stairs". Well.... I didn't see anything on my map about any stairs, but we took Chris at his word and headed down Victoria Street.

Voila! At the end of the street over on the left are "The McElhone Stairs", a long series of cement stairs leading down from Victoria Street to Cowper Wharf Road, which runs along Wooloomooloo Bay/Harbour.

During our time in Sydney, we made great use of the stairs, using it as our shortcut on walks to MacQuarie's Chair, The Domain, The Botanic Gardens, The Opera House and Harbour Bridge, the Circular Quay.... you get the idea. It became our favorite Aussie shortcut.

And, climbing all those steps numerous times each day certainly added to the fitness program. : )

Fondest Memory: I remember making a remark, on about the ten thousandth time we walked the stairs, that went something like this..

"I wonder how many of these stairs there are?"

Bonnie says "120", matter-of-factly. So, if you ever have this question in Trivial Pursuit, there are 120 steps in the McElhone Stairs of Potts Point, Sydney.

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Favorite Thing: We enjoy gardens. We enjoy greenery and we enjoy nature. More than your average tourist, we take pleasure in learning about the plant life of foreign lands.

Sydney is a great place for such individuals to spend some time. The Botanic Gardens are a treasure trove of unknown and unfamiliar plants and animals. I'll admit that if I lived in Sydney, I'd probably walk through the gardens every single day. Some people like to party in beer joints...... me, I like enjoying the outdoors. ; )

Fondest Memory: Being from north Florida, we have a particular affinity for old and very large trees. Our hometown (Tallahassee) has many huge live oaks within her midst. There's something so noble about an old tree. People in California know what I'm saying, after an afternoon in Muir Woods, right??

Anyway, Sydney's got some very big and beautiful trees as well. We particular liked the giant ficus trees resident in the Botanic Garden, Domain and MacQuarie's Point areas of the city.

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