We chose another ferry terminal, and had half an hour spare, so made our way to Rydalmere as it was just too hard to park at Blacktown. The next thing we recognised, is that the price of public transport is encouraging for people who want to drive their cars. It was going to cost us $90.00 to travel on public transport for today only, so we have opted for the weekly tickets at a mere $120.00. Our consolation prize is that the trip into Circular Quay on the ferry is not only efficient and quick, but also quite picturesque. If only we could get the crew to give tour information on the way.
We travelled at good pace up the Paramatta River, past Homebush and the Olympic site (2000), and into the inner harbour area of Sydney. We got to pass underneath the harbour bridge, which had the kids squealing with excitement. Almost as much as when we turned into Circular Quay and got a full vista of the harbour bridge behind us, and the Sydney Opera House in front of us.
Straight up, I knew there was going to be a lot of photos today. We were to start around Circular Quay, and Lisa immediately set off for the Opera House. The tour has been one of her big ticket items since we planned the trip. We found the sales booth, and booked on for the 11:30am tour. We had a little bit of time to kill, so we took some photos around the Quay, and had a delectable brownie and coffee at the Studio Cafe. 
The tour of the Opera House turned out to be a real highlight of our trip around. Our guide (Alex...who reminded me of Peter Dinklage (Captain Gutt - Ice Age, Elf, Tyrion - Game of Thrones) was fantastic and theatrical which was disturbingly fitting for the tour. We were walked all over the site with great commentary, and plenty of amazing information. Ashley even answered the question correctly that there are 1,056,006 tiles on the roof, but I think he must have read that somewhere before the tour, because it was a bloody good guess.We got to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra rehearsing for a show for the evening, some of the smaller studio theatres, and the two large theatres. The pipe organ in the main theatre is beyond amazing with over 10,000 pipes, 5 keyboards and 2 pedal boards. I wish I had that many arms...drumming would be much easier.
We stopped back at one of the cafes on the waterfront for lunch, and the sun came out to tease us. We could see Luna Park across the water from where we were sitting, but I think the kids will be disappointed if they think we are going to fit a visit there in to our schedule. After lunch we walked back around Circular Quay to catch a ferry to Darling Harbour, but a shoe tantrum again had us step onto the jetty as the boat was leaving, so we opted for a train instead that took us to St James where we were able to walk to the Sydney Tower Eye.
We paid for our access, and watched the 4D movie which wasn't bad, before riding the elevator to the observation deck. The views were breath taking, and we arrived just in time to tag onto the back of a tour that had started. The tour guide was pointing out all of the prominent features that could be seen and a bit of the history about them. Very cool.
St Mary's Cathedral is situated on the Northern end of Hyde Park, and the botanical gardens meandered on the water. We hope to walk down to Mrs Macquaries Point to get some photos of the Opera House with the Harbour Bridge in the background.But what is a day on our trip without an injury to report? And our lucky victim, erm, I mean patient today was....(Drum roll Please) Yes you guessed it - ROWAN!
Somehow during the tour, he managed to get hold of the fixed binoculars that are situated around the room. Now I don't exactly know how he did it, but he came to me saying he bumped his head...As a huge purple egg was developing. The staff were kind enough to give Rowan an ice pack to help his head, and they gave me an endless questionnaire and incident form.As you can see, Mum is totally impressed. We took care of Rowan and got him all sorted out, but the story does not end here...Oh No. There is more, and no it's not steak knives. Ashley threw his jacket on the floor with our bags while we were attending to Rowan's injury, so we guess that the second jacket that he has lost this week is still at the Sydney Tower Eye. **SIGH**
I know a little boy that is going to be cold for the rest of the week.
We wanted to catch the extortion train, also known as the monorail, which ended up costing us $20.00 for one station. We could have walked if we were so inclined, but we paid our money and rode the monorail for a complete loop before getting off at the station down at Darling Harbour. The purpose of our visit was partially to scout out some other activities, and we have tickets to some other attractions now, but the highlight of our culinary experiences...ADRIANO ZUMBO's PATISSERIE.If you are unaware, Adriano Zumbo makes the insanely impossible desserts on Master Chef to torment the contestants. We were to sample many of his fine treats today...No expense spared...We will be returning.
It was a short walk back around to Darling Harbour from Star Casino, and the sun was beginning to set giving the city a fantastic shimmer. The moon was out early as well, to add to the ambiance.We strolled along the promenade looking for some dinner, and settled on another stint at the Hard Rock Cafe. Those pulled pork nachos are just too good to resist. Needless to say, we are all extremely stuffed again, and finding it difficult to move.
It was dark when we left Hard Rock, and continued around the Eastbank Promenade as we headed back to the ferry terminus. We were to be catching the last ferry back from Darling Harbour to Rydalmere, and didn't want to make it 3 from 3 misses today.There is some great sculptures and fountains that decorate the walkway, and if not for the wailing about the missing jacket, it would have been very relaxing.
The kids were allowed to go up to the wheelhouse on the ferry (Dad had to supervise them...and some other bloke that thought I might need help) and we trundled back up the Paramatta River in the dark. It would be after 8pm before we got back to the caravan, and the kids were all extremely tired. It is now 1:40am, and I am the fool up writing a blog so I don't have to do it, erm...well, this morning now. Tomorrow, no wait, today is going to be just as big a day. We have planned to go to Manly in the morning on the ferry, and some other activities later in the day including the Maritime Museum.
I think that we will have some grumpy, sleepy kids tomorrow night...and maybe a very tired dad as well.
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