Sydney - December 9, 2013

MONDAY – DECEMBER 9, 2013

BOTTOM LINE:

Computer work

Sightseeing Sydney’s Botanical Gardens, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, St Mary’s Cathedral, Down town Sydney…by foot.

Dinner at Mejico with new friends

BACK STORY:

Art, culture, gardens, wild life, shopping and global restaurants, Sydney has it all!

We hung around the hotel until late morning catching up on some computer work before heading out on foot for a day of sightseeing.

Looking from Sydney out to Harbor

We walked along side Hyde Park and came across St Mary’s Cathedral which reminded me of Notre Dame in Paris.  It is a beautiful, magnificent old building with a Christmas tree and live nativity scene to the side of the entry.

St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

Ornate Gothic Design

As mentioned, our hotel is perfectly located for the walking tourist.  The city has a free shuttle bus available, however we were just a few blocks from the Botanical Gardens that we walked.

Aside from viewing the incredible lawns, trees and gardens I wanted to find the “flying foxes” that I had seen in 2006.  Unfortunately we had been in Sydney in February, which must have been their season for fruit, which attracted them to the park.  A flying fox is a huge black winged bat with a red furry body the color of a fox.  They really are pretty incredible to see, but unfortunately this time around we could not find any.

Botanical Garden Fountain

We came upon the Art Museum of New South Wales that was having an “America” exhibit, so we went in to see.  Beautiful building, but never found the American showing so we headed down to the waterfront to see the Opera House and bridge.

Art Gallery of New South Wales

We had plans to meet up with some people at 6:30 that are partnering with the Stop Hunger Now program that Bruce is volunteering with. By 5:30 we needed to take a breather so we ducked into the Radisson Hotel to relax and have something to drink.

Ryan, Amarjot and Nichole hosted us at Mejico for a loving 3 hour meal.  Although the Mex with a twist meal was great, the visit with these three 26 year olds was the highlight!  With intelligence, creativity and hearts for helping humanity, these three young adults were incredibly inspiring to listen too.

Bruce volunteers with an international hunger relief program called Stop Hunger Now.  Ryan (CFO) and Amarjot (marketing Mgr) work for a company that has graciously donated monies to the Stop Hunger Now program.  We were there to extend a deep thank-you for the generosity and were graced with stimulating conversations and a warm sense of new friendships.

We walked from the restaurant, through the city and back to the hotel.  Along the evening walk we found the cities large lit Christmas tree and windows magically decorated for the amusement of children. 

Sydney's Christmas Tree

As we cut through Hyde park we noticed some unfamiliar wild animals and a few flying fox hanging upside down in a big tree.  We later found out that the wild animals were Australian opossums!  They kind of looked like a cross between a raccoon and a lemur.

Flying Fox

Opossum