Bridge walk and ferry ride

Just another stunning view of Sydney.
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Our first whole day in Sydney was a busy but relaxed one. We headed out after a McBreakfast (self-catering apartment but too lazy to buy food to cook) toward Darling Harbour. We were rewarded with a lovely, warm morning with lots of sunshine.

We walked around Darling Harbour toward the Sydney Maritime Museum and saw an interesting exhibit on the 75^th anniversary of the SHB. Bobby wandered away and managed to get a private tour of the “First Lady,” a boat sailed round the world by an Australian woman – solo.

We got a quick tour as the orchestra started.

Look at the size of this one!
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Next we shopped a bit and had a nice Thai lunch, then walked up past The Rocks and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Lovely views, including those folks with a lot of money to burn (up to approximately $300 AUD for a weekend sunset climb) and climb the darn thing. Overrated, IMHO, as the views from the free walk were quite nice.

On the other side, we strolled around Kiribilli and tried to find the ferry back to the Circular Quay. It is a very nice neighborhood, including some older houses and apartment buildings (‘30s and ‘40s, I’d guess), plus newer places. Old money is the best kind! We also saw some huge spiders in a tree that I finally managed to photograph (my little Sony camera doesn't like to do close-focus macro shots).

Our ferry on the Neutral Bay loop back to the CBD.
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It was a perfect afternoon for a ferry ride on the “Golden Grove” back to the CBD, then back to the hotel for a nap and a snack before our show, “Holding the Man” at the Opera House (Playhouse).

We arrived a few minutes early so we went upstairs just as a performance of “The New Romantics” ballet was starting in the opera house (the second biggest venue). The usher let us past and we got a quick tour of the space just as the orchestra started playing, which was a nice moment.

Climbers with deep pockets.
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Our show was in the Playhouse, which is downstairs.  This area has been recently updated to include windows looking out to the harbor - I can't imagine why they built it windowless to begin with, but as it took 15 years or so to build the darn thing I guess they had to cut a few corners.

“Holding the Man” was excellent – funny and sad. The cast was quite talented, especially the supporting players who took on several different roles each. The “sleeping bag” scene had us rolling.

Bobby outside the Sydney Maritime Museum - that same monorail ran past our hotel.
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After the show we strolled back to Chinatown (by which time it was 11 p.m.) and called it a night.