Australia Day Weekend

Australia Day weekend - it was meant to be relaxing - but of course - things don't ever really work out how you expect them to. Apologies in advance for the look of this blog, and the picture placement - i'm new to all of this .

I decided to explore the sights, sounds, and food of Sydney a little more whilst the family was away in Brisbane.

Left the house at 9:30am ... and all up - spent 1/2 the day was spent traveling. I've discovered that on a public holiday - public transport runs on a limited schedule - and the busses outside our house run only every 2 hours - 4 times per day. (go figure .. right at the time when ‘more’ people are traveling and wanting to travel .. i guess the transport people need a holiday too).

After eventually catching the bus (filled to the brim with people who sit and stare) ... and catching the 'long' train ride (standing room only) I arrived at Town Hall and walked the usual route into pitt street mall. Made my way to Hyde park to see all the events.

Wandered around .. trying to avoid running manic highly-sugared children – and children’s entertainers – and eventually traveled through the food stalls. The plan was - scout the food stalls and visit on the way back through ... seems I somehow switched to plan b .. which involved alternative transport home - and therefore I didn't actually go back through hyde park and the food stalls. Note to self - next time ... 'eat as you go' ... the food varied from 'aussie tucker - pies & sausage rolls', to gozelemes (the turkish crepe), wagamama had a stall, sandwiches, it all became a blur.

As per A's request from Townsville (who was very upset that I would be even 'near' the event' - I had promised to find the tripple J live broadcast of the hottest 100 - 2007. Sat down for a while in the sun and listened to the music (I think I was the oldest person sitting in that section) .. it wasn’t until I left that I found where most people ‘my’ age were sitting .. they were clever – and had found some shade way over to the side.

Continued to walk around – and discovered an extensive vintage car expo - streets and streets closed off ... minis/ Volvo/s holdens/ jag's ..you name it - it was probably there. It was actually a good thing that I’m not a huge car fan – otherwise I may have been stuck there for hours. It was hysterical watching all the ‘car people’ who were fans. Their eyes lit up like little children.\\

Speaking of children – I was run into twice – by children running full-tilt without looking where they were going. And to make matters worse – both times I was glared at by the parents, obviously for having the audacity to dare be walking past where their children were running .. and obviously my being run into was a conscious attack on their child. I said ‘oops’ - apparently this wasn't the correct response as per the glares received from parents - how "dare I walk into the 'flightpath' of their children".

Also discovered on my travels – St Mary’s Cathedral – apparently the largest catholic church in Australia – and the head of the Catholic church in Australia. As it was Australia day – it was open to the public, and tours were being held. This church is simply breath-taking .. if you haven’t been in it already – next time you are in Sydney – I would recommend just having a quick walk through. I even paid my $3 and went down into the crypt – stunning.

http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/Cathedral/index.shtml

Further up the street, and around the corner, lies the Hyde Park Barracks museum. It’s an amazing building with such history – convict barracks, immigration depot for single females, law courts, government offices. Again - Amazing. In one of their interactive exhibits – I looked to see if one of my relatives had been housed here after coming over on the 2nd fleet – apparently not.

http://www.hht.net.au/museums/hpbm/hyde_park_barracks_museum

The recreation of the 'sleeping quarters' for the convicts was more than a little disturbing. It felt almost like the hull of a ship - and I hated to think about 30+ people being crammed into such a small space, especially after long hours of manual labour with little thought or provision for personal hygiene. I watched children and other visitors trying out the sleeping hammocks ... not really giving much thought to the reason for the hammocks, or the history - but revelling in the 'novelty' of it all. I have the feeling I may have only looked at / or paid proper attention to - about 1/2 .. the rooms were 'filled with people - which overall kind of took a little away from the experience ..but it was definitely worth while viewing.


Also visited 'the mint' briefly .. but was on the phone to a family member at the time - so didn't pay too much attention. Yes yes - this is wrong ... but .. at least I can say I've been into the building .. and I know now where it is.

http://www.hht.net.au/museums/the_mint/history/royal_mint_sydney


After a little more walking / wandering - I managed to find my way down to circular quay -- and all along the rocks. Decided that it might be 'novel' to catch a ferry back to parramatta ... (big mistake) .. so did fricken thousands of others too. The ferry's were already running 15mins - 1/2 hour behind .. when they had to close the whole of circular quay for the military to perform a parachute drop display ... for another 15-20 minutes. It was a complete people stampede / cattle call to get back onto the ferry. But oh well .. as a part of the overall learning experience that made up the day - I now which ferry to catch, where it arrives in parramatta, approximately how long it takes, and also where the train terminal is at circular quay … so no loss ...

Overall – Australia day was a huge huge day … and I’ve apparently done things that the neighbours (long time residents) – and C & M haven’t done. I wish I had done even more, or left earlier in the morning – but I’m not disappointed. In hindsight - I would have sampled the food ... and drunk more water. I've consequently been nursing a 'sunstroke / heat headache' for 2 days ... and my entire day's consumables consisted of: 2 pieces of toast, a glass of juice, 1 x 600ml of coke (at hyde park), and 3 rashes of bacon at home with 1 small bottle of water.

Next year I'll do more.