Year 2 – Day 185, Sunday, October 30, 2022. Day 42 of our 1/2 world trip. The views from our room in the Sydney Hilton are awesome. You can see the Sydney Tower from our room. It is the tallest structure in Sydney, Australia, and the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere. We have such incredible views from our room.
First thing this morning it was breakfast in the Executive Lounge. The breakfast was awesome and the views incredible. The Executive Lounge is on one side of the hotel, and you can look out windows from three sides. How awesome is that. Our room is located on the side not visible from the Executive Lounge. What a win win – we get views from all sides of the building. It is hard to focus on eating. I just wanted to get out there and explore.
We are in the downtown business district. It is very quiet this Sunday morning in town. Looking down into the city from our room it looks so peaceful. It is amazing that this hotel was the scene of a bombing in 1978. https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/…/criminal-hilton-hotel…/
We left the hotel and hopped on the light rail in front of the hotel and rode it to Circular Quay where we took the hop on hop off ferry.
The Carnival Splendor was already unloading passengers at 8:30am.
First place we went was the Taronga zoo. Oh, course we are right there by the very unique and famous Sydney Opera house and Harbor bridge.
From the waterfront where the ferry drops off you enter the zoo via a sky ride. We had to wait in line to get on the sky ride. Great views going up and at the top!
The zoo was very crowded, and we only stayed an hour or so. It was a zoo and nothing special. Although the Koala bears were cute. I learned that Koalas are not bears. They are not placental or ‘eutherian’ mammals, but Marsupials, which means that their young are born immature & they develop further in the safety of a pouch. It’s incorrect to call them ‘Koala bears’ – their correct name is simply ‘Koalas’. Koalas are mostly nocturnal. They often sleep for 18 to 20 hours a day. Baby Koalas are known as ‘Joeys’. The Joey stays in its mother’s pouch for about six or seven months drinking only milk.
We took the hop on hop off ferry to Manley Beach and had lunch. We saw some interesting sights from the ferry. The sun was hot, and it was very windy. I kept my hoodie on and hood up tight.
Manley Beach is about a thirty-minute ferry ride from Sydney. There you will find plenty of beachside cafés, bars and restaurants. It was super crowded. This is one of Australia’s most famous surfing beaches. The first world surfing championship was held here in 1964.
We took the ferry back to Circular Quay. It was a beautiful sunny day. The water was very choppy.
At Circular Quay we boarded the lite rail. The lite rail ends at Circular Quay. You tap your card before you get on and then again when you get off. We rode the lite rail to the ending at the other end. The train goes through a tunnel, through China town, and past UNSW. The lite rail operates every day from 5am to 1am the next day. There are 42 stops. Trains come about every five minutes. What a nice clean safe way to get into and around the city. The Lite rail is part of Sydney’s public transport network system. At each of the platform stops there are light poles with pads where you tap your credit card to get on and then again when you get off. Every individual person needs a unique credit or debit card, or you can also buy an Opal pass card. Your contactless payment must be linked to a credit or debit card (American Express, Mastercard or Visa). We could not use our Discover card.
After touring the city on the Lite rail, we went to the executive lounge for evening canapes.
In the evening we walked down the street and found this nice little pizza restaurant to have dinner.
Our home is being taken over by deer. While we are away the deer will play.
Look at the nighttime view from our room. You can see directly into this office building.
To view the complete year 2 daily diary – Click here: https://deestimes.com/living-the-dream-year-2-may-1-2022-april-30-2023/
To view more information about Sydney, Australia and other ports – Click here: https://deestimes.com/ports/
To view more information about Sydney Hilton – Click here: https://deestimes.com/hotel-reviews-and-videos/
Today’s product recommendations are for preserving your memories. 1) We have many pictures, and we like to display some of them. These frames are so nice for those special pictures to hang on your wall. I love them. Here’s the link or you can click the picture below: https://amzn.to/3LfHYIc
2) This travel photo album holds 200 pictures. You may need a few to keep up with all your travel. Here’s the link or you can click the picture below: https://amzn.to/3ZFZoSG
4) Just the way I like to vacation it is nice to have that afternoon cocktail gathering at your house. Have a few friends over and plan your next vacation with them over some cocktails. You need some different glasses to make those exotic drinks. Here’s the link or you can click the picture below: https://amzn.to/3YIc36t