Voyager
vor 19 Stunden
Letzter Tag in Sydney -- Last day in Sydney
Posted by rc.d [aka initd] in Aquarium, Australien, Skyline, Sydney, Sydney Tower on Donnerstag, 17. September 2009
Das war nun also Sydney, eine Metropole am Ende der Welt... Heute hatten wir uns mit einer Faehre von Circular Quay zum Darling Harbour bringen lassen um uns die touristischen Hafenrundfahrten zu sparen. Dabei bekommt man einen kleinen Einblick in die Bucht an der Sydney liegt und das fuer nur ~5AUD pro Person - kann ich waermstens empfehlen.
Anschlieszend sind wir direkt ins Sydney Aquarium gegangen und konnten von Salzwasserkrokodilen bis hin zu Seehkuehen die Unterwasserwelt von Australien bewundern. Der Eintritt war zwar nicht ganz guenstig, aber wir haben den Besuch nicht bereut. Sehr imposant fand ich persoenlich die Seekuehe und die Stachelrochen.
Bei unserem Besuch viel mir auf, dass sich die Besucher wohl sehr um die Tiere sorgen, so findet man Hinweisschilder zu folgenden Themen:
- "Dead eel" - Die Aale schlafen angeblich gern mit dem Bauch nach oben und das braucht keinen zu beunruhigen, sie [Tierpfleger] versichern, dass es den Tieren gut geht.
- "Stuck turtle" - Auch wenn es hin und wieder so aussieht als ob die Schildkroete unter einem Stueck eingeklemmt waere, ist das ganz OK und die Schildkroeten wissen schon was sie machen.
- "Eels in the pond" [im Botanischen Garten] - Die Aale haben sich dort von selbst angesiedelt und man bekommt sie auch nicht mehr raus. Es ist zwar kein netter Anblick wenn ein Aal ein Kuecken frisst aber so ist nun mal der Lauf der Dinge. Ein ander mal schmeckt der Ente ein Aaljunges.
Ich find das richtig lustig wenn man sich vorstellt wie aufmerksame Besucher sich bei den Tierpflegern melden :D
Nach dem Aquarium gings dann weiter zum nahegelegenen Sydney Tower, der sich als Aussichtspunkt bestens eignet. Leider ist der Eintritt recht teuer mit 25 AUD und ich bin mir nicht sicher ob das Geld nicht anders besser angelegt waere. Beim Eintritt waere noch die OZTrek Show dabei - mich erinnert es an den NY Skyride - und da halte ich mich lieber fern.
Um den letzten Tag noch zu genieszen spazierten wir am spaeten Nachmittag raus zum Hafen und durch den Botanischen Garten zu einem Aussichtspunkt um die Oper im Sonnenuntergang zu fotografieren. Leider wurde aus dem schoen kitschigen Sonnenuntergang nichts, aber trotzdem habe ich ein paar ganz nette Bilder von der Skyline und der Oper.
Die Skyline ist einfach nur schoen und mit dem schoenen Garten ein herrlicher Ort zum entspannen.
Als Futterquelle hatten wir das Hard Rock Cafe in Sydney ins Auge gefasst, das leider etwas vom Hafen entfernt liegt. Frohen mutes und mit Aussicht auf einen leckeren Burger gingen wir los. Nach einer Weile als ich die Orientierung verloren habe hat uns ein nettes Aussie Paerchen weitergeholfen "Oh, I think it's closed". Soviel also dazu ;)
Unseren Burger haben wir nun doch bekommen und zwar gerade beim Hotel ums Eck. Leider hat uns kein Reisefuehrer oder Urlauber auf die gastronomischen Sitten hier in Australien vorbereitet, somit war selbst das noch ein kleines Abenteuer.
Uns ist zwar durch die Englaender bewusst, dass es nicht zwingend einen Tableservice gibt aber bisher dachten wir das sei nur bei Getraenken so. Jedenfalls muss man hier nicht nur fuer sein Bier an die Bar gehen sondern auch fuers essen. Dort bezahlt man alles gleich - was recht angenehm ist - und bekommt dann ein Tischschild mit einer Nummer drauf. Sobald dann das Gericht fertig ist wird es zum Tisch gebracht und - wenn alles vollstaendig ist - die Nummer wieder abserviert.
Ja, so kann man intelligenz vom Servicepersonal zum Gast auslagern ;)
So, das wars mal fuer heute und morgen geht es weiter nach Alice Springs.
As this is a really long post and I'm quite tired by now, I'll promise to translate it tomorrow - sorry.
--> kept my promise:
That was Sydney so far, a metropolis at the end of the world...
Today we took the ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour because we wanted to see the harbour without the tourist tours. You really get a feelin about the bay where Sydney is located and for 5AUD pP I can recommend this to everybody.
After our arrival in Darling Harbour we headed directly to the aquarium where we found nearly everything ranking from Salties to "Nemos", it's not really cheap but it was worth the money. My personal favourites were the sting rays and the dugongs.
During our stay I got the impression that the visitors are very carefull when it comes to the animals because we found funny hints like these:
* "Dead eel" - Eels like to sleep in strange positions so it may be that they lie bottom up in the tank. This mustn't bother you and we guarantee they are all well.
* "Stuck turtle - Even if it sometimes seems that a turtle is stuck beneath a piece of wood we can tell you that they are not harmed, the turtles know what they do.
* "Eels in the pond" [royal botanic garden] - The eels have colonialised themselves there and even if we truncate the pool they are afterwards back in. It's not nice to see a duckling getting eaten by an eel but that's nature. On the other side a eel baby is a welcomed food by a duck.
I find these comments very funny as I'd like to imagine how the visitors alarmed the employees :D
Later we went to see Sydney Tower which is close by the aquarium. The entry is not really cheap (25AUD) and from my perspective I'm not sure if I'd do it again. In the entry fee is the OZTrek included which reminds me somehow of the New York Skyride which was not my piece of cake.
To get the most of our last day in Sydney we went to the botanic garden in order to get a good sunset picture of the opera. Well, I didn't got my sunset but hopefully also some nice pics from the skyline and the opera.
The garden is just a beautiful place to watch the skyline and relax.
For the dinner we wanted to see the Sydney Hard Rock Cafe which is a bit of walk from the harbour. Always having the good burgers in mind we wen on but eventually I lost track of the way and a nice OZ couple has offered their help. "Oh, I think it's closed" - so much on this ;)
We got our burgers in the end around the corner of our hotel in a pub called "333". Sadly we never got any hints on the Australian pub culture so even that was a small adventure. We know from the UK that some don't offer table service but just for drinks but the aussies have improved this model and you also have to order your food at the counter.
Afterwards you get a card with a number on it whih you put on your table and once the food is ready they serve it and in return they take the card.
The good thing is you have paid everything on the counter and you don't need to wait in order to receive the bill.
That's it for today and tomorrow we're leaving for Alice Spings.
That was Sydney so far, a metropolis at the end of the world...
Today we took the ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour because we wanted to see the harbour without the tourist tours. You really get a feelin about the bay where Sydney is located and for 5AUD pP I can recommend this to everybody.
After our arrival in Darling Harbour we headed directly to the aquarium where we found nearly everything ranking from Salties to "Nemos", it's not really cheap but it was worth the money. My personal favourites were the sting rays and the dugongs.
During our stay I got the impression that the visitors are very carefull when it comes to the animals because we found funny hints like these:
* "Dead eel" - Eels like to sleep in strange positions so it may be that they lie bottom up in the tank. This mustn't bother you and we guarantee they are all well.
* "Stuck turtle - Even if it sometimes seems that a turtle is stuck beneath a piece of wood we can tell you that they are not harmed, the turtles know what they do.
* "Eels in the pond" [royal botanic garden] - The eels have colonialised themselves there and even if we truncate the pool they are afterwards back in. It's not nice to see a duckling getting eaten by an eel but that's nature. On the other side a eel baby is a welcomed food by a duck.
I find these comments very funny as I'd like to imagine how the visitors alarmed the employees :D
Later we went to see Sydney Tower which is close by the aquarium. The entry is not really cheap (25AUD) and from my perspective I'm not sure if I'd do it again. In the entry fee is the OZTrek included which reminds me somehow of the New York Skyride which was not my piece of cake.
To get the most of our last day in Sydney we went to the botanic garden in order to get a good sunset picture of the opera. Well, I didn't got my sunset but hopefully also some nice pics from the skyline and the opera.
The garden is just a beautiful place to watch the skyline and relax.
For the dinner we wanted to see the Sydney Hard Rock Cafe which is a bit of walk from the harbour. Always having the good burgers in mind we wen on but eventually I lost track of the way and a nice OZ couple has offered their help. "Oh, I think it's closed" - so much on this ;)
We got our burgers in the end around the corner of our hotel in a pub called "333". Sadly we never got any hints on the Australian pub culture so even that was a small adventure. We know from the UK that some don't offer table service but just for drinks but the aussies have improved this model and you also have to order your food at the counter.
Afterwards you get a card with a number on it whih you put on your table and once the food is ready they serve it and in return they take the card.
The good thing is you have paid everything on the counter and you don't need to wait in order to receive the bill.
