Tour de Oz - Sydney Highlights

SYDNEY (26 ~ 29 May 2007)

We were greeted by the warmth of the sun and the cool of the wind when we arrived at the Sydney Airport. It was very lovely weather and I couldn't wait to start my 12-day tour in Australia.

Four days at Sydney. What I really like about Sydney is the beautiful harbour at its city centre. Without the pretty harbour that buzzes with life, the city will look just like any other city that I've been to.

The other greatest thing that we experienced there was the yum cha (Chinese high tea) culture. Yum cha is apparently very popular amongst the Australians, both Asians and Caucasians. My god-father's sister (god-aunt), who migrated to Australia before I was born, and whose family was our host, brought us to a fantastic restaurant for yum cha. The restaurant is owned by a Hong Konger who brought along some authentic dim sum recipes to Australia. Indeed, the dim sum was probably the best I've ever tasted. But it is unfortunate that I can't recall the name of the restaurant.. :-(

Cathy, a friend of my host family, and I at The Rocks market on a beautiful Sunday morning. She is a very jovial and easy-going gal from New Zealand who took us around Sydney's city area in our first few days there :D

We strolled down to the Sydney Harbour Bridge from The Rocks market.

Circular Quay.
This is the harbour I wish we have at Raffles Place in Singapore.

Sydney Opera House.
I went in there one evening 10 years ago with my school choir. This time, I came as a tourist, enjoying its magnificent exterior view under the bright warm sun.

I was complaining to Cathy about not seeing any Aborigines since the day I arrived and then we bumped into some at Circular Quay.

The next day, we booked ourselves a day tour to the Blue Mountains. The mini van drove us up and the first stop was at Featherdale Wildlife Park. This is a wombat - huge and round. It is quite a fierce animal, apparently.

The famous koala infamous for being lazy.
We have also been reminded repeatedly that koalas are marsupials and not bears. They are called koalas, and not koala bears. There you are, the sleeping koala...zzz.

Albino wallabies.

Penguins!
As these are quite similar to the ones we saw at Phillip Island (Melbourne) later in our tour, and we weren't allowed to take pictures at the island, I'm so glad that I took a picture of them here.

Kangaroos!

Next stop was a morning tea session midway to the Blue Mountains. The guide started demonstrating the techniques of throwing the boomerang. We all had a go and I liked how the boomerang returns to the thrower and we all began running away from it!

Hiking up the Blue Mountains.
It was winter and the air was cool. Half-way through the hike, I somehow had the illusion of my hiking at the Bukit Batok Nature Park, with air-condition...

The picturesque Blue Mountains.
Its given this name because of the release of volatile oils from the eucalyptus forests.

Very soon, night fell and it was time to head back to the city. We took a cruise back and see what I caught on my camera! The dazzling Sydney Harbour Bridge at night :-)

I had to post this picture here.
Doesn't it remind you of a famous Singaporean bread shop? :P