this year.

I spent Australia Day in Sydney with a large number of the Canadian Contingent who are in Wollongong for Teachers College. We caught the almost 2h train to Sydney bright and early (8:30am) so that we could enjoy all that Sydney had to offer.

Syndey was exactly as I expected it to be, and that is to say it was great. The sky was blue, the weather was warm, the streets were clean, the harbour busy and the water filled with boats. We purchased daytripper passes for the public transit that gave us free roam of the harbour ferries and inner city trains. They say the cheapest way to see Sydney is by riding the ferry, and that is what we did. We started our day in Darling Harbour to take in some of the scheduled events (buskers) then caught a ferry around the point to Central Quay. It is from this location that you are directly under the Harbour Bridge (lovingly nicknamed The Coat Hanger) and next to the Sydney Opera House. The Opera House is not as large as I expected, and up close it is not as white. But from a distance, in the glowing sun, it still impresses.

After mingling around the Opera House and taking it in we caught a ferry for the 25 minute jaunt up and over to Manly Beach. Many Beach is a suburb beach of Sydney that sits on the Pacific Ocean. This is a lovely beach. The water was turquoise and the sand was hot. The crowds were out in full force enjoying the lovely January day. Manly has the air of a sea side town with a main pedestrian throughway of shops and restaurants leading down to the beach.

Once we departed Manly we made our way back to Darling Harbour. The day was nearing its end and we would soon be celebrating Australia Day with a ringing display of fireworks and a low altitude buzz from an Australian fighter jet. The jet had its afterburners on in such a manner that it appeared that a giant fireball was streaking across the sky. It is wild.

Syndey is a great city that will require further exploring at a later date. Good on ya Syndey, keep up the stellar first impressions.