Our early morning taxi ride to the Shangri-La Hotel from Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport took about 40 minutes, mostly in traffic even though they’re only about 10 miles apart. With sweeping views of both Darling Harbor and Sydney Cove, this hotel is one of the most desirable places to stay in the city. It’s located in The Rocks, a charming historic area just north of the Central Business District (more about this region later). The Asian-inspired hotel interiors are luxurious, and the large and bright rooms all have big marble bathrooms, complete with separate showers and soaking tubs. They’re also tech-savvy, making them popular with business travelers, featuring built-in converters in outlets for worry-free charging. The hotel features 563 rooms and suites, two bars and two restaurants. We were booked into an Executive Sydney Harbor Suite, offering 894 square feet of space with a separate sitting room and beautiful views of the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. Thankfully, we were granted early check in on arrival and received Horizon Club access. This club is located on the 36th floor of the hotel but was undergoing renovations during our visit. A separate area of the lobby was transformed into their make-shift Horizon Club during our stay. With a personal concierge at Reception, the club offered a host of exclusive amenities, including an executive arrival service and late check out options. Guests were also granted access to the private Horizon Club Lounge which offered daily breakfast, evening beverages and canapés, free Wi-Fi and suit pressing as well as a selection of meeting facilities.
First item on our agenda? Why the Sydney Opera House of course! It was only a five-minute walk from our hotel to Circular Quay. This is the gateway to all the wonderful things that make Sydney Harbor such a special place. The Opera House is among the quay’s crown jewels, certainly one of the most beautiful and celebrated structures constructed in the Twentieth Century. Two hundred thirty-three designs were submitted for the Opera House international design competition back in1956. Architect Jørn Utzon from Denmark was selected the winner, receiving only £5,000 for his spectacular idea ( not quite US $150,000 today ).
Construction was supposed to take four years but ended up taking fourteen, with work commencing in 1959 and involving approximately 10,000 construction workers. There are over one million roof tiles covering more than 174,000 square feet sitting atop this sail-like structure. The Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in October of 1973 and was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2007. For an aviation reference to its massive size, I’m told that seven Airbus A380s could sit wing-to-wing on the site! We really enjoyed our one-hour tour, learning all about the stories, anecdotes and history this iconic building holds dear. From the jaw-dropping sweep of the sails to their soaring cathedral interiors, it was impossible for us to complete a tour of the Opera House without being compelled to look up and appreciate its grandeur. It was comforting to note that we were not alone.
I believe whether you’re a long-time local or a first-time visitor, there’s no denying that choosing a place to eat in Circular Quay is easy enough. With eateries of all stripes at nearly every corner boasting incredible harbor side views, it wasn’t difficult to choose a nice patio restaurant with white tablecloth service and pretty good lunchtime fare. We spent the balance of the afternoon exploring the Rocks. This is Sydney’s oldest historic area and well worth a visit. It was originally the site of the first European settlement, established in 1788 when convict-bearing ships came from England to set up the Colony of New South Wales. The name itself derived from the original buildings which were made of sandstone. When first established, the Rocks was somewhat squalid in nature. In 1900, the bubonic plague broke out, causing 3,800 houses, buildings and wharfs to be demolished. Later in the 1920s, several hundred more were razed in the construction of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Today, the Rocks has been restored for the most part, and is a thriving area with numerous cafes, restaurants and a lively nightlife. It’s also home to any number of craft and souvenir-type shops and we had a good time wandering in and out of the unique boutiques that call the Rocks home.
On our second day, we hopped aboard a State Transit bus from Stand B at Circular Quay’s Alfred Street to Bondi Beach. For just a few dollars and in less than 45 minutes, we arrived at our destination. For many, the sweeping white sand crescent of Bondi Beach is the epitome of the Australian beach lifestyle. From legendary sunrises to epic surf and busy cafes to its irresistibly charming coastal culture, it draws sun, sand and sea worshippers from far and wide. Our first stop was a stroll through the famous Bondi Icebergs Club, an Australian swimmers club that’s located at the southern end of Bondi Beach. This swimming club was established in 1929 and has a small museum on the first floor. One defining characteristic of the club is a rule that says, in order to maintain membership, it’s mandatory that swimmers compete on three Sundays out of four every month for a period of five years! Thankfully, the pool is open to the public for those of us who are somewhat less competitive. As we strolled down the beach that September afternoon, it was busy with bronzed sunbathers, backpackers and herds of school children. It wasn’t hard to understand why Bondi is one of the most famous beaches in the world with its golden sands, beautiful parks and bright blue waters. We stopped for a leisurely bite to eat at one of the many cafes dotting the beachfront and enjoyed our meal just taking in the sights and sounds of this special Sydney seaside resort.
I’ve had the good fortune to visit this wonderful city on several occasions and have always admired the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It’s an Australian Heritage-listed steel arched bridge across Sydney Harbor that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Central Business District and the North Shore. The view of the bridge, the harbor and the nearby Opera House is widely regarded as an iconic image of Sydney and of Australia itself. The bridge is nicknamed “The Coathanger” because of its arch-based design. Prior to our departure, I booked a BridgeClimb experience for us and the day of reckoning soon arrived. I’ll admit I was quite anxious, if not downright nervous! Our group of eight climbers latched on at the Climb Base below the Bradfield Highway and walked below the road deck until we reached the South-East Pylon. From there, we ascended four ladders to the start of the upper arch. With the Summit in sight, our journey continued along the bridge’s upper arch on the Opera House side until we reached the top. After a short summit celebration with the group, we crossed over to the west side to make our descent back to Climb Base. It was a blast! Since 1998, BridgeClimb has established itself as an integral part of the Sydney scene. They’ve enabled over four million people to safely climb the bridge and hosted over 5,000 marriage proposals and over thirty weddings. Their most frequent climber is 91 years old and has completed 133 BridgeClimbs! What was I worried about?
On our final full day in Australia, we walked to Sydney’s Central Station near Circular Quay and took one of the hourly New South Wales TrainLink services to Katoomba, bordering the Blue Mountains National Park. This rugged region to the west of the city is best known for its dramatic scenery. It encompasses steep cliffs, eucalyptus forests picturesque waterfalls and villages doted with guesthouses, galleries and gardens. Formed over two million years ago, the Blue Mountains are famously rich in eucalyptus trees, the leaves of which are covered in glands that secrete a scented oil to protect themselves from pests. There’s a high concentration of these oil droplets in the air which combine with dust particles and water vapor. When light passes through them it’s refracted, and when it reaches the human eye, it appears blue! This blue haze over the mountain ranges is really something to see and is visible throughout the day hovering over the horizon from dawn to dusk. We took the family-friendly walk from the Katoomba area of the park to Lady Game Lookout for a closer view of the remarkable Three Sisters. This rock formation was created by land erosion around two hundred million years ago when volcanoes erupted through coal, sandstone, and shale layers forming the ridges and shape of the now-famous site above the Jamison Valley.
The next morning we were treated to another wonderful A380 Suites Class service back to Singapore where we connected to our Singapore Airlines B777-300ER First Class ride to Hong Kong. We spent the night there at the Sky City Marriott Hotel and returned home to Raleigh the next day on American Airlines with a stop in Dallas. While our father-son journey had to come to an end sometime, the many wonderful memories will last forever.
Until next time…travel safe.
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