Wonderful Sydney!

No wonder newspapers all over the world have voted Sydney the best possible place to live.
It's incredible. The streets are clean, the lights synchronized and the traffic signals beep so blind pedestrians know when to cross (that was true in Cairns, too). The trains and metro are easy to ride (I don't know yet about busses) The water in the harbor is a lovely turquoise.

We took a subway from the hostel (right across the street. How convenient is that) to Circular Quay, and walked around the Quay to the Opera House, where we were able to get on a tour without a long wait. Most people know the Opera House from the outside, which is wonderful, but the inside is fantastic as well Much of the wood is eucalyptus and a wood that looks a lot like birch. I've taken a lot of pictures, but I can't really describe how the endless glass windlws frame the lovely Sydney skyline and harbor. The water is aquarmarine and glistened in the sun. Ferries were leaving, and we decided to hop on one and go to Manly Beach.

What I didn't expect was that, despite the hordes of people that swarmed out of the subway to get to the beach, that the town itself would be cute. It was fun to look at the Auastralian version of our dollar store (theirs is a $10 or less store), look at the craft fair and hang out at the beach.
Ah, the beach...cream colored soft sand kissed by a turquoise sea. Did I mention the palm trees and Norfolk Pines. Amazing! And this just a 30 minute ferry ride from downtown Sydney. Wow!

While we were waiting for the ferry I called the Opera House Box Office which is only open from 3 to 5PM on Sunday, and managed to get a ticket to see their production of HMS Pinafore and Trial by Jury (a G&S double bill, oh joy oh rapture) tomorrow night, the only time it's playing before we leave Sydney on Thursday. Yay!

If the weather holds (did I mention that it hasn't rained since I left home?) we're planning to go to the Blue Mountains on Tuesday. Otherwise it's sightseeing and museums and just walking around this lovely city. You can guess I love it here!