Our new Aussie expression today came courtesy of Roxie, who was sharing a story with us about a past boyfriend. To "give someone the flick" means to dump them. Thanks, Roxie!
Breakfast at the hotel included a very interesting pancake machine - you press a button and wait, and soon our rolls a perfect pancake. Very cool. There was also a nice big coffee machine that dispensed "responsible"coffee, and also expresso, hot chocolate and mocha. I guess that all really impressed me after being in the rainforest. I brought down my suitcase (goodbye!) and Roxy copied my baggage tags and forms. I'm not sure when I will get my new suitcase, and as there are no real shelves or drawers in the room, my stuff is very creatively and artfully arranged all about.
We got into our small coach for a ride around Sydney, though the driver was often going too fast to see things properly and Roxy had to keep asking him to go slower. We saw many of the places Ethan and I saw last night on our walk and then drove towards the wharves. We saw Cockle Wharf and the area called The Rocks that features old sandstone buildings. In the "old days" it was a rough area where crime was rampant, and in the 1820s there was an outbreak of bubonic plague that caused the area to be quarantined. Downward sloping ledges were built onto the sandstone walls to try to prevent the rats from getting up. We saw old home in Sgt. Major's Row, including John Cadman's cottage, Australia's oldest surviving house within the city of Sydney. Cadman was sent to Australia for stealing a horse, and was later pardoned by Gov. Lachlan Macquarie (an early and important governor, for whom many places are named - more about him later!) because of his service to the government. Convicts were sent to Australia around the time of the American Revolution because the thirteen colonies were no longer a viable place to send them. They generally received sentences in multiples of seven. In The Rocks there was a hospital section and road called the Nurse's Walk. In the beginning the hospital was pretty primitive, consisting of canvas tents, and the "nurses" were convict women who looked after the patients. In time nurses came from Britain, and there is a monument to these brave women who came so far and made such a difference here. We saw Esssex street, the site of the first hangings, and Martin Plaza, where the first war recruiting service was located and the site of the ANZAC Remembrance area where the wreath is laid each year. This is also where the first General Post Office was built. We saw the beautiful Queen Victoria building, or QVB as it is affectionately known. It is a grand and lovely huge building of upscale shops that was originally built to honour the British monarch, and there is a large statue of the queen outside the building. Through the years it has held many different kinds of shops, and in the "austere" 1930s it underwent drastic remodeling and its main tenant was the Sydney City Council. As recently as 1959 it was threatened with demolition, but fortunately it was saved and restored to its original beauty. Other points of interest were the Town Hall and St. Andrew's Cathedral and school. Hyde Park, named of course for the one in London, held tunnels beneath for an escape route during the Second World War and was the site of the first cricket ground here. There is also the beautiful Shrine of Remembrance with its monuments to fallen soldiers and veterans. We started our ascent into the hills above Sydney and drove through the gay and lesbian area, where there are lots of good restaurants and athe area is becoming more upmarket. Every February they have a huge gay and lesbian Mardi Gras and thousands of people come to celebrate (Ethan and friends went this year and pronounced it fabulous). We saw Victoria Barracks, built in the 1840s, and continued through the fashionable areas of Paddington and Woollahra, past Centennial Park and through the Jewish area. Hungarian Jews arrived in Australia after WWII and bought quite a lot of land; they were later joined by Russian Jews. Bondi Junction Shopping Centre used to be called The Teagarden - women would get dressed up and go there to drink tea and be fashionable. Bondi Junction was at the end of the train line and was traditionally a working class beach. The Bondi Road Tram used to hurtle down here and known as the Bondi Rattler. "Bondi" is Aboriginal for "sound of water breaking". In 1904 the first surf life-saving centre was built here. We made a stop at Bondi Beach to look around, and Roxy pointed out the walk along the cliff that goes to Coogee which I have a feeling I may get to experience. Dover Heights was a fruit and vegetable growing area and site of markets in older times. At Dudley Page we stopped for a photo op across to the Harbour. Land at Dudley Page is very valuable, and we saw houses that were valued at many millions that were not as lovely as you might imagine. Sydney Harbour is the largest and deepest harbour in the world, and contains 70 inlets, and Rose Bay, which we saw, is just one and the site of the old airport. The Harbour Bridge was finished in 1932. There is a lighthouse in the harbour built by Francis Greenway, who was an architect and then a convict. He did quite a lot of work for Gov. Macquarie and was eventually pardoned. Greenway is responsible for many famous buildings in Sydney, and the narrowest alleyway in Sydney, located in The Rocks, is names for him.
We took a walk along the cliff at Watson's Bay and saw the Watson's Bay Gap site, famous for suicides. In the 1870s this area was the site of a ship disaster - the captain of the Dunbar mistook the gap for the entrance to the harbour, and when we looked down at the site it is easy to see how he made that mistake. All but one soul perished, and we saw the anchor and a memorial tablet for the Dunbar that are on display there. The weather was sunny and lovely - a beautiful day.
We went through the suburb of Vaucluse and had a glimpse of Vaucluse House, built by an aristocratic convict. The route our coach took us in this area is the site of the Sydney to Surf Race each year, and contains a steep hill known as Heartbreak Hill (we have one that is part of the Boston Marathon too!). The are of Double Bay was originally called Seven Shillings Bay for the price which was paid for it, in one of those early "deals". Now people say, "Double Bay, Double Pay". We saw the church in which Elton John got married before he decided he was, in fact, gay, and we saw where Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman have their homes when they are at home.
We continued past Darling Point and Rush Cutter's Bay, where convicts were sent to cut rushes for floors and bedding for settlers. King's Cross is the red light district in the area and the highest point in the colony (no pun intended!). Many soldiers came here during the war. It has been known also as a place of much illegal drug activity, and a programme has been instituted in which safe areas have been provided for shooting up, including clean needles and needle exchanges, but no drugs are provided! It seems to be working fairly well. Pott's Point was named for Henry Potts, who worked for a bank and rose to a high position. He then fell in love with a young woman and desired to marry; however, the rules for a man in his position stated that if he started as a bachelor at the bank, he had to remain one to retain his position. So he "gave her the flick", bought some land and named it for himself. At Woolamaloo we saw Harry's Cafe de Wheels, a food wagon that has been operating since the 1940s and apparently sells wonderful meat pies. Harry's establishment was not allowed to be permanently fixed, so his solution was to put it on wheels and move it slightly from time to time, and there it has stayed.
We passed HMS Cutter and the Naval Yard, noting the flying red kangaroos which mark the Australia ships. We saw St. Mary's Cathedral and the area known as The Domain. This was originally set aside for the wealthy but Gov. Macquarie insisted the common people should be also be able to use the land. It is a huge park and today there are lots of celebrations there, including opera, symphony and concerts in the park. People bring picnics, and in typical Aussie style many men wear tuxedo tops and shorts. Driving around the inlets we saw the Botannic Gardens and we got out for a little walk to Macquarie Point and Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. The governor's wife was said to enjoy going out and would sit for hours, looking "longingly at the sea", so there is a place carved in the rock suitable for sitting and it is a lovely spot from which to photograph the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. We saw the little island in the harbour known as Fort Denison, and also Hyde Park Barracks, finally built by (you guessed it!) Governor Macquarie in desperation to house the unruly convicts from The Rocks from sunset to sunrise. At sunrise they would be let out to go to work building roads, bridges, etc. We saw the Old Mint, Parliament, and the Mitchell Library, outside of which is a statue of Matthew Flinders who sailed around Australia with his cat as his loyal companion. Behind the statue if you look carefully in one of the windows is a little statue of a cat. The old Treasure is now the Intercontinental Hotel, where they have kept the facade and you can still see the original cages and some of the original furnishings.
There was so much to see and much more to come, so I will continue in the next post......
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