Feb 12 2009
New Discoveries
Have you ever been to a city and thought you’d seen pretty much all there was to see, and done nearly all there was to do?
Well, that’s how I felt about Sydney, until recently. I’ve been visiting Sydney for short breaks for the last 20 years, and have stayed with relatives and friends, and been shown around places that the regular tourist wouldn’t necessarily get to see.
But, this last trip, I discovered some obvious sights I’d never seen before…
This may seem a little lame, but I never realised Sydney had a Government House. I should have known, as every other capital city in Australia has one. Despite the overcast day, this building certainly has character (I stood there and waited for about 20 minutes for my view to be unobstructed too)!
Another site I stumbled across was visually very pretty. There is a fountain, beautiful architecture and is almost as quiet as a library (even though it’s outside). If you don’t already know what this building is, have a guess:
It’s Sydney’s inner city hospital. Not at all what I would have expected.
The last “new thing” that I discovered is a little out of Sydney - it’s in the Blue Mountains, which took me 2 hours by train to get to. It’s a nice train ride, and my main piece of advice (especially if you’re travelling on a weekend) - get there early so you get a seat!
I hadn’t been to the Blue Mountains for about 7 years, and it’s been even longer since I visited the famous Three Sisters. There are quite a few things for the tourist to do up there. And way back when, I did them all.
Something “new” though, is the Skyway - which transports you across the canyon, 270 metres above the plunging land below. The journey is 720 metres long and you get an unparalleled view of the waterfalls and the steep cliffs. Definitely worth a visit!
It’s great discovering new things about familiar places!
