Fantastic Igor. I'll definitely look into many of those places. Our time is short in SYD, most of the time we will be in NZ, but we'll make the best of it. Probably stay downtown so we can go see the main sights easily.
On Fri, Jan 20, 2017 at 10:03 AM, Igor PDML-StR <pdml...@komkon.org> wrote: > > > In my opinion, Sydney is a nice and unusual combination of NYC and San > Diego: there is a city life of a large financial and cultural center (or > rather, centre! ;-) ) surrounded by beach communities with surfers. > > While we were in Sydney (I had a research conference there, so we spend a > week there), we ended up not renting a car. In the city, the public > transportation is very good. (That includes ferries.) > We took a ferry to Manly. The trip itself was very interesting, but the day > was rather chilly (September), so, we didn't spend much time on the beach > itself. > > > For most of out-of-town trips we were planning to rent a car for 2-3 days, > but we ended up not doing that. For that, many thanks to Rob, who was our > tour guide and chauffeur for those trips (a couple of days and yet one more > evening, IIRC). > > > There are a few places that we've visited in Sydney. > I don't have any photos of mine posted online, but I know one person who > has. :-) So, I'll use those to illustrate what you can see in those places. > I hope that will not spoil your impression. > (And you can find some familiar PDMLers' faces there.) > > > Here are some places that I still remember with pleasure: > > 1. Blue Mountains. - It is some drive away from Sydney. > It is not to far, but the speeds there are not as high as what we have in > Texas. > I don't remember, there might be some train going there, but you'd be better > off renting a car for going there. > Brian and his wife were our guides in that park, so, I'd leave to him to > give you suggestions about that park. > https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprusakova/albums/72157625064678388 > > > 2. Bundeena National Park was really nice. I was particularly impressed by > one beach place that had very unusual colorful stones. > https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprusakova/albums/72157624959531027 > > While I'd probably find that beach, I would probably have hard time > explaining how to get there, so, you'd have a more sure result if you'd ask > Rob who took as there. > That park also has a very memorable place in the middle with lots of wild > cockatoos. > > 3. I would recommend Featherdale Wildlife Park. It is basically a zoo that > consists exclusively of the local (mostly exotic for us) animals. > You can pet a koala there... > https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprusakova/albums/72157625467827888 > > If we had the rental car, we would've gone there by car. But we decided not > to rent it just for one day, and got there just fine using public > transportation (a train+local bus). > > In town: 4. Walking the streets in the historical and modern central parts > of the city. There are several areas. There is a free guided tour that > leaves on certain days in the morning from the place right above the > underground shopping mall (Queen Victoria Building). > It was a nice tour that I'd recommend. (Look it up online.) > I'd start with that soon after arrival, to continue investigating city after > that on your own. > There are also typical tourist areas surrounding piers. > > 5. Iconic Sydney Opera House. Nice area around it... Parking is extremely > expensive. > > 6. The bridge. (There are many of them there, but I am talking about THE > bridge.) > It has pedestrian tours, but we didn't take one. > First, those are unreasonably expensive. Second, and most important, they do > not allow you taking any bags with you, including a camera. > What's the point?! > Instead, we've got there on our own, arriving by subway and walking it all > the way to the other side. > > Here is a photo of yours truly holding the bridge in place: > https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprusakova/5045866451/in/album-72157624958681919/ > > > 7. Fish Market. Time it go have a lunch there. They've got very exotic > seafood there that can be cooked (or some - consumed raw, as sushi). > https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprusakova/albums/72157625111090561 > > 8. While there I bought a Kangoroo hat. It is extremely comfortable. > Also, it is soft and foldable (unlike Texas hats) > I ended up wearing it much more than I anticipated. > After 6.5 years, I am thinking that I will have to look for a replacement > when it will fall apart. > > Brian and Rob had photos of me trying that hat on, but I don't think any of > those is online. Here is me wearing it during my trip to Lake Baikal: > http://42graphy.org/science/2014-08-bicmm/people-baikal/_IR20563.html > > > By the way, - there are a few photos during our mini-PDML walk are at the > bottom of this set: > https://www.flickr.com/photos/jprusakova/albums/72157624958681919 > > Good luck! > > Igor > > Gonz Tue, 17 Jan 2017 14:01:15 -0800 wrote: > > Thanks to a frequent flyer program, looks like we are headed to the > land down under Dec 2017. Landing in Sydney then making our way to NZ > north Island then south, then returning to Sydney for the New Year's > Eve celebrations. > > > Any suggestions for photo ops from those familiar with those spots? > I'll probably take a nicer zoom lens or two plus the K-1 hopefully. > > Was thinking of splitting the time evenly through those 3 > destinations, but I hear the NZ south island is spectacular and might > warrant more time than the others. Any input? > > Thanks in advance for any suggestions. > > --Gonz > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- -- Reduce your Government Footprint -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
