Day 3: Sydney Opera House and Manly Beach

My alarm woke me up bright and early at 06:00, but I was ready to get moving. I made my way down to try out the hotel breakfast and was (unusually) one of the first ones there at 06:30. I had been a bit disappointed from the dinner the night before but the breakfast spread certainly made up for it. There were lots of options to choose from and I left feeling full and caffeinated.

I needed to be at the Sydney Opera House for 08:00 as I was booked for the architectural tour. It was only 20 minutes from the hotel so I decided to walk. I wanted to enjoy some time outside as today’s high was 26, compared to 35 for tomorrow! Definitely a different kind of spring than I’m used to.

I had done a tour of the Sydney Opera House when we visited in 2009, so I chose the architectural tour to learn more about the history and design of the iconic venue. Our guide was very informative, and told us about how Jørn Utzon’s design came to be, and how the original 3 year, $7 million project ballooned to 14 years and $132 million.

We started off in the Bennelong restaurant, named for the point in which the Opera House sits. The smallest of the three structures, it is the only one where you can fully see the roof, as the others contain the two theatres.

Afterwards, we went into the concert hall, the largest of the theatres, which seats 2,700. In the evening, I would be back to see Birds of Tokyo perform with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, so it was nice to get a sneak peek and see the theatre empty.

The initial plan called for two multipurpose theatres, but halfway through construction, it was changed to have a distinct opera theatre and concert hall. As a result of this change, the original concert hall had poor acoustics due to its length and high ceilings.

We didn’t make it inside the Joan Sutherland Theatre, but stopped in the space between the two theatres, which provided a great closeup of the tiles.

After the informative tour of the Opera House, I made my way through the Royal Botanic Garden, stopping every now and then to check out the various plants and birds. It’s quite nice just how much parkland there is around the harbour that’s publicly accessible. Lots of people were out for a morning run, while visitors admired the views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

My next stop was Circular Quay to take the ferry to Manly Beach. When I passed by in the morning, I saw staff setting up barricades, and when I returned, I found out why. It was the Labor Day long weekend, as well as New South Wales school holiday, so there were many others that had the same plan as me. Although I did have to wait for two ferries, it was only about 20 minutes before I was on my way through the harbour.

The ride was quick and relatively smooth, although I could feel the motion of the waves. A number of sailboats were out, and some were quite banked; I was quite content to be on the ferry.

I walked along The Corso and found the gelato shop I had overheard people on the ferry talking about. It made for a great lunch, and since I was in Australia, I had to try the pavlova flavour!

Let me interrupt my day to talk about “third places”. A third place is somewhere that isn’t your home or work (which would be the first and second place, respectively). A good third place should be open to everybody, and in Canada (or at least Edmonton), there are too few that hit the mark. Sydney has many great third places, and it’s so nice to be somewhere without having any obligation to buy anything.

At the end of The Corso was Manly Beach, where many people were out enjoying the beautiful weather. Surfing, sunbathing, and beach volleyball were just some of the activities to choose from. I had no intention of going in the water but had a nice time sitting on the sea wall people watching.

I walked along the esplanade for a while before heading back inland to the catch the bus. Since the ferry was so crowded I figured the bus would be quicker, even though the route is quite a bit longer.

As I saw my bus approaching, I got up to get on, only for it to drive right passed me. I then learned that in Sydney, buses only stops if you flag them down. Thankfully the next one was only 10 minutes behind, so it wasn’t a long wait.

The bus went through the affluent northern beach suburbs of Sydney, and there were plenty of extravagant mansions to look at along the way. We crossed over The Spit Bridge, a bascule bridge which lifts up at various times throughout the day to allow yachts with tall masts through.

I was pretty tired from all the walking so I made my way back to my room to rest up before the concert.

My friends will attest to my indecisiveness when it comes to choosing a restaurant, and tonight it was out in full force. I must have looked at about 15 different places and kept walking in circles, but still couldn’t find what I was looking for. I decided to just make my way towards the Opera House, but as I did, the menu prices started rising. Eventually I was at the Opera House, so I decided to cut my losses and get dinner there.

I was back at the Sydney Opera House to see Birds of Tokyo perform with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Birds of Tokyo are an Australian rock band from Perth, and I hadn’t heard of them before deciding to go see them. I was quite happy to find out that their style lines up with what I like to listen to, and they put on an excellent show!

By the time I got back to the hotel, it was midnight and I was exhausted. It had been a great day exploring Sydney!

Today by the numbers

Steps taken: 24,572

Times I fell: 1

People I saw barefoot in public: 15