AUSTRALIA 2011: Sydney On a Bus

AUSTRALIA 2011: Sydney On a Bus (May 12, 2011)

Sydney is a big city, and there’s so much more to see than just the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We’ve already ticked those two off our sightseeing checklist, but there’s a lot more places to visit. Being first time visitors, we wanted something that would give us a general feel of Sydney as a city, and the Hop On-Hop Off Sydney & Bondi Explorer bus fit that to a T.

The Sydney Explorer is basically an open double-decker bus with two routes. The first bus goes around Bondi and its surrounding bays, and the second one goes around the city. For a 24-hour ticket worth $35, one can hop on and off any of the two buses at any of its 35 stops. During the trip a pre-recorded English commentary also plays, which makes you appreciate the sights even more. It was the ultimate sightseeing experience, and we enjoyed our day thoroughly.

B U S # 1 :  B O N D I  A N D  B A Y S

Our day started with the Bondi and Bays tour. We took the train from Mt. Druitt to Central station, and this is where we looked for our Bondi bus. The Bondi tour has a total of 10 stops, but we only got off at the Bondi Beach terminal.

Our bus just outside Central

1) CENTRAL STATION

Central, also called the Sydney Station, is the biggest of the railway stations I’ve been to so far. Due to its location, it services almost all of the lines in Sydney’s railway network, so it’s also quite busy. When we got off at Central, we had to wait for a few minutes before our sightseeing bus arrived. We bought the tickets inside the bus and went up to our seats, buzzing with excitement for the tour ahead.

2) CHINATOWN

From the Eddy Ave. exit of Central, the bus went on to George St., where part of Sydney’s Chinatown can be seen. 

The Centrepoint

3) SYDNEY TOWER & AUSTRALIAN OPAL CUTTERS

The bus then took a right turn to William Street, where the stop for the Sydney Tower & Australian Opal Cutters is. The Sydney Tower, also known as the Centrepoint, is the highest point in the city. I’m sure the view from up there is spectacular, but maybe I’ll go visit it some other time. 

4) WILLIAM STREET

The bus went along William Street, one of Sydney’s busiest. Being a major thoroughfare and running from Kings Cross to Hyde Park, we kept passing by this street throughout the day.

5) PADDINGTON TOWN HALL

Paddington Town Hall

From William Street the bus took a turn towards Victoria Street (I love that some of their streets are named after royals) and then Oxford Street, where the Paddington Town Hall is located. We also passed by the St. Francis of Assissi and St. Matthias churches, as well as other heritage buildings along the way. We just followed the road until we reached Syd Einfeld Drive, where we could already see Bondi Junction.

Bondi Junction

6) BONDI BEACH TERMINAL

Bondi Junction is an eastern suburb in Sydney, already near Bondi Beach but still with major buildings like malls and a railway stations. We passed by Bondi Junction until we hit Bondi Road, and going down the cliff we could already see a view of the beautiful, world-famous Bondi Beach.

Surfing in cold weather

The bus stopped in Campbell Parade, the major ocean road where most of the cafes and shops in Bondi can be found. “Bondi” is an aboriginal word which means “water breaking over rocks,” and indeed, that was exactly the sound we heard as we walked along the shoreline enjoying the sunshine.

While it was sunny, the wind was also very chilly, and I’m pretty sure the water was freezing cold. That didn’t stop some surfers from hitting the waves, and we could only watch and imagine how cold the water was. Although we had a full day of sightseeing ahead of us, for about an hour we just allowed our eyes to feast on the beauty that is Bondi Beach.

The beautiful waves

The shoreline of white powdery sand was so vast, and the buildings on the cliffs perfectly contrasted the blueness of the crashing waves and sky. It was so picturesque, except for the fact that we were dressed in full cold-weather gear (trench coats, scarves, and boots/rubber shoes), which looked totally out-of-place against a beach setting. On the other hand, that’s exactly what made our pictures unique. Also, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and that is what’s important. 

7) NORTH BONDI

Million-dollar view of the city

We went back to where our bus dropped us off and waited for the next one. From Bondi Beach, the bus climbed up the road towards North Bondi. This is already mostly a residential area and it stayed the same until we reached Dover Heights and Vaucluse, which are basically coastal suburbs. Because these suburbs are on top of a cliff, real estate here really matches the spectacular million-dollar views people get.

We kept traveling along a mostly residential New South Head Road where we passed by two bays:

8) ROSE BAY

9) DOUBLE BAY

The Australian Museum

10) THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM

Before we knew it we were once again in William Street, where we could see the Australia Museum. Some people got off at this stop, but because our time was limited we just stayed on.

Lunch at Central

B U S # 2 :  S Y D N E Y  E X P L O R E R

11) CENTRAL STATION

The Central Station is a stop common to both the Bondi and the Sydney tours, so this is where we changed buses. While waiting for the Sydney city bus, we had a quick lunch at Segafredo Zanetti. We had mousakka, cabbage roll, and baklava (a Turkish dessert Tita Belle loves) which was quite interesting and which filled us enough for the busy afternoon ahead. From Central, the Sydney city bus went to Harris Street, where we passed by the these two stops:

Star City Hotel & Casino

12) POWER HOUSE MUSEUM

13) SYDNEY FISH MARKET

14) STAR CITY CASINO

View from Star City Casino

From Harris Street we went towards Pirrama Road and then to Darling Harbour, where we passed by the Star City Hotel & Casino. Formerly the Sydney Harbour Casino, this 5-star entertainment complex is the only legal casino in the entire New South Wales. It overlooks Darling Harbour and is the second largest casino in Australia, after Melbourne’s Crown Casino. Still going along Darling Harbour, we passed by the following sights: 

IMAX Theatre

15) MARITIME MUSEUM

16) SYDNEY CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTER

17) IMAX/CHINESE GARDENS

18) SYDNEY AQUARIUM

19) KING ST WHARF

20) CAMPBELLS COVE

Busy George St.

From Darling Harbour we passed by two stops we were already quite familiar with because of the self-tour we did of Sydney’s major icons a few days ago. Then we went along one of Sydney’s most famous streets, George Street, which is lined with shops and commercial as well as heritage buildings: 

21) THE ROCKS

22) CIRCULAR QUAY

23) WYNARD ARCADE

Queen Victoria's building

24) QUEEN VICTORIA BUILDING

Also along George Street is the Queen Victoria Building or the QVB. With a statue of the great Queen Victoria guarding it outside, the QVB was built in the late nineteenth century in Romanesque-style architecture, and fills an entire city block. It is bound by York, Market, Druitt, and George Streets, the latter one being our point of entry. It stands where the original Sydney markets used to be, and over the decades it became many things – a concert hall, a city library, a building housing several offices, and now, a major shopping complex.

A shopping mall unlike any other

Stained glass windows

The building itself is beautiful, owing to its Romanesque architecture that they preserved over the years. The interiors are stunning as well, with massive stained glass windows, arches, pillars, spiral staircases, balustrades, and mosaic tiled floors.

Even the old elevator was maintained, so QVB is like a giant time capsule, if not for the familiar modern brands that eventually catch one’s eye. Two beautiful giant clocks (The Royal Clock and The Great Australian Clock) also hang in the ceiling.

25) TOWN HALL AND ST. ANDREW'S CATHEDRAL

Town Hall

Right beside the QVB along George St. is the Sydney Town Hall, which is a beautiful sandstone building and one of Sydney’s heritage landmarks. We went inside the lobby just to feed our curiosity, but we didn’t go any further.

Inside St. Andrew's Cathedral

Beside the Town Hall is St. Andrew’s Cathedral, which we also examined. The QVB, the Town Hall, and St. Andrew’s Cathedral, which are all next to one another, form one line of beautiful Romanesque architecture in an otherwise busy, modern street. It was breathtaking.

By the time we boarded the bus again, it was already 5:30. It was nice seeing the city at night, and we still passed by some landmarks, but we no longer got off the bus until we hit Central. Here are some landmarks we passed by along the way:

William Street

26) WILLIAM STREET

27) KINGS CROSS

28) EL ALAMEIN FOUNTAIN

29) WOOLLOOMOOLLOO BAY

30) SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

31) BOTANICAL GARDENS

32) PARLIAMENT HOUSE / NSW LIBRARY

33) HYDE PARK

34) THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM

Once we got off at Central, we were shivering from the cold breeze that we got from the open double-decker bus that went around the city. We bought some hot chocolate before we boarded the train back to Rooty Hill. All in all, the bus ride was such a wonderful experience, and perhaps the most “touristy” way to see the city.

Silhouette of the Sydney skyline

Famous icons aside, I can now say that Sydney is indeed beautiful. It’s definitely urban and modern, and like any famous city it has skyscrapers and an efficient public transportation system. But as you go around Sydney you see shops, hotels, and buildings with architecture that has been beautifully preserved from decades ago. They don’t ruin the architecture to modernize it, they preserve the heritage as much as possible. This unique mix of modernity and history, against the backdrop of the stunning harbour, is what makes Sydney one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, places I’ve ever been to.