March 5th, Australia Day 14

This day, a Saturday, I used for my first major excursion into Sydney's City Center. I left the apartment that morning and caught a bus which took me right into downtown via the Sydney Harbour Bridge, known colloquially as the "Coathanger" since it bares a shape similar to that implement. The bridge is single span in nature and at the time of its completion, was the longest such bridge in the world. It goes from the North Shore to the western side of the City Center travelling over a district called The Rocks. There is an excellent view of the Sydney Opera House from the bridge and the two together form the most recognizable landmarks of the city.

I got off the bus at the Queen Victoria Building (QVB), which is not only the end of the route but an old building which now serves as a mall, and I think always has. I walked around it and took pictures, one of which is of the AMP Building, a tower which is Sydney's tallest edifice. Around the QVB there is a statue dedicated to Queen Victoria as well as a fountain that had been dedicated by the current monarch. Like Canada, Australia is a constitutional monarchy with the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as the Head-of-State. To represent the monarch when they are not in Australia, there is an appointed Governor-General. Somewhat unlike Canada, however, there is a very strong republican movement in Australia. Some years ago, there was a referendum on the issue and Australians decided, narrowly, to keep the current model.

As I wandered downtown, I managed to take pictures of several interesting features of the city. Sydney has a monorail which goes in loop throughout some of the downtown core. There is a pedestrian mall as well as memorials to the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) and the Royal Australian Regiment. Every April 25th, Australians, and I assume New Zealanders as well, celebrate ANZAC Day which is similar to Remembrance Day in Canada. It commemorates those members of the ANZAC who were killed in the disastrous, from the Allied point of view, Gelibolu (Gallipoli) campaign. In World War One, Allied divisions were tasked with taking the Gallipoli shore in Turkiye (Turkey). This force was composed mostly of ANZAC troops but there were elements of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment with them as well, and I'm sure others. The battle did not go well for the Allies and eventually the operation was abandoned after high casualties. Today, the place where the attack occurred is known as ANZAK (ANZAC in Turkish) Cove and even Mohammed Gemal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, praised the ANZAC soldiers. For Australians, the Battle of Gallipoli is the day when their country came of age; this is a parallel view to that held by Canadians and the Battle of Vimy Ridge, except that the Canadians succeeded in their objectives and the event is not celebrated in Canada.

From the memorials, I walked to the Royal Botanical Gardens which I decided to explore more thoroughly than on my previous visit. I saw more statues but more interesting were the various ecosystems in the open air which held various species of birds and other wildlife. There were also massive spiderwebs inhabited by many large spiders. I took some photos, but I'm not sure whether the intricate design of the shared webs comes out.

I then proceeded to the Main Lawn which has an artificial lake with some interesting foliage. I also took some more pictures of birds and even a video of a cockatoo so that its noisome sound can be heard by all. The cockatoo's screeching is the most ungodly sound I have ever heard and to my misfortune, they are plentiful.

Following the advice of one of my acquaintances, I proceeded to Mrs. Macquarie's Point, which is a peninsula named after the wife of one of, if not the, first Governor of the area. There is also a rock formation called Mrs. Macquarie's Chair because she used to sit on it and look out into what is now Sydney Harbour. From that vantage point, I took some photos of the Coathanger, the Opera House and the immediate area. It is a very good place to be if you want to see the city center, the Opera House and the Coathanger all at once.

From there I returned to the city center and went on to The Rocks for some refreshment. The whole area is essentially pubs and to my surprise, there were several Irish people there. Form what I can gather, many Irish come to Australia to work and they only add to the atmosphere of the area. There is also a monument to the first settler of the area who was aided by convict labour. The Sydney area served as a semi-prison colony for much of its existence. For all of the 19th Century, a punishment imposed by the courts of the UK was "transportation", a sanitized word which really meant "deportation" and/or "exile". I don't know when the practice stopped. If you recall the Simpsons episode, the first Prime Minister of Australia was shown as a freed convict and though this probably wasn't the case, the standard line is that Australia was founded by convicts.

After several hours in The Rocks area, I walked across the city center to my bus route. Along the way I noticed what sounded like noisy birds. As I approached some began to fly away and I noticed that they were very large birds. After a few seconds I realized that these were no birds at all, but large foxbats. These creatures which are bats with the heads of foxes, were right in downtown and were frolicking in a small triangular park near Lang St., called appropriately, Lang Park. I continued to my destination and eventually boarded the required transportation and I returned home early in the morning, about 01:00 very satisfied with myself at having covered so much ground that day.

Photos are now available at: http://australiaday14.blogspot.com/