It’s nearly time for me to leave Sydney and I’ve had an amazing time here. On my first day, the host of my guesthouse recommended that I take a bus to Bondi Beach and follow the coastal path for about 6km south to Coogee Beach, which is her favourite. The path takes in several famous beaches along the way, which are all quite different in character and usage (some are not swimming beaches because of the dangerous currents). Bondi Beach is enormous and was very busy with sunbathers, swimmers and surfers when I visited. The trail was quite crowded at the start but soon quietened down as I got further along it. The views of the cliffs, beaches and sea are absolutely stunning, especially along the section near Bondi. As with many things in Australia, there are lots of rules for the beaches – including large areas where alcohol is banned (which the host of my guesthouse blames on British backpackers, but I’m not so sure, having seen how much the Australians drink also!) – but the flip side is that everything is well organised and sign-posted. There’s even information about the local flora and fauna, filtered water stations and exercise areas along the way. There is a beautifully located cemetery on a clifftop halfway along; although it was a very hot day, I explored a bit of it. It’s similar to an English cemetery but with a few more family vaults and a greater keenness for noting accidental deaths, as you’ll see in one of the photos below.

Bondi Beach

In the evening, I went to Sydney Opera House for my eagerly anticipated visit to La Bohème. This has to be among the most recognisable buildings in the world and it’s beautiful up close – you realise that the “white” sails are actually small, ceramic off-white tiles. I began my visit with the “Overture” pre-opera meal, which included three courses and a glass of Prosecco. This was very good value and the food was delicious – highly recommended. Those of us dining had a lovely view of Sydney harbour, including a huge cruise ship turning around and departing while we ate. The opera itself was fantastic; though supposedly set in 1930s Berlin, this didn’t really come across, so it felt like the kind of traditional staging that I tend to appreciate. The music was beautiful and I particularly liked the tenor’s voice. The opera had the same sad ending that it always does, though I was surprised to discover from the programme that at least one other composer wrote a version of La Bohème that ends happily ever after. Yesterday, I returned to the opera house to take a tour, where I learnt about the design and construction of the building (it’s incredible to think that the winning design wasn’t even shortlisted at first!) and its current, very inclusive programme of events. I’m not sure how I feel about surfing films and Harry Potter being shown at an opera house; I’d prefer more opera, personally, but they seem to do a better job of attracting a wide range of visitors than the more specialised London opera houses do. The tour visited some backstage areas and also included some films showing the opera house’s history; it was well worth doing.

I managed to fit in quite a lot yesterday in addition to the opera house tour. I caught the ferry to Manly and visited Manly beach, which is huge, but looked bizarre because it only had one tiny slice of water that was safe from currents and all the swimmers were crammed into that one slice! It was far too busy and touristy for me, but it was good to see it nevertheless. While I was there, I visited Manly Art Gallery, which was free and air-conditioned, yet bizarrely empty. I enjoyed the exhibitions about local endangered species – in which each artist depicted a different plant or animal, and gave an explanation of why they had chosen it – and brightly coloured, slightly surreal paintings of Sydney’s beaches. I caught the ferry back across the bay to visit the botanical gardens, which aren’t as impressive as Kew but are free to visit! There are lots of large open spaces with mature trees, all labelled with the species. I particularly enjoyed some of the sculptures in the grounds, a huge eucalyptus tree, and the beautiful rose garden, which has been there for over a hundred years. The type of bird that you can see in the photo below – which Google reliably informs me is an Australian white ibis – roams around everywhere in the botanical gardens, which gives them an exotic feel.

Eucalyptus or gum tree (no kookaburra!)

I finished my day with a free walking tour of the Rocks area of Sydney, run by a company that puts on free walking tours in exchange for tips for the guides. The Rocks is the area where convicts from England landed and built their own community. Our guide, who was actually the company’s founder, was entertaining and told lots of stories about how the convicts schemed to rob unsuspecting sailors and even kidnap them to be press-ganged into working on ships. We saw the site where excavations in 1994 revealed some of the earliest houses in Sydney; the site has been left “as is”, so you can still see the foundations of the houses. We also learnt about how the Rocks has become a focus for controversy recently, as long-term working class tenants have been removed from houses and concrete tower blocks so that the prime real estate can be sold. The house below had been rented out for about $80 a week and recently sold for several million dollars. It’s right next to Sydney harbour bridge and has a view of the bay and opera house. The upside of the gentrification of the area is that many historical buildings, including this one, are now being properly restored and conserved. The tour was an interesting way to see a slightly different part of Sydney.

Today, my last day here, I took a trip out of the city to see the Blue Mountains. I think I’ll save that for another post, as this one is getting long already! I’m catching the train to Melbourne tomorrow – something that even some Australians didn’t realise is possible! – and will hopefully be able to see plenty on the journey, which takes all day.