Blog Site by Appointment to His Regal Majesty the Maalie King

He who would be a Leader, let him be a Bridge

Crown Copyright: The Royal Maalie Court

Friday, October 20, 2006

A tourist in Sydney

Today (20 October) was set aside for doing the tourist trail in Sydney, mainly to get pictures of the iconic structures to prove I was actually in Australia. The three items on the agenda were (i) the Harbour Bridge; (ii) the Opera House; (iii) the Botanical Gardens. Memorials to Captain Cook, fallen convicts, or former governers were not in the frame. Even now there was a hidden agenda (or is it sub-text?) as the Botanical Gardens are a location for Rainbow Lorikeet, a sighting of which would bring my Australian parrot list to 18.
Simon and Jim pose by the Sydney Harbour Bridge
The bridge ticked off, it was a walk round Circular Quay and into the Botanical Gardens, from which the Opera House was also ticked off.
Sydney Opera House form the Botanical Gardens
Not particularly interested in botany, we relished close views of wild, but habituated, bird species such as Sacred Ibis, Soldier Bird, Australian Magpie and Wood Duck. Almost more notable than the birds was a flock of Fruit bats ('flying foxes') hanging from the trees like fruit.



Group of fruit bats in Sydney Botanical Gardens






Fruit bats are semi- diurnal, feeding on fruit rather than insects.




There remained the challenge of the Rainbow Lorikeet. Some parrot-like calls were heard issuing from the dense foliage of fig trees, but the birds seemed impossible to locate until Simon spotted a pair feeding high in the canopy. Once again, it was mission accomplshed.

A final walk back along Circular Quay past tourist attractions, a stop at a souvenir shop, then to the Hero of Waterloo pub for a couple of schooners of Victoria Bitter and fish and chips for lunch.


Buskers' Paradise?

3 Comments:

Blogger Tortoiseshell said...

Yes, a nice wide space for the busker to set out his or her stuff. And one handy tip for busking is to have a wall behind you and keep the flow of 'consumers' in front of you. I like the Aborigine flag, too. I would not choose to spread my things out as the busker has done - I would be more wary of people messing with my stuff.

1:16 pm  
Blogger simon said...

I agree. But he had another person working with him (selling cd's etc).

1:41 pm  
Blogger Kiwi Nomad said...

I think the area near the Opera House in Sydney is just superb. I love the way you can walk around the Opera House to the Botanical Gardens, viewing the Bridge. Whoever did this bit of town planning got it bang on imho.

1:44 am  

Post a Comment

<< Home