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?