A whistlestop visit to Sydney

There can be few more famous sights worldwide than Sydney harbour, the opera house and the bridge, while cruising into the harbour on the ferry. As we made our day trip from our temporary home with good friends in Manly (many thanks!), there was a very stiff breeze which kicked up waves and spray and made for an exhilarating ride alongside the breath-taking views.

The State Library of New South Wales

We were on our way to the Australian Museum, happened to see this majestic old building, and decided to pop in. Wow, were we glad that we did. We certainly weren’t expecting the local library to become a highlight of Sydney for us, but it has.

Alongside the requisite reference libraries and reading rooms, the state library had a couple of temporary and several permanent exhibitions running. Indeed there was so much on offer here that we didn’t leave ourselves enough time for the more famous museum down the road. You could very easily take a day just on these two and still not have covered them both fully.

For all of us, kids and adults alike, the interactive exhibition on the illustration of children’s books was fantastic. Alongside learning about the process from sketch to print, we were given step by step instructions to draw some of the characters ourselves.

The permanent collections were also intriguing. Jim particularly enjoyed the map room. Alongside historic maps, each of which only has a different part of Australia surveyed, several artifacts caught the eye. Captain James Cook’s sextant, one of the two thousand medallions issued for use on Cook’s 1772 voyage, and Admiral Bligh’s (he of The Mutiny on the Bounty fame) chronometer.

The Australian Museum

The Australian Museum is barely a couple of blocks south of the state library, past St Mary’s Cathedral with all of its magnificence and pairs of newlyweds having their wedding photos taken on the concourse. The museum is clearly a great place with plenty of interaction and items of wonder for the kids. We really didn’t have enough time here; Rafe could have spent hours on the geology alone. As it was, we spent most of the time in the historic Long Gallery where the curated 200 Treasures are displayed.

Alongside many jaw dropping artifacts, an area is given over to celebrating great Australians. Kylie was there of course in her rightful place alongside eminent scientists etc, but we were disappointed not to see Steve Irwin or Clive James similarly recognised.

After that, we had time for a quick trip round the Australian photographer of the year exhibit, the dinosaurs and the ‘Wild Planet’ section before being told by the tannoy speaker that it was time to leave the building.

A zoo with a view – Taronga Zoo

Combining the cornucopia of unusual Australian wildlife with one of the most iconic vistas in the world, it would be hard for Taronga Zoo to be anything other than epic. And it was. The Zoo nestles on a hillside on the northern shores of Sydney Harbour. One can take an instantly recognisable ferry from the pier at Circular Quay in the city, but as we were staying in Manly in the northern beaches the bus was for us for this our second day trip. We weren’t the only people on our bus first thing in the morning, and were joined by several of the zoo keepers too. If you do take the ferry you are then treated to a cable car ride up to the main entrance at the top. In our case the first thing we did was to take a round trip on that same cable car, down and then back up the hill, so that we could take in some more the harbour view while orienting ourselves soaring above the elephants and giraffes.

It was certainly a full day up close with nature, much of it roaming apparently free around the park – lizards, skinks, cockatoos, kookaburras and brush-turkeys were all around us (mostly trying to get a look at our sandwiches). On the subject of sandwiches, our local friend’s top tip was to take a packed lunch as the only downside of Taronga are the expensive and generally unhealthy easting options there. One of our highlights would have to be the giraffes, with plenty of them out and about in their large savannah enclosure which has some of the best views in the zoo.

The seal and free flying bird shows were also both educational and brilliant fun with plenty of oohs and aahs all round. The second friendly top tip also played out perfectly – to make a donation at the end of the bird show in return for a colourful bird badge, which Dessa promptly affixed to her hat. The start of a new collection for the rest of the journey I’m sure.

Alongside seeing the animals, there were also plenty of learning opportunities for the kids to understand the ecology not just of the larger animals, but also local insects too.

The lions however were not on show, having recently been rumbled on their nightly excursion from their enclosure to a nearby pub.

Having arrived early on of the first thing we did was secure one of the scarce Koala Experience slots for later in the day. For a relatively small fee we were able to visit two koalas in their enclosure with a zoo keeper on hand. It was a great experience, albeit slightly harrowing to hear how around a third of their number were wiped out in the recent monumental bushfires that swept much of their habitat. The fires were apparently so fierce that the normally safe haven for koalas of the upper canopy was also burnt. When visiting koalas two things need to be remembered, a) they are nocturnal and sleep for twenty hours a day, b) it is illegal to touch them. But oh so cute! And bigger than I’d imagined, though Dessa was well prepared as she devours Izzy’s Koala World on Netflix. It struck us that the zoo keepers might tire a little of questions arising from Izzy’s rescues.

How we did it

Plenty of buses, and several ferries would be a good summary – and we found the public transport to be decent value and reliable. It is all contactless, so you can just tap a credit or debit card, or you can buy and use the local Opal transport card. Fortunately for us our good friends lent us a couple of Opal cards which we used for the kids’ rides, and topped up in return.