Re-exploring Sydney and an Aussie Oktoberfest

St. Mary's Cathedral

Neo-gothic spires

Our flight from Ayers Rock to Sydney took us back through Alice Springs. We arrived in Sydney and proceeded to the meeting point to catch our shuttle. However, our driver wasn’t there. After 15 minutes a group of 12 people who were using the same shuttle had assembled, and 3 couples from Florida started to become quite agitated and vocal about the missing driver. Capt. Larry called the bus company, but it was past their closing time. Compounding the situation, the emergency number that was given wouldn’t connect. Capt. Larry suggested that we just wait, the driver likely was caught up in Friday afternoon rush hour traffic, but that did little to quell the emotional pitch and started to make him a target for their anger. After 45 minutes of waiting the driver finally appeared, but at first it seemed like he didn’t have enough room for all of us (he seemed Balkan in descent and didn’t speak English very well). Somehow his appearance didn’t stop the bitching. After 15 minutes of phone calling, he led us out to his van which had seating for 13 people! This really got the Florida folks in a lather. We were finally delivered to our hotel, got checked in, and had a couple of good stiff drinks to put an end to a wearisome day.

Rubbing the hog's nose for luck

The next morning we went out for our morning walk. Our tour of Sydney on our previous visit had taken us into the Hyde Park and The Domain areas of the city to view some attractions there. Since it was within walking distance, we thought we would stroll through these areas again and take some pictures of what we only had fleeting glimpses previously. In Hyde Park we found the beautiful St. Mary’s Cathedral and surrounding plaza. The blooming trees and beds of flowers reinforced that spring was here. We admired church’s beautifully ornate stonework on the entrance façade and the gothic spires.

A little pricey on the parking

Cactus in the Garden

The plaza showcased a spectacular fountain. We walked on toward The Domain and noticed a large, fenced-off area with a German beer hall, beer stands, and 3 stages for bands. A sign told us that Sydney was in the midst of celebrating a German Oktoberfest which would open at 1400 that afternoon. We immediately knew what we were going to do the rest of the day and where we would be eating. We entered The Domain and into the Royal Botanical Garden to return to our hotel room. We repacked our suitcases while we were waiting for the opening of the Oktoberfest grounds and got ourselves all ready to transfer to our cruise ship tomorrow. Capt. Larry found an e-mail from the cruise line that changed our check-in time from 1100 to 1230.

One more shot of the Opera House

This change was to allow the ship’s crew to perform an enhanced sanitation due to an outbreak of several cases of gastrointestinal illness during the last cruise, and they didn’t want the guests to be arriving early and congesting the terminal area. We would have to ignore this last minute notification as our hotel checkout time was 1100 and we had already changed a transfer time to coincide with our checkout. They would just have to deal with us.

We returned to the Oktoberfest grounds, bought tickets, and headed over to a beer hall to hear a really good German band.

A large crowd at Oktoberfest

Practically everyone was dressed in German clothes and the crowd was very young, but very enthusiastic, and everyone was having a good time.

Filling the beer cups

The band finished and we decided to find something to eat. There were several offerings to choose from, but we opted for fare from one of the several sausage huts. With a German kransky, an Oktoberfest bratwurst, a second soft pretzel, and a Weihenstephan beer, we found a table to eat our meal. It was delicious!

Pretty young fraulines

After we finished, we explored the rest of the grounds to see what else we might enjoy, but we found mostly port-a-potties (they call them dunnies) and beer stands with really long lines. We returned to the beer hall to listen to the music and watch the kids party.

Prosit!!

Given our age relative to that of the group, we were slightly out of place, but the young people kept approaching us and toasting as a sign that we were accepted. It was fun.

Mmmmm!! Sausages!!

When the band finished its set, we headed back to our hotel for our last night in Sydney.

The next morning Capt. Larry wanted to go for a walk. Jane’s feet were hurting from all of the walking we’ve been doing, so he headed out for the usual 1.5 hour, ~5 mile walk. Trying a different route, he walked along the circular quay that ran along the harbor and figured that the road would make one large circle and bring him back to the starting point. After following the route for about 75 minutes, he came upon a container cargo wharf and a defunct terminal tower that he recognized from the first day’s Sydney tour as being in the Bangaroo section of the city.

Our ship coming to get us

Looking up, he recognized none of the buildings or skyscrapers that had become familiar landmarks around our hotel. He was lost. He stopped a local and asked for directions, but the guy only had a vague idea as to how he should proceed. He continued until he came to an intersection that allowed him a 90° change in course. Still nothing looked familiar. Finally, after a couple more course alterations he came upon a clock tower that he had passed yesterday on the way to the Oktoberfest. He figured he needed to go south, so with the sun rising on his left he was headed south. After walking for another 15 minutes, he realized that things should be getting familiar, but they weren’t. Confirming with a street vendor that he was headed south, he was told that he was going south, but the hotel and cruise terminal were in the other direction, “a 10 minute’s walk from here.” Twenty minutes later he was back at the hotel after walking over 2 hours. Does aging reduce one’s sense of direction?

We checked out of our hotel and met our driver who took us to the terminal. We were able to check our large bags. We walked along the quay and found a nice shady spot to sit and await our check-in time, boarding, and departure.