Sydney, The Land of Oz - Ferry Ride, Sydney Opera House & HarbourBridge(Day 3)

Back to my last post, we went to the car-park to collect our lunch pack.

The harbour getting happening in the evening


Our initial plan was to find a nearby park and picnic there however it was already 4pm, nearly dusk plus all of us getting tired and starved, of course nobody wasn't eager to walk anymore. So you know what we did? Do you remember my previous post at Blue Mountain which I'd mention the best place we had lunch? Ok I give you the answer :=) It was at The Carpark! As the parking space was empty that time, we just spreaded the papers on the cement floor and sat on it, took out our foods and ate like nobody business!!

Musafir. We opened the car's door to cover us a bit.

The dishes were simple but among the best I've ever had. Chicken in chilli sauce, seafood tomyam and beansprout in soy sauce with rice.


Alhamdulillah, it was one of the best moment we had in Sydney. Not everyone will have this experience right??

A train station next to the car-park building. I guessed this is a Darling Harbour Station.


Now after refill, we got our energy back. As it was our last night in Sydney, and we didn't have to rush to check in at any accommodation anymore, :=p we wanted to spent a bit of time here at the city centre. What would be the best idea to explore Sydney rather than experience a ferry ride and enjoy the view of Sydney city at night.


Sydney Ferry Ride : Circular Quay - Darling Harbour

Whether you’re catching up on a little rest and relaxation, or visiting Sydney for the first time; travelling with Sydney Ferries is a captivating way to explore Sydney’s beautiful waterways, city centre and vibrant villages. From the sea to the suburbs, Sydney Ferries offers you the chance to uncover many of Sydney’s ‘hidden gems’ easily and affordably, with an all-in-one pass.

Sydney Ferries has a long and proud history in Sydney and patronage continues to grow each year. In 2011-12, 173,329 ferry services were scheduled, carrying 14.7 million passengers. Circular Quay is the hub of the network, providing access to 37 other wharves ranging from Manly at the northern end of Sydney Harbour, through to Eastern and Lower North Shore suburbs, suburbs adjacent to the Parramatta River, the Balmain peninsula and Darling Harbour.

To make it easy, all the destinations are divided into Lines and each Line has been assigned to different wharves as follows :
Wharf 2 - Line F2 : Taronga Zoo
Wharf 3 - Line F1 : Manly
Wharf 4 - F5 : Neutral Bay, F6 : Mosmon Bay, F7 : Eastern Suburbs (rose bay, Double Bay, Watson Bay, garden Bay & Darling Point)
Wharf 5 - F3 : Parramatta and F4 : Darling harbour

As all the ferries centralized from the Circular Quay, that would be our next destination.


(vi) Circular Quay

Circular Quay is the central hub of Sydney Harbour and is the starting point for numerous attractions. It’s located in Sydney Cove, a small and picturesque inlet, which was actually the founding site of Sydney and Australia as a whole.


From Darling Harbour, we drove about 15mins to Circular Quay. We reached there around 5.30pm and parked our car at the basement parking nearby.

Sky scrappers at Sydney City

The central transportation hub

Circular Quay station


As we wanted to have a closer view with Sydney's most famous attractions which are The Sydney Opera House and The Harbour Bridge, we went for F4 Line : Darling Harbour where the ferry will pass right below the bridge and also provides exceptional view of the Opera House which languishes nearby.

We needed to take ferry to Darling Harbour at Wharf 5, but first we had to buy the ticket. Ticketing machine is available at Circular Quay station and we bought the returned ticket at AUD12/person.

Schedule for ferry to Darling Harbour.

Scanned the ticket and entered to wharf 5.

We waited for the ferry and once it arrived, boarded inside. The ferry to Darling Harbour runs every half an hour which means it will take 1 hour for returned trip.
Inside the ferry we could choose either to sit inside or outside which of course lots of people preferred the outside one unless the locals who already blended with this view everyday :=)

Enjoyed the fresh air....

The bridge and opera house from the far

Excited and couldn't wait to become closer with these amazing architectures

Approaching

Yeay, finally!!

A dream came true moment.

I was neary right under the bridge

The ferry had made a stop at an amusement park known as Luna Park. As this place was not in our itinerary, so we just stayed on the ferry and continued our journey.

Looks happening right??

Lots of people disembarked here also

Ok the ferry started to leave Luna Park.


And there was one of the magnificent building in the world, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE.

Spectacular!!


Took lots of photo here. More interesting that this ferry equipped with free WIFI. Generous huh!!

What a wonderfull night with dear friends.


We had a great first half an hour to Darling Harbour. Once reached there, we didn't unboard just stayed inside and waited the ferry to turn back to Circular Quay.

As the ferry repeated again the same route (in opposite direction), we met again the Harbour Bridge. As one of the famous icons in the world, it is difficult for you to miss this.

It seems like the Harbour Bridge was much closer in this route.

I wondered if baby Musa awared where he was this time or if he can remember he's been here when he grown up in future.

One of the stops the ferry made.

Nearly reached back to the Circular Quay. 1 hour seemed to be so fast!

Arriving to the Wharf

Mission accomplished. Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge checked!!

Just noticed our ferry's name was Friendship, like us who have been friends together since primary school!!

Disembarked from the ferry to wharf


Since it's still early, we took a stroll around the Circular Quay. There’s a walkway to the Sydney Opera House so we walked along and enjoyed the view of the harbour and observed how local city people spent their weekend.

View of the wharves at night.

Tug boat

Such a nice walk with spectacular view. Unfortunately my camera's battery almost weak that time resulted this poor quality of photo.


Because of it's location at the end of the central business district and shore line of the majestic pacific ocean, numerous cosy outdoor cafes available along the line of the Quay.

What's a best place to spent your Sunday night. Hang out with friends, had a nice foods with ocean breeze and enjoying live performances.. Brilliant!

Happening

Crowded


Did you noticed why Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge looked dark in most of my photos? Yes, part of it because my weaken battery but it's just made a photo blurred and not dark. If your answer because it was night time, it's also wrong as there were lots of light everywhere illuminate the whole city. Have you see KL dark at night? No right.. But what is the correct answer then? Amateur photographer? Absolutely not.

The reason was...... Unfortunately it was just the same time when the world celebrated Earth Hour so all the lights were off :=( It could be more beautifull with the lights on. Nevertheless still appreciate the moments. Definitely a memorable one!

See, the lights were off at the bridge behind.

We arrived at the Sydney Opera House, however didn't spent much time there as it was dark and all our photos came out not interesting.

Frustated, we proceeded back to the Circular Quay Station.

At the accurate location of Sydney Cove

Owh my good, baby Musa wanted to dig cikgu kayrie nose!!

We asked courtesy of one guy who passed nearby with his partner to take our photo. Initially he was reluctant and we was a bit disappointed with the local's response. Then either he felt guilty or his girlfriend commented about his manner, then he came back and took our picture perfectly!

We returned to our car with full satisfaction.

But hey, along the way to the car park we just remembered that it was Kayrie's birthday on the next day, 30th. So Lina and me planned to buy a cake and celebrate her birthday. So here we went, to the Starbucks located just opposite the Circular Quay station.

Mission accomplished!

Along the way back to our cabin, we noticed one Chinese restaurant called Petaling Street. Probably the owner is a Malaysian.


Returned to our cabin, we took shower and started to prepare dinner. It was 10pm so it's considered supper as well.

Since we had lots of food left, we needed to finish it all to avoid waste. From top we had chicken and mussel friend in chilli paste (ala thai), middle we had fried calamari and prawn (coated with fluor) and bottom were fried chicken, vegetable soup and stir fried vegetables.

We had all the above ate with plain pasta instead of rice.


Ding dong ding dong..... And our alarm rang sharp at 12 o' clock, marked the birthday of our beloved travel buddy, Ms. Khairiah Husni. I bet this probably not among the best birthday celebration she ever had, but definitely one of the most unforgettable birthday moment she had. Celebrated birthday oversea tu.. Ko hado??

Birthday shout.

Plan succeeded.


End of day 3 and last day at Sydney.


Sydney, The Land of OZ Fast Link Here
1) Day 0 – The Journey KL to Sydney and 1st Night at Ibis Hotel
2) Day 1 – Pick up Rental Car and Start of Grand Pacific Drive
3) Day 1 – GPD (Otford Lookout, Stanwell Park and Cliff Bridge)
4) Day 1 – GPD (Wolonggong & Kiama)
5) Day 1 – Night at Windang Beach Tourist Park
6) Day 2 – Trip to Blue Mountain
7) Day 2 – Echo Point Lookout and Scenic World, Blue Mountain
8) Day 2 – Night at Bass Hill Holiday & Residential Park
9) Day 3 – Darling Harbour / Waterfront
10) Day 3 – Sydney Wild Life Zoo
11) Day 3 – Madam Tussauds Sydney
13) Last Day – Checked Out and Shopping Paddy Market
14) Last Day - Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge
15) Last Episode Sydney