Outlaws in Sydney
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It’s probably not possible to name the world’s most beautiful city – how do you compare Sydney’s blue harbor and sparkling glass skyscrapers with the medieval castle, hills, and red tile roofs of Prague? But if you were to try, Sydney would definitely be in the running.
We checked out of our hotel before heading off to the last day of the races, since we were staying in Sydney that night. Ted and I returned the car, then took the train to the Olympic Park where we met up with the others. Once everyone finally got there, we had a brewpub dinner (pretty good burgers, and the Aussies take their chips (fries) very seriously). The we walked off to see whatever other sports were going on that night. We’d met someone on the train who told us she was headed to diving practice so we stopped there first. Fun to watch, and there were many more dives during the practice than we’d have seen at an actual match; there were people lining up and going off low and high boards as well as the high platforms. As with Masters rowing, one of the joys there was seeing people of all shapes walking around unembarrassed in spandex and participating in sport; there was one particularly graceful woman in a black bathing suit who was shaped like a pear with legs and who managed her weight beautifully – not very complex ones, but perfectly one. There were hot younger guys (well, late 20s – this is still Masters) and middle aged ones, simple swan dives and complex twists. Very fun to watch.
Afterward we tried to watch some volleyball and weightlifting, but both had ended for the evening so we headed back to our hotel near Central Station.
The next day, Friday, was our first full day in Sydney. Iskra went off to meet Nick, Teddy, and some other friends, Rebecca opted to explore the Library and the Botanical Gardens, while Kathy, Laurie and we went off to get sort of an overview. Kathy wanted to see Aussie critters, so we walked to Darling Harbor, less than 1km from our hotel. I’d hoped to see the Chinese Gardens on the way, but there was an entrance fee and I didn’t want to see them that badly. The Harbor has been developed considerably since Ted and I were there ten years ago – I think the Maritime Museum and the IMAX were there but there are water features, building, restaurants, shops and so on I don’t remember. We went to see Sydney Wildlife World – Kathy was a bit worried after realizing it was indoors, but they had inside displays of things like bugs and lizards and snakes, with wallabies and koalas and butterfly habitat up in semi-open habitat areas. We didn’t get to pet koalas, but we did get to take some fairly close-up pictures.
(I’ll leave these small since we got better animal photos later on, in Tasmania.)
Our feet were tired after that, so we skipped the aquarium and took a ferry over to Circular Quay, which is sort of the heart of Sydney – one of the best things they did was to give us free passage on all Sydney buses, trains and ferries just by showing our badges. A side effect of this was that people tended to walk around wearing their badges; between those and the bright backpacks it was easy to spot the Masters Games athletes and we were everywhere! This was the biggest games ever, with 28,000 participants – 2500 in rowing alone.
Of course, things like the Harbour Cruises weren’t free, but we got a discount on it, as well as a 2-for-1 deal on the Wildlife Wolrd – Sydney really did go all out to welcome us. I think a cruise is the best way to see a port city, and this one was longer and more thorough than the one Ted and I took ten years ago.
It bears repeating: Sydney really is a gorgeous city, and the perfect weather didn’t hurt. It was still windy – not such a problem when you’re not rowing in it – and I got very lucky: it was so sunny I’d bought a hat and cheap sunglasses, and the wind took my hat off while we were on the upper deck. But instead of blowing off into the water, it just blew down on floor of the lower deck, where a woman grabbed it for me.
After the cruise we walked around the Rocks area for a bit, researched the Harbor Bridge climb (and decided not to – it costs nearly $200AUS per head and you can’t bring your camera) and then, since it seemed like the best day for it, I made a reservation for our memorial dinner for Uncle Larry. We met back up with Rebecca a little sooner than planned, but fortunately they let us be seated early, and we had a great dinner, with lots of memories and possibly the best view in the world – we were next to the windows where those pictures on their webpage were taken.
Then accident hit – on our way back to the hotel, Laurie stepped funny, blew out her knee, and by the next morning she couldn’t walk. The timing could have been worse – it could have been at the beginning of the day instead of the very end – but it could have been a lot better too, like not on this trip at all. Kathy made arrangements with the hotel to get a wheelchair, but it wasn’t going to be delivered until noon. (There are some predictable issues with having a horde of aging athletes in town!)
Since Kathy really did want to see the Bridge, she came out with us and we went up to the top of one of the pylons, here there are exhibits about the building of the bridge and a view from the top, then we walked halfway across it. We went back to the hotel, so Kathy could meet back up with Laurie and head out on a bus tour that wouldn’t need much walking, then Ted and I mailed a package home to get ride of some excess weight and headed over to the Opera House. Our tour guide wasn’t great. You know those people who end every sentence with a nervous giggle? They’re even more annoying when you’re listening to them on a headset and that giggle is piped right into your brain. But seeing the various theaters in the Opera House was interesting, and we got to listen briefly to Liza Minelli’s orchestra rehearsing. Liza wasn’t there herself yet, but still, I kept thinking how much my uncle would have enjoyed that.
That night for dinner Ted and I met up with a very old internet friend, someone I’ve know for more than ten years. Unfortunately had to be wimps and end the evening early because we needed to be at the airport by 6 the next morning (and had to say goodbye to the other Outlaws that night) so we didn’t get to spend nearly the amount of time with her that I’d have liked, and the brewpub where we went to eat was noisy enough to make conversation difficult. But the beer was phenomenal, it was great to meet someone I’d known for so long, and how often do you get to hear someone playing trumpet and accordion simultaneously anyway? (Er, not my friend – the two-man polka band they had in for Oktoberfest.) Or hear Michael Jackson songs played on tuba? So it was a great way to end our stay in Sydney, though it did leave me feeling a little guilty for cutting out early. Afterward, we found Kathy and Laurie in their hotel room (right next to ours) and said our goodbyes, hoping we won’t have to wait until the next World Masters (2013 in Torino!) to race together again.