Day 78, March 8, 2010
After breakfast, I decided to do a power-walk down to Woolloomooloo to see the Queen Mary 2. I love walking in Sydney because time seems to fly by with so many interesting things to see. I walked past the War Memorial at the south end of Hyde Park, then through the centre of the park under the amazing canopy created by enormous fig trees and then past the Archibald Fountain, my favourite. I walked by St. Mary's Cathedral and then across the road to the Domain and past the Art Gallery of NSW, a magnificent building. At this point, I could see the smoke stacks of Queen Mary 2 above the trees in the Royal Botanical Gardens as it towered over the condos on the Finger Wharf across from the Naval Base. Coaches were lined up on the pier and a steady procession of them were leaving full of passengers eager to view the sights of Sydney, as it is one of the most in-demand ports for cruise ships. The experience of being in Sydney Harbour can't be beaten anywhere in the world according to the president and managing director of Cunard Line.
After breakfast, I decided to do a power-walk down to Woolloomooloo to see the Queen Mary 2. I love walking in Sydney because time seems to fly by with so many interesting things to see. I walked past the War Memorial at the south end of Hyde Park, then through the centre of the park under the amazing canopy created by enormous fig trees and then past the Archibald Fountain, my favourite. I walked by St. Mary's Cathedral and then across the road to the Domain and past the Art Gallery of NSW, a magnificent building. At this point, I could see the smoke stacks of Queen Mary 2 above the trees in the Royal Botanical Gardens as it towered over the condos on the Finger Wharf across from the Naval Base. Coaches were lined up on the pier and a steady procession of them were leaving full of passengers eager to view the sights of Sydney, as it is one of the most in-demand ports for cruise ships. The experience of being in Sydney Harbour can't be beaten anywhere in the world according to the president and managing director of Cunard Line.
The ship carries 2,460 passengers and 1,230 crew and cost $800 million to build, $300 million more than it cost to film Avatar. In its 40-year lifetime it will travel the equivalent of 12 trips to the moon and back. It has 1,072 deck chairs and serves 16,000 meals a day. It is 354 meters long and 62 meters high. It would not fit under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Storms were forecast for late today so we changed our plans and decided to explore Pyrmont and Ultimo, which are north-west of Darling Harbour. We saw some great terrace houses from the mid-1800's and foreshore green spaces that were created when Pyrmont was revitalized after the sandstone quarries changed the peninsular from an attractive retreat to having a blasted, treeless appearance. Today we found Paradise, as Jill put it, one of the several quarries run by the Saunders family, which included Purgatory and Hell Hole, which is where the Fish Markets stand today. The tough quality of Pyrmont sandstone was well known and was used when the Australian Museum needed its steps replaced in 1855. It was also used by the Sydney University, the General Post Office, and the Art Gallery of NSW, along with many other government buildings, insurance companies and banks.
