This is my second trip to Sydney. The first time I came I managed to do a lot of the tourist stuff, but I never managed a trip up the Sydney Tower or Taronga Zoo. I did both of those yesterday.
The tower gives an excellent view of the city. It’s worth doing that as your first activity, so you can get a feel for that you are getting yourself in for. As part of the trip you also get to ride on OzTreck, a virtual tour of Australia. This was actually a lot of fun. It’s certainly worth 10 minutes of your time.
Next stop was the zoo. I bought a zoo pass that includes the ferry, skyride and zoo entrance. If you have a concession ticket there are cheaper ways to get in. On the one had I dislike zoos because they have animals in captivity. On the other hand, I love them. Taronga Zoo has a nice feel about it, but some of the exhibits seem a little small compared to other zoos I’ve been to. The advantage is that you get a good view of the animals. The downside is I’m not sure it is a great environment for some of the animals.
The information desk suggested I should try and see the bird show, which didn’t strike me as sounding too interesting, but it was in the direction I was walking and started just as I got to the show ground. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. If you are going to the zoo you should definitely see the show. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a bird of prey with a 2 metre wing span fly a couple of inches above my head before. Very impressive. It was a really good show for adults and kids alike.
After the zoo it was a train ride back to the hotel in North Ryde and an early night before todays session. Unfortunately I only managed about 4 hour sleep, which included 5 hour gap in the middle of it. 🙁
So today is day 1 of my PL/SQL course in Sydney, followed immediately by a trip into town to speak at the Sydney meetup organised by the guys from Pythian.
Cheers
Tim…
