Scribble World Travel Blog

Travel Journal Entry for Sydney Tower and Chinatown

After visiting the Sydney Wildlife World we decided to walk over and see why 800,000 people visit the Sydney Amp Tower every year. The tower has 1,504 steps up to the top, but we just took the high speed double decker elevator, which can carry up to 2,000 people/hour.  A trip up takes only 40 seconds, traveling at the swift pace of 7 metres/second. 

The 4,067 tonne Tower took 6 years to build, costing $36,000,000.  Sydney Tower will soon be celebrating her 27th birthday haviing officially opened on September 23rd back in 1981.  The Tower has had more than 16 million visitors since then. 

One thousand feet tall (305 metres high), the Sydney tower is the same height as the Eiffel Tower, making it the highest point above the city-twice the height of the Harbour Bridge. With windows all around, you can wander around at your own pace for a great panoramic view of the city. Thanks to the automatic window cleaner called “Charlie,” all 420 windows can be cleaned in two days time. 

The Sydney Tower also boasts the highest working mail box in the Southern Hemisphere! 

From the top of the tower we could see a fountain at a park that was used in the Matrix movie.  We walked over to it afterwards-one of those silly tourist things you can’t help but get excited about, but it was pretty cool.

Then Chris & I went off on our own for the evening to explore Chinatown.  We took the monorail, where we got a day pass.  Our Chinatown adventure began with tea at an authentic Chinese tea house.  I had a cup of tasty chrysanthemum tea and Chris had a cup of cool refreshing mulberry tea.  Then we decided to be brave and split the 24 herb wonder tea-boy was that potent, and I have no idea what was even in it, but anything that tastes that pungent has got to cure cancer and all other ailments-it’s practically an unwritten rule, so we drank the whole cup, then moved on to get some less healthy food.  I bought a bubble tea drink *yum yum* and then we were walking around a mall that looked like it was closed..and I was randomly peaking over at a massage shop, I’m just magically drawn to these places, and low and behold, the girl and guy who worked there saw me and waved me in-even though they had just put their coats on and very much looked like they were about 2 steps from heading out the door-in broken English, they excitely invited me to point out on a poster what service I wanted. I asked if they were closed, “yes”they replied with big smiles on their faces, every question I asked seem to be automatically answered “yes” with a smile.  Finally I just pointed at the refexology picture for 30 minutes and the rest is a pampered memory-my first reflexology session, but my feet kept thanking me, it felt wonderful.  Kind of funny how that worked out though, I got lucky because technically, according to the sign-they were closed, but must have been eager for business because they were willing to stay an extra half hour and actually seemed happy about it.  If anyone’s in the mood for a great foot massage after walking around Sydney all day, Massage World on George St. is the place!

We did a little more late night Chinatown exploring, then took the monorail to the harbor for some night pictures of the Sydney Harbor  Then we road the monorail in a complete loop for the ride and experience and walked the kilometer back to our room at the Lord Nelson Hotel and Brewery. 

It’s a pity there isn’t more time and energy in a day.  I’m beat, sore from all the walking and just plain tired having been up since 5 this morning.  I woke up early after some interesting dreams and noticed it was raining and had to look out the window and take in the experience.  I’m looking forward to some rest and enjoying a cup of chamomile tea.  I like this comforter-it’s a faux suede feel even though its made with 100% Egyptian cotton-I would have guessed a rayon & polyester blend. it’s very soft.  This room also has a nice window seat. Charming.  Midnight now, so goodnight!

Sydney Wildlife World

Sydney Wildlife World is conveniently located next to the Sydney Aquarium.  You can usually get a discount if you do both.  Wildlife World features the largest variety of animals and Australian plants under one roof! It covers 3 floors, 9 habitats and 65 exhibits ranging from bugs to cute cuddily looking koala bears. 

We had great close up looks at wallabies, frogs, birds and more.  The butterfly room was particularly neat-we could sit and admire the butterflies flying around our heads and we even saw a couple land on people. There were children running around playing and no one guarding the place-they must have to restock the butterflies with so many people frequently coming and going but it sure was neat! I’ve never seen so many butterflies in one place before-and so many kinds too.

We also saw our first Wombat!  A wombat is an Australian marsupial-short legged, muscular, tiny little tails..they’re really adorable.  They are nocturnal so it is difficult to see them in the wild-though they will come out on overcast days now and then. 

Our road trip has turned into more of a walking trip in the city of Sydney.  It’s neat how there are so many interesting attractions all within walking distance of each other.

Sydney Aquarium

The Sydney Aquarium has over 12,000 Australian marine animals and has the world’s largest Great Barrier Reef display.  We were very impresed to see the platypus up close and personal.  Even so, the little bugger moves fast and it’s hard to get a good picture of him. They are very shy and particularly difficult to see in the wild.  We’ve enjoyed walking through the aquarium tunnels with sharks and sting rays swimming above our heads and many other fish to the side and even beneath us!

There was a little look and touch area to feel some of the little spongier critters.  We saw seals swimming and playing, a salt water crocodile, sea horses, a fish that looks like a rock, squid, penquins, and many more strange and interesting species.  Pictures are worth a thousand words, so I’ll just have to show you what I’m talking about! 

The Sydney Aquarium is open everyday from 9 A.M. to 10 P.M. and is located on Aquarium Pier on Darling Harbour.

Lord Nelson Hotel and Brewery

Looking for an unusual and novel place to stay in Sydney? The Lord Nelson Hotel and Brewery is simply awesome! Nice deep bathtub, yummy smelling bath products in cute containers, comphy bed, fancy metal hot water maker that’s even faster than the other kinds I’ve used on this trip, Earl Grey tea samples, and interesting art and antiques all over the small privately owned hotel.  People seem to like the beer too…

For breakfast, we went down to the Lord Nelson’s in house restaurant and had the continental which consisted of a small plate of fruit cut into fancy designs, toast, small amount of butter (about enough for half a piece of toast), little jam, and a tea or coffee drink of your choice.  We each had a latte and then a cereal selection and juice.  They charge $11 for it if you’re not a guest, and comp if you are. 

We have a busy day ahead of us with lots of walking.  We’ll be visiting the Aquarium first.