Travel Guides and Stories

(1) Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge
   Since I was visiting relatives, not traveling for tourism, I didn't have a set itinerary. I just explored Sydney and the Gold Coast a bit. I'll be writing this travelogue in several parts: Sydney, Gold Coast, and others (including the University of Sydney and the Australian Museum). Of course, it’s mostly photos! I really need to get in the habit of taking notes—so many details are already forgotten; only the photos bring back memories, haha. Actually, I love traveling independently. You control your own schedule, go where you want, when you want. Traveling with a group feels rushed—just ticking off destinations. It’s less fun, and you miss out on all the little surprises. As always, here’s a classic photo to start:

From Shenzhen to Hong Kong airport, ready to fly to Sydney—this is outside the terminal in Hong Kong.

After landing at Sydney Airport, you’ll find travel guides everywhere—in Chinese, Japanese, and more. For those planning a trip, you’ve probably already done your homework, so you might not need them. But they’re beautifully printed, with maps and phone numbers, and they’re free—might as well grab one!

Passing over the Harbour Bridge—the photo isn’t great, but this is the main area of Sydney’s high-rises.

Driving over the Harbour Bridge

Outside every house are several large trash bins, each marked for a different type of waste. A bit of an eyesore... but you’ll see this in lots of travel photos. I’ll pick out some interesting or unusual shots for you, so you see more than just scenery (though I’ll show those too, haha).

Sydney metro bench—though most lines are actually suburban rail

Church

Walking on the Harbour Bridge—there’s wire fencing on both sides to prevent suicides, and warning signs every few hundred meters. Climbing up is heavily fined!

Both sides of Sydney Harbour are full of mansions—the city’s real estate is already expensive!

You can climb to the top of the Harbour Bridge, but when I saw the price (almost AUD 100, times 6 for RMB), I passed.

Here’s another shot—just beautiful.

The Rocks district

Circular Quay

Aboriginal street performer

Distant view of the bridge

Close-up of the Opera House

Poster celebrating the Chinese Year of the Tiger. That year, Chongqing and Sydney held joint events. (I’ll show more photos of this in section 3.)

Birds everywhere on the streets, not afraid of humans at all.

I can’t remember what building this is—most of the buildings here are government offices.

Harbour Bridge at sunset

Setting off at dusk

The Opera House at night

Not a great shot—my point-and-shoot can’t handle night scenes.

Editor said to put everything together, so here are parts 2 and 3 as well.
   Australia Trip (2) – Gold Coast
   The Gold Coast was developed as a tourist destination by Japanese investors, so there are lots of Japanese hotels, many with detailed Japanese information and signage. There’s a long coastline, gorgeous beaches, brilliant sunshine, clear water, and powerful surf... This is a city built for tourism, a paradise for surfers, with many theme parks nearby—perfect for a holiday. Spend a couple of days on the sand, a day or so at each theme park, and time flies. Of course, the most beautiful thing is the endless golden sands. If you love surfing or diving, this is the place to be.    
   Some practical tips I remember:
   1. Book tickets in advance for the Gold Coast—if it’s not peak season, you can get tickets at half price. We went at Chinese New Year, which is a work week in Australia, not a weekend—so hotels were cheaper.
   2. The Gold Coast is one hour behind Sydney. We flew from Sydney and found the local clocks an hour earlier than our departure time—took a moment to figure out why!
   3. As for theme parks, Sea World is worth a visit; Movie World is a matter of taste (I went, since our ticket was a combo for two parks). I’m not much of a swimmer, so I skipped Wet’n’Wild. To be honest, these parks are similar to those in China, but tickets are expensive—about AUD 100 per person. Sea World is special for its Australian marine animals, which you won’t see in China. Movie World is also unique, especially the racing show, which was fantastic!    
   Here are some photos, starting with the iconic coastline—taken from the plane:

Long, beautiful coastline

On the beach

On the beach

Seagulls on the sand

Surfer girl getting ready

People enjoying the waves

Sand sculptor in action. Sea World (theme park)

Sea World is one of the Gold Coast’s major theme parks, like Ocean Park in China but focused on marine life. If you love the ocean, this is a must-see.

Chilling out...

Dolphin care starts young—so envious!

Dolphin show—I actually recorded some video, it was amazing!

The moment

Little penguin

Pirate ship show

Feeding the stingrays—surprisingly cute from the side!

School of fish underwater

Here come the sharks! Movie World is another theme park—we had a 2-in-1 ticket. Here are some pictures:

The car stunt show is a must-see—really exciting! Sadly, I only took video, not photos.

Performer show

The drivers in the show—I got a photo with them later!

Cool Batman and his car

Chinese characters taking over the world—not sure if this foreigner knows what they mean!

You can probably guess who this is supposed to be!

The entrance
   Australia Trip (3) – Australian Museum, University of Sydney
   The Australian Museum is said to be one of the world’s top ten museums—at least, it’s the largest natural history museum in Australia, with a massive collection. If you love museums, it’s well worth a visit. It’s near Hyde Park, next to the WWI Memorial, which is also worth a look if you have time. After the museum, I’ll show you Hyde Park and the memorial.

The museum building

Koala specimen—much less cute than the real thing!

Snake—not sure what kind. Most exhibits aren’t behind glass, so no reflections in photos. Even though it’s dead, getting this close to a snake is still a little unsettling!

Petting a joey

Traditional Aboriginal weapons—tragically, the history of indigenous peoples in both Australia and the Americas is full of suffering.

Here’s a more vivid example. At least now, Australia acknowledges its past. This is a typical Western approach: brutal and bloody in the early days, then later preach democracy, love, and repentance...

Shark teeth—just looking at them is chilling!

Blue-ringed octopus—one of Australia’s most famous native creatures. Don’t be fooled by its size; it’s among the world’s top ten deadliest animals. Three of the world’s top ten are found in Australia! A single blue-ringed octopus carries enough venom to kill 26 adults—and there’s no known antitoxin.

This creature is even scarier—deadly and hard to spot. My camera wasn’t good enough for macro shots, so here’s a web photo.

Box jellyfish—#1 on the world’s “most deadly” list...

This line-up of eggs is quite creative—the biggest is an elephant bird egg (the bird weighed 450 kg, and one egg was found with a 34-cm circumference). The smallest are from tiny songbirds.

Simulated fossil cleaning—you can try it yourself!

A row of fat “geese”—in China, these big birds would probably end up in someone’s stomach! In Australia, strict laws protect birds, and locals coexist peacefully with wildlife. You’ll often see flocks resting on public lawns—pictures later.

Since this is a natural history museum, of course there are minerals. This is a gold nugget—not smelted, but found! It’s the world’s largest natural gold nugget, weighing 83.95 kg, discovered in Western Australia.

Various minerals—I don’t really know much about them...

Centaur statue

Also quite creative!

After leaving the museum, there’s St. Mary’s Cathedral next door—here’s a front view.

Side view

Next is Hyde Park

Captain Cook statue—he’s credited with discovering Australia (though there’s debate), and since most Australians are of British descent, he’s their hero. Nearby is Australia’s WWI Memorial.

Memorial building

Pool in front of the memorial

Harmony between people and birds

Statues in the memorial
   Although World War I and II might seem unrelated to Australia, the country participated enthusiastically and lost 100,000 soldiers. Australia has joined many wars, even the Korean War, and fielded army, navy, and air force. But that’s a topic for another day...    
   The University of Sydney is Australia’s oldest university, and ranked in the world’s top 50. It’s definitely worth a visit, especially if you or your kids are considering studying in Australia. (I forgot the route, but it’s easy to find on a map!)

I entered from this side gate!

This is one of the university’s oldest buildings—supposedly where it all began.

Gymnasium

I think this is the main entrance—doesn’t look like it, but this was the only car entrance I found.

Clock tower

The clock tower is also a classroom building—rumor has it, only arts students have classes here.

There was some event going on—I didn’t pay much attention, but if you want a photo in the school uniform, you have to pay!

There’s also a museum inside, with lots to see

There’s even a mummy! Didn’t look at the details, but it’s probably from an Egyptian tomb donated to the university. Not just a mummy—there’s a sarcophagus and statues too.

A statue—no glass case, so you can touch 2,000-year-old Egyptian civilization with your own hands.

Other exhibits

View of the clock tower from the museum auditorium balcony

Library

Lots of ancient books—though compared to Chinese classics, these are much newer (just from the Qing Dynasty)

From the campus you can see Sydney Tower in the distance. Here are a few more photos of Egyptian artifacts:

Some of these are blurry—too bad.
   Australia Trip (4) – Sydney Wildlife Park
   The Wildlife Park is another must-see in Sydney. The views over Sydney Harbour are stunning, and the animals are fascinating. From Circular Quay, you can take a ferry directly to the wildlife park (combo tickets available). I don’t recall the exact price—check a recent guide for details.

On the ferry, you get a different angle on the Harbour Bridge and Opera House

Funny turtle dad and baby

I only know it’s a snake—no idea what kind, but it doesn’t look venomous

Another snake... Do they really sleep so soundly?

Even the couple nap in sync!

However high it’s hung, I can still reach it!

Sea lion balancing act

Gorilla. When I was a kid reading “Hal & Roger’s Adventures,” I was impressed by our close relatives. Chimps are nothing compared to gorillas in strength, and a chimp can bend a metal bar in anger... But don’t worry, gorillas are vegetarians—they won’t bother you if you don’t bother them.

I thought this tiger looked just like Tigress from Kung Fu Panda—maybe all tigers look alike? Haha!

Bird show—this one’s very clever, and knows the value of money!

Never knew a turtle’s paws looked like that!

Young gorilla playing on a hammock

Kangaroo—sadly, I didn’t see any in the wild. Later, when I went wine tasting in Hunter Valley, people said there were kangaroos, but they’d already disappeared by the time I got there.

Redback spider, also known as the black widow—one of Australia’s deadliest spiders (though not the most deadly; that’s the funnel-web spider). Why the name “black widow”? Well... the female eats the male after mating. Praying mantises do that too!

Sydney Harbour looks beautiful from up high

One more shot

The goat looks impressive—no wonder they’re called “mountain” goats

This guy wasn’t interested in us—guess we’re not pandas! Maybe they all look alike...

This sheep looks so chill—maybe pondering some big “sheep” problem?

Ostrich—so powerful! Is this really a bird? I’ve seen people ride them in Ningxia, China, but I was afraid I’d break its back...

Crocodile teeth look menacing—and their deadly “death roll”! Never approach water in croc country—they burst out of the water faster than you’d think. On land, don’t worry—they can’t outrun us. I once saw hundreds of crocs in a Vietnamese zoo—just strolled right by!

Australia’s iconic animal—the koala! It’s rare to see them moving; these lazybones sleep most of the day.

One more
   Australia Trip (5) – Town Hall, Chinese New Year Parade, etc.

Town Hall

Queen Victoria Building

Banners everywhere celebrating the Chinese Year of the Tiger

Mechanical tiger

Two Western “tiger girls” really getting into the spirit

After the little tigers wished everyone a Happy New Year, it got dark—my camera struggled, so here are a few clearer, more interesting shots.

The parade begins

Korean groups joined the fun too—there were even more creative ones later!

Since it was the Year of the Tiger, the zoo also took the chance to promote tiger conservation—Taronga is the zoo mentioned above.

I remember this dragon was incredibly long!

Some media outlets—locals know who they're really serving.

This one had a definite “cult” vibe. At these big events, some groups will always jump at the chance to show off. This event was a joint project by the city governments of Sydney and Chongqing. I’m sure the Chongqing side found it awkward, but in a free country, there’s no stopping them. The Sydney organizers diplomatically placed these “clowns” at the end. For us, it was just some lively entertainment, haha!