Thursday, 3 December 1998   Today we set out for a long drive. We want to get as close to Sydney as possible, so that we can arrive there tomorrow just after the morning rush hour. In total we drive a good 600 km, but that takes more than 10 hours. It's not because the roads are so busy, it is the number of road works that is overwhelming. We loose count, but there must have been more than thirty sites, where the road was partly closed off and traffic lights controlled traffic on just one lane. It seems as if this year's budget is being spent just this week. We reach Newcastle around six, where we find a room in the Northern Star Hotel. At closer inspection it turns out to be a big pub, with motel style rooms upstairs. On top of that we find out that the pub has music nights, five nights a week, but the price makes up for a lot: only $56. The hotel is located in the Hamilton area, where you find many restaurants, café's and other night spots. Especially Beaumont Street is very busy at night. We eat Mexican and visit a couple of pubs before we return to our noisy dwellings. Earplugs come in handy and at two the place is dead quiet.   Friday, 4 December 1998   From Newcastle it's another hour and a half to Sydney. We arrive around 11 o' clock at our Guesthouse. It's called Governors on Fitzroy and located in Surry Hills, close to the epicentre of Sydney's gay scene. It is in a quiet side street. The owners, Tom and Philip are very friendly and helpful. We go to the city centre and start a walk along the major sights. The walk starts in Hyde Park. It is much smaller than its London namesake, but somehow a pleasant green oasis in the busy Business District. Next to the park are the Hyde Park Barracks, Australia's first prison building, designed by Francis Greenway, a convict himself and Australia's first architect. He also designed the church on the other side of the street. A bit further up Macquarie Street we pass the botanical gardens and the Domain, the former "garden" of the governor. Walking through it, along Mrs. Macquaries Road we get to Mrs. Macquaries point. Mrs. Macquarie was the wife of a governor of New South Wales, who did a lot for the colony's development. Aforementioned point was her favourite spot to look out over the Harbour. Around 1816 a chair was hewn out of the rocks for her   Today you have a good view from here of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932) and the world famous Sydney Opera House (1973). Beyond the viewpoint we get to the Andrew "Boy" Charlton pool, fondly referred to as "the Boy". It is a saltwater pool, safely separated from the harbour and a favourite among swim crazy and sun worshipping gays.   We move on to Sydney Opera House. The building, or rather the complex can be visited on a guided tour. The interior of the complex, that consists of a concert hall, the opera and a restaurant are almost as impressive as the exterior. The interiors cannot be photographed - it is protected by copyright. The construction was not without problems. Seven years after construction started, the state government and the architect fell out over the escalating costs, on which the Danish architect Utzon left Australia for good. A team of Australian architects finished the interiors. At the end of the day the costs totaled $102 million, a tenfold of the amount budgeted. But the result is impressive. We end the afternoon with a ferry ride to Manly. Sydney has an extensive network of ferry links to the suburbs. Manly is a beach resort with both an ocean beach and a harbour beach. It's got its name from explorer Arthur Philip who saw a group of well built Aboriginal men on shore, proclaimed them to be "manly" and named the cove likewise. The ferry ride with a day on the beach is the archetypical family day out in Sydney. From the ferry you have a beautiful view of the city and its harbour. At night we eat in a small Vietnamese restaurant on Bourke Street. Nice food and we brought our own booze. After that we make our first acquaintance with the gay scene. We start out at Cafe 191. You can sit here for hours enjoying a drink an watching the men on parade. The Albury appears to be a sort of classic. The barmen seem to spend most of the day in the gym and love to show the results. The Beauchamp opposite on Oxford Street is disappointing. The Oxford Hotel is a macho haunt. Stonewall is a big bar and dance club complex on three floors. And those are just a few of what's on offer!!   Saturday, 5 December 1998 After a special breakfast, prepared by Tom, one of our hosts, we head out for the Blue Mountains. This mountain range is located about 100 km West of Sydney. We drive to the village of Katoomba, a popular base for exploring the Blue Mountains. Although we drive out there, we could have gone there by train too. When we arrive it is cold and foggy, but after a while the fog disappears and the sun starts to shine. We start a walk at the Three sisters, the best known feature of the mountains. At this point we descend by way of "The Giant Stairway", an enormously long staircase, into the valley. Once down we walk through the Federal Pass. After an hour or so we get to the scenic railway. This is a steeply ascending funicular railway. It was originally built to transport coal out of the mines, but is now a popular tourist attraction. Once upstairs we go all out and risk a ride on the Skyrail, a ramshackle cable car contraption that starts next to the railway and takes you about 350 m over the valley. The views are again marvelous. We walk back to Katoomba, have lunch and drive on to Black Heath where we have another incredible view on the Bridal Falls at Govett's Leap.  That night we eat Italian on Oxford Street and visit a number of bars. We start at Midnight Shift move on to Stonewall and end up at the Albury, where we watch a good drag show.   Sunday, 6 December 1998 Today we get a different and original breakfast (waffles with sauce). We continue our walk through Sydney. From Circular Quay, where most ferries to the suburbs leave, we walk to the Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney. On Sundays there is a market with antiques and art, that attracts a large crowd. Some of the old Sydney has survived here along the narrow alleyways. After the Rocks we move on to Darling Harbour. This is an dockland that has been successfully revitalised. It is now lined with restaurants, an IMAX theatre and the Sydney Aquarium. If you haven't had the opportunity to visit the Great Barrier Reef, this is a nice surrogate. But even for us, who did snorkel at the Reef, the aquarium is well worth a visit. The nice thing about it is that you can walk through glass tunnels through the fish tanks, so that you can actually see the sharks and stingrays swim over you. Very impressive. We have a Japanese lunch, do a ride on the monorail, that makes a touristy circle around the main tourist attractions of downtown Sydney. We alight at the AMP tower. The tower is 305 metres high and the viewing point is at 250 m above street level. On this sunny day we can see most of Sydney and its surroundings and get a good picture of how Sydney lies around it's harbour.   Monday, 7 December 1998 After breakfast (scrambled eggs with croissant), we go out hunting for a web cam. We get the impression that they are a bit cheaper here than back home. Besides, we can buy it duty free. After a "comprehensive and comparative" market and product research we buy a Kodak DVC 323 (USB version). In the process we visit the Queen Victoria Building on George Street. A beautiful shopping mall on three floor, originally built as a market hall in 1898. After that we take it easy and sit on a bench on Circular Quay. During lunch hour loads of office workers come here to eat there sandwiches. If those are not snatched away by the cheeky birds who are hunting for food. All of a sudden our peace and quiet is taken away. A evangelist thought it a good a idea to start preaching right in front of us. It's just one flow of words and when he's still at it after half an hour we have enough and move on to a café. Around 3:30pm we leave for the airport. We fly at ten to six and make a stop at Bangkok. We arrive at six the next morning at Heathrow in London. After two hours we can continue our journey to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Around 12:30 we're back home (30 hours after we left Sydney). Tired but satisfied. A beautiful holiday has come to an end.   Other Travelogues