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| My friend and Baby Ryker with Sydney Harbour Bridge |
Carriageworks Farmers Market
No trip to Australia would be complete without a visit to one of a numerous weekend markets. I read that
Carriageworks Farmers Market is one of the top farmers market in downtown Sydney, offering a good variety of the freshest produce the land down under has to offer in Sydney region. We made our way to Carriageworks Farmers Market in Sydney, which is around 30 mins drive from Sydney Olympic Park.
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| Driving in downtown Sydney to Carriageworks Farmers Market |
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| Walking towards Carriageworks Farmers Market |
Carriageworks Farmers Market is housed what seemed to be some abandoned industrial area. The market is rather small, selling mostly vegetables and fruits. There are some stalls selling flowers and meats, while other selling homemade products such as cheese, biscuits, etc. There are a limited number of stalls selling food from Chinese dim sum to coffees to freshly pressed juices and steaks. Carriageworks Farmers Market is rather small, it only took us 15 mins to finish the entire market. It is not as big as we imagined it to be. Feeling disappointed, we headed to downtown Sydney to look for lunch. We had lunch in Kings Cross before heading to Sydney Eye Tower in the middle of Sydney CBD.
Sydney Eye Tower is located on top of Westfield Shopping Centre in the heart of Sydney's shopping precinct. Parking is a tad difficult to find in this area as we had to go around a few rounds before being able to find a parking spot. As it is located in the heart of Sydney, parking rates can be a tad expensive. Westfield Shopping Centre stands out among the shopping malls in downtown Sydney, it is the building with a single tall tower affixed on top. Sydney Tower Eye is the tallest building in Australia, standing 309m tall. The observation deck is some 268m from the ground. We got a 2 attraction pass from
Experience Oz and NZ website, which is value for money and allowed us to choose how many attractions we wanted to visit. The ticket prices are discounted and we did not have to pre-select the attractions when buying the tickets. We can appear at one of the 5 attractions and get our ticket validated and visit the rest within 30 days of the first attraction.
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| Sydney Tower Eye seen from Kings Cross |
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| Sydney Tower Eye sits tall on Westfield Shopping Centre |
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| Street outside Westfield Shopping Centre |
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| My sister and her family in downtown Sydney |
The lift to the observation deck, is located on 5th floor of Westfield Shopping Centre, where the food court is located. Tucked away in one corner of the food court is where ticketing and the lift up to the observation deck is located. I visited Sydney Tower Eye almost 20 years ago (it was known as Sydney Tower back then), there are a couple of new additions to the tower. There are some models of the tallest buildings in the world, where one can see how tall Sydney Tower Eye stacked up against other giants around the world. Another new addition is a 5 mins 4D show in an auditorium prior to the lift up to the observation deck. The show is rather unique in that it introduces Sydney to visitors from the eye of a bird flying through some of the tourists attractions in Sydney.
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| My sister and my friend ready to go up Sydney Tower Eye |
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| Models of some of the tallest buildings on earth |
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| My sister and her family ready to go up Sydney Tower Eye |
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| A happy Baby Ryker at Sydney Tower Eye |
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| My friend and Baby Ryker at Sydney Tower Eye |
After the show, we took the lift that whizzed us up 268m into the sky within minutes to the observation deck. Stepping out of the lift, we were treated to unobstructed view of the entire Sydney. Sydney Tower Eye is a good place for visitors offering a 360° view of the city, especially great for first timers to Sydney to get a glimpse of how massive the metropolitan city is. It is also a great place to orientate one on where's where of Sydney. The side that faces Sydney Harbour Bridge was the most crowded, as visitors are here to get a different perspective of the famed icon of the city. However Sydney Opera House is kena obscured. I managed to find the Opera House peeping out in between 2 buildings. One can also see the entire Sydney Harbour Bay from the observation deck. We spotted the Blue Mountains sitting afar from the observation deck, as well as the Sydney Airport and the many suburbs. Walking one round takes around 5 mins (provided one do not stop and take pictures). There is a souvenir shop on the observation deck selling overpriced souvenirs (Hay Market in Chinatown offers souvenirs at half the price here on average). We stayed in Sydney Tower Eye for about 1 hour as my nephew needs to be fed, however Sydney Tower Eye can be done within 20 mins on average.
Coming down from Sydney Tower Eye, we spent sometime exploring the shopping malls in downtown Sydney. There are no lack of shops ranging from Myers department store to upscale boutiques to mid-range boutiques around this area. One would be spoilt for choice with the numerous amount of shops here. There is even an Apple Store round the corner in downtown Sydney. Do not miss some of the small stores selling finger food such as sushi and cream puffs in the basement of some of these shopping malls. The nearby
Queen Victoria Building, a Romanesque architectural building built in the late 1900 Century, that once housed government offices and public library is hard to be missed. The well preserved building, spotting a large dome right in the centre of the building stands out from the rest of the modern skyscrappers. Queen Victoria Building now houses a 4-storey shopping mall in its most recent reincarnation. We did not spend much time to shop around here and headed over to the iconic Sydney Opera House.
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| Shopping in downtown Sydney |
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| Shopping in downtown Sydney |
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| My friend and I in downtown Sydney |
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| My friend in downtown Sydney |
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| My friend and I in downtown Sydney |
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| Downtown Sydney |
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| Queen Victoria Building is now a shopping mall |
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| Some of the cute cream puffs in downtown Sydney |
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| Downtown Sydney at night |
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| We came across this Roman themed theatre in downtown Sydney |
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| My friend and I taking wefie in the Roman themed theatre |
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| Baby Ryker with his parents in the Roman themed theatre |
Sydney Opera House
The iconic
Sydney Opera House is a good 30 mins by foot from Sydney Tower Eye. As we had Baby Ryker in tow, we decided to drive there instead. There are ample (but expensive) parking spaces in the carpark of Sydney Opera House. By the time we reached the Opera House, it is already nightfall. This is when the restaurants in the Sydney Opera House promenade is bustling with life. Sydneysiders gathered here in the evening to chill out in the night, while some others come here to watch performances. From the promenade, one can get a good view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
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| Night view of Sydney Harbour Bridge |
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| My friend and I with Sydney Harbour Bridge in the back |
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| My friend and Baby Ryker with Sydney Harbour Bridge in the back |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge at night |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge with a little of Sydney Opera House |
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| A bit of both icons in Sydney |
We headed towards the Sydney Opera House, comprising of 7 "shells" which look more like sails. From a distance, the Sydney Opera House resembles a sailing boat sailing in Sydney Harbour Bay. The iconic white roof looked as if it is coated with a blanket of white paint from afar, upclose, these white parts of the buildings are tiled with uniform mosaic tiles. Getting up close to the Opera House, it seem to emit a sense of timeless beauty and classiness. There are plenty photo spots around the Opera House buildings, however one would not be able to the entire building into the picture. For a great view of both Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, head to Mrs Macquarie's Point, a short 10 mins drive from the Opera House.
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| My friend and I outside Sydney Opera House |
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| Sydney Opera House at night |
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| Taking a wefie with Sydney Opera House |
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| My friend with Sydney Opera House |
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| Another wefie outside Sydney Opera House |
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| My sister and Baby Ryker at Sydney Opera House |
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| Sydney Opera House from the promenade |
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| Sydney Opera House up close at night |
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| My sister and her family at Sydney Opera House |
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| My sister and her family at Sydney Opera House |
We headed inside the Opera House. The ceilings are decked in the concrete grey, as though telling visitors no fanciful dressings is required for its interior. The building is already magnificent even with the plain grey concretes. There is a shop inside the ticketing area of the Opera House selling memorabilia. One can also opt to join a 1 hour guided tour of the Opera House (costs A$37) to get a better understanding of the history and architecture of the building explained in detail by the staff. We stayed here for quite awhile to admire the grandeur of this iconic structure that visitors and locals come to identify Sydney with before heading back to rest for the night.
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| Interior of the Sydney Opera House |
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