Arrived Sydney a few days ago to begin acting more like a tourist and less like a bushman.  We changed into casual clothes from field clothing for the flight south.  The heavy fabric felt so strange.  Our behavior has not changed so much; we walk about, but here each morning begins with a train ride into the heart of town.  Our lodging is in the Waterloo District south of downtown and the harbor.  

Our first stop was at the Circular Quay.  Aussies say Circular Key.  We observed the famous bridge and iconic shells of the opera house as the train pulled into the elevated station and then rushed out to wander about the plaza and wharves about this point where trains, cars, and ferries converge to throw out and take on masses of people.  Tiring of that we worked our way on to the wide peninsula east of the Circular harbor for a walk through the Royal Botanical Garden.  Beautiful if a bit too formal (for me) and without charge except for the coffee and other refreshments.  There we saw our first Noisy Miner birds.  Even in casual clothes we wear our binoculars.  

After wandering in the park we visited the Museum of Sydney which is similar in some ways and yet very different from that of the U.S.A.  See discussion in next blog.  Took a light Indonesian style lunch and went back to the apartment to rest before returning to the Circular Quay and walking to the opera house for tour.  Supper in the Sir Stamford (really classy) and then West Side Story in the Joan Sutherland Theater at the Sydney Opera House.  Arrived at apartment at Midnight, happy and exhausted.