The Opera House & Surviving Public Transportation in Sydney!
The day we went to the Pylon Lookout we first walked over by the opera house. You can’t go there and not go see the opera house. You get a great view of the bridge on the way there. 
This is looking back into Circular Quay. You can see all the tables for the nearby cafes. And all the seagulls waiting for people to leave their tables. 
Really, the opera house is hard to photograph up close. It looks prettier from a distance. Up close the sails look like they are going in strange directions. There are heaps of people wandering about. The day we were there we saw many joggers headed around the opera house only to be frustrated because one side had been closed off for an event. The botanical gardens are next door and it looked like a regular route for some of them, to run around the opera house and then into the gardens. 
When we later walked over to the bridge we got some better views of the opera house. 
There are more palm trees as we head north! That means warmth! After winter in Canberra, anywhere would be warm. I’m happy to see them. 🙂 
We did travel into Sydney by car once. We drove over the bridge. 
There’s a train again! Way over on the right. 
The rest of the time that we went into the city we took the train. Much to this toddler’s delight. See the double decker train? The kids loved that, they always wanted to alternate whether we sat up top or down below. 
Most of the time we didn’t have long waits at the train station. We didn’t check the timetables or anything, just showed up since we didn’t have specific times to be anywhere. Most times we had waits of less than six minutes, but there was one time we had to wait over twenty. In a very quiet and very clean(!) station, the one closest to our caravan park. We amused ourselves by taking pictures of each other and getting TurboBug to sing for us. He has quite the repertoire. The potty song is one of his favourites. (Didn’t you sing some sort of potty song for your kids when they were toilet training? Complete with dancing? Of course you did.) 
LadyBug decided to perform her favourite song for us while we waited. You know, that song that is very popular with 5yo girls everywhere.
There were times we found ourselves on trains that were quite crowded, especially at the end of the day. We had the four kids and a pram. We often had to switch trains, finding our way through crowded stations to our next platform. You really need eyes in the back of your head to be able to keep track of four kids in crowded, unfamiliar places. Especially when you’ve got one child that lags behind and another one that runs ahead. Thankfully TurboBug was happy to be in his pram most of the time. That has changed since our time in Sydney, he really wants to push the pram now. We survived and we were always pretty tired by the time we returned to our caravan park. We may have overdone it a bit. With this lifestyle there is such a temptation to always be on the go, making sure you get to see everything there is to see. It’s so crucial to rest every few days or we all become overtired and cranky! We only stayed in Sydney a bit over a week. We didn’t try to see everything since we know we’ll make it back there one day.
Vivid Sydney!
We happened to be in Sydney when the Vivid festival started this year. We hadn’t planned it, but I am so glad we were there for it! Vivid is unique to Sydney and it’s just spectacular. There are several aspects to Vivid. We came into the city one evening to view the light installations. Since it’s winter it gets dark before six, so we came into the city early. Even with that, it was a very late night for us. The kids didn’t make it into bed until after midnight, something that doesn’t happen very often for them. We made it, public transportation and all! There was so much to see and we didn’t try to see it all. This building had moving images projected onto it, like a video showing on the side of the building. It was very creative, all kinds of creatures and landscapes. 
We rode the ferry over to Darling Harbour since there were a few light installations over that way. We also wanted a chance to see the bridge from the other side, since that was the side that had lights on it. As we left the dock we were treated to a beautiful view. Many of the buildings are lit up during Vivid with all kinds of colours. See that building on the lower right? It was another building with moving images projected onto it. 
Aren’t the lights pretty? See how the colours changed from the picture above? I was happy we rode the ferry at night and got to see this pretty view of the buildings at night. 
Being on a moving ferry some of my pictures inevitably came out blurry. I like this one, though. 
Here’s the opera house which had moving images projected onto the sails. It was quite interesting to watch. I had a hard time getting decent pictures. That #ilovesydney is on a boat in front of the opera house. 
Another view of the Sydney skyline as we moved further away. So pretty! 
As we went under the bridge we happily watched the lights dancing across the bridge. Many colours and many patterns. Also a few trains, can you see it in this picture? TurboBug watched intently for trains and happily pointed them out to us whenever he saw one. That #ilovesydney boat changed colours and was also headed under the bridge. 
Here’s Luna Park, all lit up at night. The white lights were very bright and make it look quite pretty. 
Look, now the bridge is purple! And there’s a vivid! boat. 
Once we got to Darling Harbour we discovered that we had just missed a light show but another would be starting in twenty minutes or so. We got some gelato and joined the crowd. 
We didn’t quite know what to expect. We were treated to a light show complete with laser lights, music, and water fountains. 
Then we were back on the ferry to Circular Quay to view some of the light installations over that way. This is the maritime flag on the ferry. We were sitting right under it, I knew the picture wouldn’t turn out well, but at least you can tell what it is! 
One of the stops our ferry made was right at the Luna Park entrance. I must say we all thought that face was pretty spooky at night, up close, with teeth that were changing colours (I’m assuming that part was for Vivid). The face has eyelashes. Long eyelashes. It was spooky. 
Another shot of Luna Park and the bridge, see how the bridge isn’t lit up from this side? This is the side closest to the opera house. I’m wondering how they do the lights for New Year’s Eve, if it’s all on one side like for Vivid. 
This is one of the light installations we could see from the ferry. See the image above the lights that looks like people? That was being projected onto the side of a building. 
We stopped at this building to watch the show. There was music playing and a large crowd watching. The images change and it’s really fun to watch. We’ve got a video of this that I’ll upload later. 
Then we had a look at a few of the light features nearby. 
These changed colours if you held your hand in the right spot. The colours would climb the tubes to the next globe. 
They even had glowing swings that we had to try! 
These were boxes that you could tap to change the colour. 
After all this we headed home. I couldn’t believe how late it was. As the night wore on we saw fewer and fewer kids out and about. Two trains and a walk back in the dark to our caravan park. Definitely exhausting, but definitely worth it!
Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park is rather large! We’d read that there are something like 35 km of bike trails there, so we decided to load up the bikes and have a look. It would have taken over an hour on to get there by train but less than thirty minutes driving, and there is plenty of parking there, so we decided to make the drive. When we travel we have four bikes on top of the car and one, Ladybug’s, in the caravan. Sean managed to squeeze hers into the back of the car along with TurboBug’s bike seat, and all our helmets, and all our swim gear (for a swim in the Olympic pool afterwards!), and all of us. Phew! We hopped on our bikes when we got there and happened to see a video playing in front of the aquatic centre. (After we finally found the aquatic centre! The signs were a bit confusing.) It was a video showing Cathy Freeman lighting the Olympic torch, and we watched the torch ascend the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games. Perfect timing, since right down the road was the Olympic torch! Not lit anymore, of course, but it had a water feature during the ceremony and they kept that feature as part of its permanent home in the park. 
See all the criss-crossed lines on the ground? They mimic the design of the torch. I was admiring the patterns and suddenly realised that the lines on the ground list all the medals awarded during the games! 
They’re even coloured in gold, silver, and bronze. The bronze has discoloured from exposure to weather. It looks like there is one for each person awarded a medal, so for each team medal there is an individual spot for each person. 
I looked down and happened to see Ian Thorpe’s name. I’m sure I would have found his name recorded a few more times if I had looked. 
We made our way to the BMX track. That was definitely exciting for the kids! 
LadyBug had a go, but couldn’t quite make it up one of the bigger hills and crashed. No fun. After the BMX track we went to the aquatic centre, which was really big and really fun. There was a great waterpark section that we had a blast on. It even had mini-waterslides which TurboBug could go down, and a big one for the rest of us. We could see the big Olympic pool and the diving boards, and all the stadium seating. We were lucky we didn’t come the next day as we discovered that was the first State of Origin rugby match which was being held in the arena at the park. They were setting up various tents and food spots. It would have been crazy the next day. There are heaps of activities going on at the park, what an amazing venue for Sydneysiders!
The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney
With our Melbourne Museum membership there are several museums around the country that we can get into for free. I think there were three in Sydney, but we only went to the Powerhouse Museum. We came straight to Sydney from Canberra and we were all museum-ed out. :) We weren’t quite sure what to expect a this museum, they have everything from a hands-on science section to a history of underwear display to a Wiggles exhibit. Quite the variety. To get to the museum we had to ride two trains and the light rail. That’s a lot of travelling and moving around with four kids! They did great, though, and did really well sticking by us and enjoying the travels. One room at the museum (the transport gallery, I think) had a train section. We spent a lot of time in that room. 
Complete with a real train! 
They’d even made a platform that looked like an old train station complete with old signage. I don’t have a picture, in fact I’ve realised I don’t have a lot of pictures from the museum. I was too busy chasing a toddler and just enjoying the museum with the kids. 
The space exhibit was really cool. Lots of info on how astronauts live in space. The highlight was the Zero Gravity Space Lab, which spins around you and gives you an illusion of weightlessness while you listen to the astronauts talk about living in space. 
We also enjoyed the experimentations room, the hands-on section that has you experimenting with light, electricity, heat, and such. JitterBug loved the plasma ball and stayed here for quite a while. 
Right next to it was an activity where you had to pedal hard to make the lights and sounds work on the fire truck. LadyBug waited very patiently for her turn on this one. I do wish I had a few more pictures of this area, there were some neat exhibits. 
Then there was the Wiggles exhibit. Believe it or not, my kids really don’t know the Wiggles that well. We don’t watch the show and don’t know the music. I think the kids may have seen a couple of episodes, but only recently. That didn’t stop them from enjoying the Wiggles room! Well, it was a bit young for the older kids so Dad took them to see something else for a while. 
Right in front of this Big Red Car was a screen playing a video of the song Big Red Car on a loop. As in, the same song over and over and over and over. The song is repetitive to begin with, so that was a lot of Big Red Car. In the video people wave as you drive by, so TurboBug was fascinated. The car was often full of kids, but he stayed there long enough that I managed to get a picture of him alone in the car. He did not want to leave! 
The other side of the exhibit had some kind of video game where you stood in front of the screen and it projected your silhouette into the game and you could smash some falling fruit. I suppose it had a song to go with it. The older three loved that game. There was all kinds of Wiggles memorabilia and history about the group, and some other activities as well. I still can’t work out the yellow Wiggle thing. First a guy, then a girl, then a guy again, according to the information at the exhibit. But we see the girl on tv now, so I have no idea. 
We stayed until closing time and still didn’t see everything. There were sections on robots, steam engines, and global warming that we made it through briefly. JitterBug left his camera in the Wiggles section but luckily someone turned it in. Then we were off to ride the light rail and two trains to get home to our caravan! That sounds like a lot, but we found we never had to wait long for a train and it was definitely easier than driving and finding parking. There was a group camped next to us that drove in every day with their motorhome, I can’t imagine driving it into Sydney and trying to find a place to park! It was a short walk to the train station, so that worked for us.
Cockatoo Island
We needed an excuse to ride the ferry. Okay, not really, but having a destination is a good idea rather than randomly riding the ferries around with kids. So Cockatoo Island it was! Being on the water gives you such a good view of the bridge and the opera house. 
There’s a sticker or something on JitterBug’s forehead. It isn’t your computer screen! 
Hey, look, we were inside that pylon! We walked across that bridge! 
If you zoom out on this map you’ll see that the opera house is to the east. If you zoom in you can see some of the buildings on the island. And here we are. It’s an island steeped in history. Guess what it was first used for? Remember, we’re in Australia. 
It was a penal colony, of course. 
There were a couple of tunnels leading from one side of the island to the other. 
It was also a naval shipyard. Australia’s first steel naval warship was built here. It was the major point for shipbuilding during World War II. 
We found a sign saying that a scene from the movie Unbroken had been filmed here. There were some pictures showing a snowy scene. Probably the only snow this island has seen in the last century! 
The kids got a little bored, but they managed to keep themselves occupied. There’s an audio tour available, and a treasure hunt-type thing for the kids to complete. We didn’t do either, because sometimes it’s nice to go to a place and just be there, rather than having everything be a huge learning event. We wandered around and marvelled at the large buildings, imagining huge ships being built. At the end we got ice cream, so they were happy. 
This kid looks older than his ten years in this picture. I think it’s the graffiti hat. It’s only when you look more closely that you realise it’s a Disney hat. :) 
We wandered around the island for a couple of hours and then headed back on the ferry. 
You can even camp on the island. Or glamp (luxury camping). I was surprised at the camping bit, I’m not sure why it would be a camping destination. From the number of tents around it looked like it must get popular at times. I’m sure many school groups visit here, we only saw one group of older students the day we visited. It rained a bit, and it was windy, but we survived and had fun riding the ferry. 🙂
SYdney: Climbing the Bridge
Okay, we didn’t really get to do the bridge climb. For the official climb you have to be at least 10 years old, which is only half of us. Plus, it’s pricey. I hope all the kids will do it one day, and Sean and I would love to also, so hopefully we’ll all get the chance on some future trip. Instead we climbed to the Pylon Lookout, which was the perfect way for us to experience the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a family. There are 200 stairs with a 360 degree view at the top, and exhibits along the way to tell you about the history of the bridge. We did a lot of walking to get there. We took the train into town, had a look at the opera house, then walked to the bridge, stopping on the way for some lunch. It’s really not all that much walking, but when you’ve got hungry kids and you are trying to keep track of them on busy city streets, it’s stressful and that makes it seem longer! 
Lots of info on the bridge before you get to the top. It opened in 1932 and took eight years to build. They built the north and south half a the same time and joined them in the middle. It took eight days to join the two halves of the bridge. I bet there were a lot of people holding their breath that week! 
At the time the bridge opened it was nearly the longest steel arch bridge, missing out by just 63cm. It’s now number six on the list. 
This story made me laugh, it’s not something I’ve heard before. 
We finally made it to the top level and had our first glimpse from the top. More info awaited us before we made it outside. 
The view from the top! See the train crossing the bridge? It’s on the very right. Our train-obsessed toddler was so thrilled to see multiple trains while we were up there. ‘Tain, tain!’ He would have happily stayed there all day and watched the trains cross the bridge. When we later rode the ferry he was ecstatic to see the train crossing the bridge again, from a view under the bridge. 
Looking back into Circular Quay. See all the ferries? And the docks? 
Looking toward the bridge. (Um, obviously.) On the ledges there were lines which were guides to point out local landmarks and buildings. 
See the bridge climbers? All in blue. They go up in groups, pausing along the way to learn about the history of the bridge from their guide. We saw at least a dozen groups start their climb. At more than $250 per adult and dozens of group per day, I imagine they are raking it in. You can even get married on the bridge if you’re so inclined (pun intended.) 
A view of the opera house. We’d been over there earlier that morning, so we pointed out to the kids how far we’d walked. We could even see the building where we’d had lunch. This harbour is very busy, so many boats headed in different directions. 
We were there long enough that the kids started to get bored. Time for one last look! 
This was the limit of the safety equipment for the men who built the bridge. Sixteen people died during construction, but only two of those deaths were from falls. 
One last room with an exhibit and some gorgeous stained glass windows. There was a video showing scenes from the opening of the bridge. How neat it must have been to have the bridge open after all the years of debate followed by all the years of construction! 
Then we forced the kids to walk all the way across the bridge where we caught the train on the other side. I’m certain they don’t get how iconic this bridge is. Little TurboBug climbed every one of those 200 steps inside the pylon on his own. That’s a lot of steps, so he got to hitch a ride across the bridge. 
Most of the day had been a bit overcast, but at one point I glance back toward the opera house and the sun had come out which made for a pretty picture. 
Even prettier with a bit of filtering. (I think so, anyway, I love the colour of the sky!) 
So glad we did this! It was a great way to ‘experience’ the bridge without doing the climb. Plus we got to see the opera house and Circular Quay, and walk through the streets a bit. And we survived public transportation in Sydney with four kids! You can imagine we were all exhausted by the end of the day. Fortunately we were staying at a caravan park in Sydney which is close to a train station, so it was an easy journey home to our caravan.