Wanderung 33

Sydney Harbor: Parramutta

Given the success of our harbor tour by ferry the previous day, we decided to finish up seeing the harbour area on our final full day in Sydney. The trip up the Parramutta River (which feeds into Sydney Harbour) was a 3 hour round trip, so we decided to have a quick breakfast and take a lunch along to eat on that journey.

Taking the metro from Hornsby back down to Circular Quay, we bought a take-out lunch at a 'Subway' shop and a 'Hungry Jacks' fast food outlet (American: Burger King) that were located right on the quay. The ferry inland up the Parramutta River was a special catamaran type of ferry that had an especially shallow draft and good maneuverability. That was not needed as we went up the first part of our voyage, but was quite necessary when we had to creep upstream into the shallow headwaters of the Parramutta and then turn around in a small catch basin below the coffer dam right in the town of Parramutta.

But along the way we passed landmarks from Neville`s days in a private school that was located on a hill above the shore of Sydney Harbour. Neville was a crewman on a rowing shell, and the boat shed was on the Parramutta River and they practiced rowing up and down the river itself. He showed us the the landmarks that they used to mark their turnaround points and the boathouse housing the shells.

But then the river got narrower, more twisty, and a LOT shallower.

Since the river that far upstream is difficult to navigate, there is not a lot of river traffic, which lets the wildlife flourish along the banks of the river. Along the way, we saw pelicans and other birds hunting near the shoreline.

The sun was behind us as we headed back downriver to Circular Quay, so we had some beautiful pictures of the varied buildings and parks lining the shore. We also watched young rowers practicing rowing their shells, which I suspect made Neville feel nostagic for his days back in school.

Once back on Circular Quay, we took a ferry eastward out to Rose Bay, near which Neville`s old school was located. The boat house was on the shore, of course, but the school was more up at the crest of a hill. The day had turned surprisingly cold, however, as the wind was from the South, and by the end of our second ferry ride we were all quite chilled as none of us had brought an extra layer along. But along the shore was an old seaplane port from the days of the big flying boats. Those airplanes are long gone, of course, but a small, modern seaplane probably used to give sightseeing tours of the harbour was docked at the old port.

We were fine on the train back to Hornsby, but it was a cold walk back from the station to Neville and Lyn`s home, and we just curled up there for the evening after supper. Monika was coming down with a cold, so we retired rather early in the hope that a good night`s sleep would help her get better, or at least not make it worse.