2020-02-20 – Botanical Gardens and the Waterfront

We walked through the Botanical Gardens today…mainly because we wanted to make it out to the far point for some photos.  However, we did enjoy the gardens and park. There were some pretty gigantic trees...

shaded paths,

places to rest,

and interesting buildings,

including a restored gate house, Victoria Lodge.

There were good views of the city...

and no park would be complete without some statuary.

One really interesting piece was a giant koala made from plants.

The park was featuring an exhibit on carnivorous plants...it was called "Bite Me".

We saw a lot of ibis in the park.

Out at the point (Mrs. MacQuiries Chair) we had very nice views of the opera house and harbor bridge.

We walked back along the bay front for more views.

The walk took us back along the edge of the park.

Masked Lapwing

and we stopped for lunch on the waterfront near the opera house. 

At the harbor front there are a lot of outdoor restaurants.  There was a bit of a crowd under one of the trees beside a restaurant.   Everyone was watching a couple of Rainbow Lorikeets that had snagged a sugar packet from a nearby table.  They were taking turns eating the sugar from the packet.

After spending most of the afternoon in the hotel working on photos we decided to head down to the Rocks.  The Rocks is the oldest section of Sydney where the original Europeans settled.  There are a lot of restaurants in the area and we found a nice Italian restaurant for dinner.