Sydney City loop

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TODAY'S commute back onto the trail was very short, with heading down to Town Hall Station and catching one of the northern suburbs trains just two stops to Milson's Point on the other side of the harbour. From the station I followed Broughton Street to the lookout where I finished yesterday to start today's trek crossing the harbour bridge and doing a loop around the city.

From the lookout I headed down to the foreshore and followed the harbour upstream passing under the enormous Sydney Harbour Bridge, held up by the world's largest bearings at either end. From the bearing the huge steel structure towered up to the wide platform holding eight lanes of road, two lanes of railway, a cycle track on the upstream side and a walkway on the left hand side. Once passed under the bridge I continued following the coast along the wharf edge passing Luna Park and heading into the little Lavender Bay to as far as Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden before going through a tunnel under the railway line and climbing a set of stairs towards the start of the North Sydney city centre, then turning back to pass under Milson's Point Station and up the stairs to the start of the Syndey Harbour Bridge walk.

The walkway was heavily caged to prevent people from jumping off the bridge or going onto the busy traffic lanes. Security guards were dotted along the bridge and numerous people were walking along it in either direction. I passed the two large stone towers before the start of the enormous arch. These towers at either end do not contribute at all to the structural integrity of the bridge, but are there purely as decoration. Once through the archway of the left hand tower, the enormous frame of the arch rose above the lanes like an enormously oversized Meccano set. Continuing along the bridge I was high above the harbour able to see the points I had rounded yesterday and the numerous ferries servicing different parts of the harbour all converging on Circular Cay. The opera house appeared quite small from up here on the bridge.

Eventually I reached the stone towers at the other bridge. Access to the top was closed but a sign said entry was $19.00, a lot more than the two dollars I had paid back in 1997 to go up there. I continued following the approach to the bridge gradually descending towards the city centre. Looking down I had a great view of The Rocks, the village first settled by the 1st fleet in 1788. The walkway turned and descended stairs under the bridge to come out at ground level. From here I followed below the bridge back out towards the harbour, reaching The Rocks, from where I followed the coast past the historical buildings before reaching the cruise terminal and having a look at Cadman's Cottage. From there I continued along The Wharf to Circular Cay, passing the ferry terminals and following the other side up to the Opera House. I crossed the stairs before the Opera House and entered the Royal Botanical Gardens. Here I followed the top of the low ridge passing Government House and a few different areas of the middle of the gardens before eventually reacing the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

From here I crossed The Domain to St Mary's Cathedral, then crossed Hyde Park passing its fountains and exploring the war memorial. Upon reaching the southern end of the park, I turned and followed Liverpool Street across the narrow city centre to reach the Chinese Garden of Friendship, then Tumbalong Park. From here I turned northward to enter Darling Harbour where I followed the long and crowded waterfront to eventually reach a group of new glass towers rising very high in the sky. Upon reaching the last and most dramatic of these buildings, I headed around The Cutaway before climbing some stairs to Barangaroo Reserve and followed a couple of streets to the top of Observation Hill where the Sydney Observatory stood (it was closed). From here I had some great views across the city and to the now nearby harbour bridge. It was about here where I had passed the 100 kilometre mark since starting this trek up at the Palm Beach Wharf four days ago.

After resting here I passed under the approach to the harbour bridge and followed George Street up through the city for over a kilometre before reaching the Martin Place mall. Here I followed the mall across to Pitt Street and further to Castlereagh Street which I continued along until reaching the base of the Sydney tower. I decided this would be as far as I will go today. Rain was starting to fall, so I'd leave going up the tower until another day when the weather was a bit clearer. From here I headed back towards my accommodation but stopped at the nearby movie theatres to watch a movie over the rest of the afternoon to rest my legs.