They're just looking at the view...

....from Circular Quay station while waiting for the train; watching ferries come and go and the people walking along the Quay.

In fact it's the view on the masthead photo on this blog.

Reflection (Circular Quay 2: Tree). Hiroshima Day

The 63rd anniversary of Hiroshima Day. A time for reflection and memory.

Relection (Circular Quay)

Circular Quay

When people think of Sydney . . . Take 2

Yesterday's photo featured the Harbour Bridge and a ferry, in response to the theme "when people think of my city..." It prompted quite some discussion about the place of the Opera House. (I recommend you scroll down and have a look at that post)

My theory runs like this: the OH is more important in overseas thinking, because Sydney "came of age" internationally with the Opera House. Prior to the 1973 when it opened, Sydney was hardly on international radar. It helps that it was designed by a European, an architect with a major international reputation.

However, the bridge has long been lodged in the Australian psyche - since it was built in the 1930s. It featured in many works of art at the time it was being built, and was integral in Sydney's inexorable development towards the city it is today. When I was a child in Melbourne in the 1960s, Sydney WAS "The Coathanger".

And this: we've always been a bit ambivalent towards the OH. The building of it was mired in political controversy, and it took a LONG time for Sydney-siders to fully embrace it and stop whingeing about it being a "waste of money". Though you'd be hard pressed now to find someone who doesn't like it, or take pride in it. But everyone acknowledges it is far more spectacular on the outside than inside. And many many Sydney-siders would never have gone in.

In short, the OH, as far as many (?) some(?) Australians are concerned is a flawed wonder. The bridge is beyond reproach!

Now look at the picture. The buildings on the right, on the promenade toward the OH are also controversial. Built in the 1990s, and dubbed "The Toaster", they hide the OH from view from this vantage point of Circular Quay. These are a testament to developers - they are multi million dollar apartments. Instead of opening up the OH to view, we hid it from the very place most visitors arrive at the harbour! Sure, the colonnade below The Toaster is reasonably pleasant - expensive restaurants and cafes and art shops, mostly geared at tourists - but not celebrating the landmark most linked with Sydney by many!

(And I haven't even got wound up about the shabby tin rooftops of the wharves...they deserve so much more. I'll spare you that rant for now).

When people think of my city....

Keen to avoid all the usual clichés I undertook in-depth research by asking people on the Lonely Planet travel discussion boards what they think of when they think of Sydney. Here are the results:
From Sydney-siders: Southerly busters on a sweltering hot day, the harbour (3), home, bloody traffic (2), mixture of people, art, restaurants, shops, fun, eastern suburbs beaches, jacarandas, thunderstorms, ferries, whales, Moreton Bay figs, cockatoos, ugly suburban sprawl, cockroaches, surfing all year round
Other Australians: The harbour (2), harbour ferries, Harbour Bridge, unaffordable waterfront dreams, excitement, The Big Smoke, smelly, Olympics, frangipanis, jacarandas, how much better Melbourne is
Non-Australians: The Harbour (2), Opera House (2), Harbour Bridge, sunshine (2), Melbourne is better, unfriendly people, friendly people, heroin, Kings Cross, Glenn Murcutt, ferries, The Rocks, Beaches, Darling Harbour, San Francisco (but less interesting), Florida, great big bats, Circular Quay

The most popular from a disparate range: The harbour - 5; Ferries -3

So, here you have it,the usual clichés: Sydney Harbour, ferries, and the bridge for good measure.

To see what other bloggers think people are thinking about their cities, visit the cities listed below. Remember, different times, diferent places.
Portland (OR), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Memphis (Tennessee), USA - Manila, Philippines - San Diego (CA), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - New York City (NY), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - San Francisco (CA), USA - Mumbai (Maharashtra), India - Mainz, Germany - Weston (FL), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Turin, Italy - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Bicheno, Australia - Durban, South Africa - Joplin (MO), USA - Nashville (TN), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Brussels, Belgium - Chicago (IL), USA - Montpellier, France - Seattle (WA), USA - Mazatlan, Mexico - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Toulouse, France - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Susanville (CA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Helsinki, Finland - Pilisvörösvár, Hungary - Lisbon, Portugal - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Trujillo, Peru - Dunedin (FL), USA - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - London, UK - Baziège, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Mumbai, India - Naples (FL), USA - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Setúbal, Portugal - Stayton (OR), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Arradon, France - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Athens, Greece - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Jackson (MS), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Budapest, Hungary - Rotterdam, Netherlands - St Malo, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Cleveland (OH), USA - Nottingham, UK - Kansas City (MO), USA - The Hague, Netherlands - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Wrocław, Poland - Chateaubriant, France - Cheltenham, UK - Moscow, Russia - Monrovia (CA), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - Toruń, Poland - Grenoble, France - Lisbon, Portugal - New Orleans (LA), USA - Sydney, Australia - Boston (MA), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Wichita (KS), USA - Radonvilliers, France - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Christchurch, New Zealand - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Wailea (HI), USA - Aliso Viejo (CA), USA - St Francis, South Africa - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Seattle (WA), USA - Pasadena (CA), USA - Vienna, Austria - Orlando (FL), USA - Torun, Poland - Delta (CO), USA - Santa Fe (NM), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Paris, France - Stavanger, Norway - Niamey, Niger - Le Guilvinec, France - Bogor, Indonesia - Saarbrücken, Germany - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Juneau (AK), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Glasgow, Scotland - Chicago (IL), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Sydney, Australia - Riga, Latvia - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia

Lunchtime outside Customs House

Circular Quay from the railway station (Transport VI)

The view in the opposite direction from yesterday...

I got off the train here with some tourists, who gasped in awe - their first sight of Sydney Harbour, the bridge, the Opera House. I showed them the best vantage point for their first photo of Sydney. Right here. It was quite amazing being with people whose breath was taken away. I can understand it. Sometimes you can become very blase about your own city, however I never, ever, ever get tired of this view, and always drink it in whenever I get off the train at Circular Quay station.

Circular Quay from ferry (Transport V)

Still on the water....

Sydney City