THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Sydney Opera House is front and centre on the Australian city’s skyline.
Glorious Sydney worth the trip
A night at the opera and more is on tap for visitors
By Steve MacNaull
THE CANADIAN PRESS Published Saturday March 1st, 2008
SYDNEY, Australia - More than 12,000 kilometres may sound like a long way to go for a night out.
But when that night out is to see Puccini's La bohème at the Sydney Opera House, it is well worth it.
Of course, if you've made the long trip to Australia you might as well stay a few more days to cruise Sydney Harbour, swim and sun at Bondi Beach, pet a kangaroo, eat seafood and sip in the Hunter Valley wine region.
Air Canada has launched the only non-stop link from this country to Australia with its daily Vancouver-Sydney flight.
It's also billed as same plane service from Toronto because the new long-range 777-200 jet originates there and makes a stop in Vancouver to pick up more passengers before making the 12,400-kilometre, 15-hour flight to Sydney.
Previously, Canadians had to connect through Honolulu, San Francisco or Los Angeles, making for a trip that took more than a day.
"It's pretty good down here, isn't it?" asked Capt. James Stewart rhetorically on the Magistic Cruise of Sydney Harbour.
"In just one hour on this boat you see everything Sydney is famous for -- the ritziest houses (actors Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe have places on the waterfront), Harbour Bridge and the opera house."
Ah, the opera house.
The modern abstract architectural wonder sits pride of place on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, with the city's downtown highrises as a backdrop.
"It draws everyone in," said Stephen Jaques, who leads behind-the-scenes opera house tours.
"The exterior with its 10 sails is the most famous because everyone immediately is awed by it and can recognize it. We then hope those people come in for a tour or performance."
My wife and I took in an evening performance of La bohème in the 1,500-seat opera theatre. Sydney accepts you as you are, so some came in tuxedoes and gowns and others in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops.
While I'm not a big opera fan, I couldn't help but feel the buzz of attending an event in one of the world's most famous structures.
Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Rome the Colosseum, and Sydney its opera house.
La bohème is typical opera in that everything is sung in Italian and the love story between Bohemian poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimi ends tragically.
To make it accessible, English translation is posted on a screen above the stage.
Even the intermission was special.
Champagne in hand, we stepped out onto the opera house's terrace, which overlooks the harbour and the illuminated Harbour Bridge.
The opera house has three operas in rotation at any one time, so the theatre rarely sits empty.
Besides La bohème, which runs through March (tickets $135 each), Cinderella and Carmen are playing alternate nights.
The opera house's 2,679-seat concert hall was hosting the Rhinestone Cowboy himself -- Glen Campbell -- for two nights while we were there.
There are also several smaller theatres for plays, stand up comedy, musical and magic acts.
Sydney knows how to have a good time and the locals work hard and play harder.
The city hums day and night, with people toiling away in the financial district but spilling into the streets for coffee, lunch and after-work drinks that resemble huge outdoor cocktail parties.
Beaches are only a short distance away and the beauty of Sydney's Mediterranean-type climate is that they are usable year-round.
The most famous is Bondi Beach in West Sydney, where hard-core surfers and relaxed swimmers and sunbathers co-exist nicely on the one-kilometre crescent of sand and surf. We stayed at the well-located Grace Hotel, a fully refurbished 382-room, 12-storey Art Deco building that's walking distance from Sydney Harbour's Circular Quay.
The quay is a magnet not just for tourists but for locals as well.
The opera house, of course, it the most sought-after site, but the quay is also lined with shops and restaurants and is home to the terminals for local transit and sightseeing ferries and huge cruise ships.
It's where we caught the harbour cruise and also picked up the 15-minute ferry to Taronga Zoo on the north shore. The 30-hectare zoo features all the Australia-specific species such as kangaroos, koalas, dingoes, wombats, Tasmanian devils and platapuses. We couldn't help but pay the extra $19.95 to have our pictures taken with mom and baby koalas Felicity and Huxley.
We also got up close to koalas and kangaroos at the Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park, which is the first stop on Australian Eco Adventures' day trip to the Hunter Valley wine region. The park has programs where you can feed and pet the kangaroos and have your photo taken with koalas.
The tour includes stops to taste at Brokenwood Winery, have lunch and do more tasting at the San Martino restaurant at Hunter Resort, have a sweet treat at Hunter Valley Chocolate and cap it off with more tasting at boutique winery Cooper.
Our most memorable meal was in The Summit revolving restaurant on the 47th floor of the Australia Square office tower.
Usually such places are to be avoided because they can get away with serving over-priced, sub-standard food while people enjoy the 360-degree views.
But The Summit delivered with exceptional food -- kingfish for me, rack of lamb for my wife with a nice bottle of Tin Cows Pinot Noir from Australia's Victoria state -- and sweeping vistas of Sydney Harbour and the entire city.
By the way, kangaroo loin shows up on menus all around Sydney.
I thought of the cute critters we saw at the zoo and petted at the park. But Australians are quick to point out that the country is overrun with kangaroos and it is best served rare.
Glorious Sydney worth the trip !
