9 May 2011: It was my first time visiting the Sydney Tower and I was looking forward to it.
I had never thought of visiting the Sydney Tower during my previous solo visits to Sydney. I felt I could have better fun learning about the culture and history of Sydney than to look at modern Sydney from a sky tower.
Travelling with my mother to Sydney influenced the way I would plan the itinerary. I included Sydney Tower as a place to visit. It was interesting how having a travelling companion could influence one's choice of itinerary. I suppose I had felt that visiting the Sydney Tower was an excellent way to bring my dear mother to the top of Sydney. Won't it be an experience to brag about being at the top of this fine and charming city of Sydney?
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Getting to Sydney Tower:
The nearest train station to the Sydney Tower is St James station. St James station is just one stop after Circular Quay train station. Alternatively, one could take a train to Town Hall station to the Sydney Tower.
Another way to get to Sydney Tower was to take the monorail to City Square monorail station.
Sydney Tower is located in the new Westfield Shopping Centre at 100 Market Street. Take a lift to Level 5 and look around for signs to the Sydney Tower.
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See Sydney Attractions Pass yet again:
At the ticketing counter of the Sydney Tower, I could once again make use of my privileges as a See Sydney Attractions Pass holder. Admission into Sydney Tower and OzTrek, a virtual movie of an amazing adventure across Australia, was AUS$25 per adult usually. See Sydney Attractions Pass holders get to visit Sydney Tower and enjoy OzTrek free!
In addition, for the adventurous See Sydney Attractions Pass holders, we would be delighted to know that to enjoy Australia's highest outdoor viewing adventure on the roof of Sydney Tower, i.e. Sydney Skwalk, instead of the usual fee of AUS$65 per person, we would only need to provide a supplement of $30 per adult.
I gladly signed myself up for the Sydney Skywalk while my mother preferred a break from this adventure.
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The Observatory Deck:
It was an evening with fairly dull skies. Nevertheless, I was thankful to witness a beautiful evening skies from the observatory deck of the Sydney Tower.
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| The sunset. |
On hindsight, I realised that my mother has had too much walking during the earlier part of the day. I could tell so when she merely sat down on her own to take glances of the scenic views of Sydney city from the observatory deck of the Sydney Tower.
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| The skies were pretty grey after a rain. |
Where was I? I was too delighted making rounds about the observatory deck to admire how different parts of Sydney would look like from the deck.
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| Observatory deck. |
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Skywalk:
I chose to challenge myself to a Skywalk experience. I felt I was almost close to touching the skies. It was very windy up on the roof of the tallest structure in Sydney. My Skywalk mates and I have had an amazing time experiencing an open-air view of Sydney. Our guide shared with us many interesting anecdotes about Sydney's landscapes and cityscape. We also put our courage to test when we admired Sydney from a moving platform that extends out over the edge of the tower's roof.
During the Skywalk, we also heard nugget information of the history of this iconic Syndey Tower. Sydney Tower was opened to the public in Aug 1981. We learnt that the design of the Sydney Tower makes it capable of withstanding earthquakes and extreme wind conditions.
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| Skywalk group photo. We too individual photos too. |
All safety measures are in place. I think this is a great way for an outdoor height-overcoming viewing adventure.
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| From the observatory deck in the evening. This was taken just before 7 p.m.! |
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OzTrek:
I learnt that I was very lucky to have caught a glimpse of Oztrek. It has closed for renovations as of 17 May 2011 and will be back later in 2011.
OzTrek is essentially based on a storyline about an expedition of Australia. I quite like it. This virtual movie was of the right duration and brought me virtually to places such as the Great Barrier Reef and Ayers Rock. I noticed a group of Chinese tourists who were in the same theatre enjoying themselves throughout the show. The real-motion seating offered quite a thrill.
Overall, the Sydney Tower is a great attraction for anyone who would like to enjoy panoramic views of the Sydney city. Skywalk completes the adventure by offering open-air view of Sydney. I was very happy with my choice of visiting the Sydney Tower.
Sydney Tower and Sky Walk
Level 5
Westfield Shopping Centre
100 Market Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: (+61) 2 9333 9222
Opening Hours: 9.00 a.m. - 10.30 p.m. (Closed on Christmas Day)
http://sydneytower.myfun.com.au/
References:
http://sydneytower.myfun.com.au/The-Tower/Sydney-Tower-History.htm
Please also see: My visit to Sydney, May 2011
All the photos on this post were taken using a Canon Digital IXUS 1000HS camera.
3 comments:
i like the sunset
gorgeous sunset. nice place to catch it too! :)
Dear Goldilocks and Kyh, I love the sunset too. :)
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