You may think a trip to Manly Beach, lunch at the Fortune of War, and a tour of the iconic Sydney Opera House was enough for day 2 in Sydney but we weren’t finished yet. The opera house is adjacent to the Royal Botanic Garden so following our visit to the opera house, we headed that direction entering the garden through the Queen Elizabeth II Gate.
Queen Elizabeth II Gate
As we entered the gate, I inquired, “What’s a bittame?” and Jim responded derisively, “Laura, that’s BITE ME!” It never occurred to me they would actually display a pejorative command in a proper garden but we’ve laughed over my naiveté several times since.
Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney
According to the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage, the Royal Botanic Garden is a 72 acre (29 hectares) haven surrounded by 126 acres (51 hectares) of open parkland called the Domain. Located between the CBD (Central Business District) and the harbor, the garden was established in 1816 but wasn’t designated royal until 1959. Admission is free and the garden welcomes over 3 million visitors each year. We strolled the paved trail hugging the coast of Farmers Cove for about a mile (1.3km) to Mrs. MacQuarie’s Chair. Many trails lead off to other areas of the park, as you can see on the map below but, with limited time, we confined our exploration to the foreshore promenade. (Our route is marked in red below.)
Along the way, we paused frequently to read markers identifying various plants and to enjoy the spectacular views of Sydney Harbor.
Mrs. MacQuarie’s Chair was named for the wife of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales from 1810-1821. Mrs. MacQuarie loved to walk out to the point to enjoy views of the harbor so her husband had a bench carved from sandstone rock to provide her with a resting spot. The inscription carved into the rock says, “Be it thus recorded that the road, round the inside of the Government Domain called, Mrs. Macquarie’s Road, so named by the Governor on account of her having originally, planned it, Measuring 3 miles and 377 yards, was finally completed on the 13th day of June 1816.”
Mrs. MacQuarie’s Point
Mrs. MacQuarie’s Chair
By happenstance, we discovered St. George OpenAir Cinema on our walk to the point. The movie that evening was a premiere screening of Everybody Knows, starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. People were lined up for blocks for the gate opening at 6:15. After an action-packed day of sight-seeing, we didn’t feel like waiting until 8:30 for a movie with subtitles. I wished we could have seen Mary Queen of Scots on February 13 but, alas, our cruise departed that day. Other movies during our stay included Bohemian Rhapsody and Instant Family, both movies I’d already seen.
St. George OpenAir Cinema
This venue operates during the summer months and offers grandstand seating and food and drink including alcohol at tables before the show. We saw many people with coolers and learned you can bring your own food and drink but no alcohol. You may eat your food in the grandstand but the venue tables are reserved for customers purchasing food and/or drink.
The screen is raised over the water for shows and lowered when not in use. The red arrow on the photo below points to the lowered screen. When I return to Sydney, this experience is definitely on my list.
As we retraced our steps to our condo, Jim stopped briefly on Argyle Street where the Sydney Markets were closing up and snagged some free samples of kangaroo, wild boar, crocodile, and emu. Tired after a long day, we prepared a light supper before getting to bed early. Join us next time for our first activity on day 3 in Sydney — a walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Based on events in February 2019.
