Where We Be
Sydney Opera House is right next to Circular Quay so almost
every ferry trip offers picturesque views of it from the water
Best Ferry Trips -- Sydney, Australia
Watsons Bay was a quick hop-off for us: we had about half an hour to see it before the next ferry came
Just to the right is a small park and beach that offer big views of Sydney
We love how these two trees frame the view of the Sydney skyline
Later we learned this is an established colony of 5,000 to 10,000 grey-headed flying foxes -- one of Australia’s largest bats with
a leathery wing span of some 3 feet. It turned out to be the highlight of our day and we didn't even know about it ahead of time!
The ferry to Parramatta was our most unusual and low-key adventure in Sydney. It heads inland,
exploring the long inner harbor. You start by passing directly underneath the Harbour Bridge.
The Opera House and skyline -- and all other known
Sydney reference points -- quickly dwindle behind you
Before long the ferry is making short stops at residential suburbs you've probably never heard of and heading past mansions
you likely know nothing about. The trip takes about an hour one way (30 minutes by train if you want a shorter return journey).
One notable sight is Sydney Olympic Stadium from the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.
(Note that it's a two-mile walk one-way to the actual sights from the ferry pier.)
Over time we watched the mighty Sydney Harbour narrow
into a river with mangroves closing in from both sides
End of the line! Parramatta! The Parramatta River
continues ahead but this is as far as the ferry goes.
We walked to a local Indian restaurant called Saravannah Bhavaan
and enjoyed an enormous paper dosa along with cauliflower bites
Eventually we reached the river park and found a spot called
the Little Coogee (shown above) with a HUGE number of bats
First we saw a single enormous bat flying by in the daytime and thought we were seeing things. I asked a local on a bike and
he just pointed to the trees all around, and we could instantly see that there were hundreds of bats hanging from all the trees.
Parramatta
Then we followed along the river, walking towards Parramatta River Park
This is the straight-on view of the skyline from the beach -- pretty impressive!
There's a popular fish 'n chips shop called Doyle's right on the dock
As we made our way back to Circular Quay we watched sailboats racing
The iconic sails of the Opera House greet you each time you return from a day on the water
Taronga Zoo happens to offer one of the most panoramic views
of Sydney you'll find. This is the view from the top of the gondola.
We thought this cute sleeping koala was reason enough to come to the zoo!
Of course not every animal at Taronga Zoo is native to Australia.
They also have African meerkats and creatures from other continents.
These white ibises are almost like pigeons in
New York City -- you'll find them everywhere
Taronga Zoo
Watsons Bay
And we passed Fort Denison, located right in the middle of Sydney Harbour.
This formal penal site and defensive facility is now a protected national park.
We also saw lots of Australian animals we'd never seen before like perentie (above), tree kangaroo,
wombat, echidna, platypus, quokka, mala, and feathertail glider (world's smallest gliding mammal)
One of our new favorites is the pademelon (PAD-ee-mell-un), a small Tasmanian marsupial.
We spent over four hours at this zoo because there were so many new animals for us to see.
Entry to Taronga Zoo is included if you buy a 2-day ferry pass with Captain Cook cruises. The pass lets you hop on and off as many
times as you like at different stops and is a decent value at AUD 57 (~$40 US) each. The pass must be used on two consecutive days.
The Australian Nightlife exhibit is a must: it houses
fascinating creatures like ghost bats and gliders
Any ferry trip on Sydney Harbour is a good ferry
trip. The Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and
downtown skyline all work together to create
immensely appealing views. The previous page
describes the ferry trip to Manly for the coastal
walk and Manly Beach. Here are three others:

Taronga Zoo. A gondola takes you to the top of
the zoo so the walking is all downhill. You get
panoramic views of the entire skyline and are
introduced to lots of unusual Australian animals.

Watsons Bay. Situated at the southern head of
Sydney's harbor entrance, Watsons Bay offers a
fish 'n chips shop on the pier, a pleasant park,
and a straight-on view of downtown Sydney.

Parramatta. Most ferries take you towards the
harbor entrance, this one heads inland. You'll
watch the waterway dwindle, pass the Summer
Olympics Park, and go as far as you can inland.

Tip: On Sundays all forms of public transport in
Sydney only cost 2.70 AUD (~$1.50 US) each on
your Opal card no matter how much you ride --
whether it's ferries, trains, or buses. So you
may want to plan a long excursion for a Sunday.