Sydney, day 2

On my second day in Sydney, I planned to join a free tour. A guided tour which exists in most cities in the world. The same company who offers those tours you find as well in Melbourne. The guide shows you around and tells you about the history, the buildings, insider information and puts the most interesting sights in a short period of time. At the end you pay as much as you think the tour is worth and then you are free to go. Most of the sights I have seen the previous day but still it was interesting and a lot of information to process. We made a short break and continued. We finished the tour at the Harbour Bridge with view at the Opera House.

After the tour I decided to go and explore the Sydney Opera House myself. It is a multi-venue performing arts centre and identified as one of the 20th century's most distinctive buildings. Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973 after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation.[5]

The building and its surrounds occupy the whole of Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove, adjacent to the Sydney central business district and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and close by the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Though its name suggests a single venue, the building comprises multiple performance venues which together are among the busiest performing arts centres – hosting well over 1,500 performances annually, attended by more than 1.2 million people. Performances are presented by numerous performing artists, including four resident companies: Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, more than eight million people visit the site each year, and approximately 350,000 visitors take a guided tour of the building each year. The building is managed by the Sydney Opera House Trust, an agency of the New South Wales State Government. On 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After walking around the Opera House I walked into the Botanical Gardens and went straight after exploring half of it to the Sydney Tower, tallest structure and the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere. Auckland's Sky Tower is taller but Sydney Tower's main observation deck is almost 50 m higher than the observation deck on Auckland's Sky Tower. The name Sydney Tower has become common in daily usage, however the tower has been known as the Sydney Tower Eye, AMP Tower, Westfield Centrepoint Tower,  or just Centrepoint. The Sydney Tower is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.

The day finished by sitting with my friend and one of his mates in a pub having dinner and a drink.