The Rocks
If you imagine Circular Quay (a wharf like Ferry Building terminal in Auckland) as U shaped, the Rocks is at one arm whilst the famous Opera House is at the opposite arm. The Rocks is a very historic place with many earliest buildings in Sydney/Australia.
It's sort of like the Viaduct but bigger and right next to/underneath the Harbour Bridge.
I took a walk up the bridge right next to the traffics. The bridge has a pedestrian walking path and a rail on both sides. I saw a brief documentary whilst on the Python Lookout. The bridge was built starting with the top arch. Then starting from the mid section, the actual road hung from the arch. I just felt that they didn't plan it properly when they first built the Auckland Harbour Bridge compared to Sydney. It's too narrow and is going to be very difficult to expand. There is also no possibility of having trains going North through it!
On the other side of the bridge is the Observatory Hill. The observatory was built in late 1800's. Apart from austronomy, it also served as purporse for notifying sailors the time. The top of the building is a chronometer. When it is exactly 1 o'clock, the circular ball would drop. The observatory could be seen by ships all over the harbour, which ccould then adjust their time accordingly.
This is from within the observatory dome. I think people actually had to sign up on a tour to go in. I didn't, but I saw a door open and then walked in. There's a fat guy explaining the astronomy stuff and finding stars. It's all set up electronically now that he simply entered the star he wanted to find and then the telescope moved accordinly. The ceiling of the dome could also be rotated by clicking one button to align the opening with the direction of the telescope.
After the visit to the Observatory Hill, I walked to the other side of the hill, where there are some more nice old residential buildings. This is the Garrison Church, which was the colony's first military church.
It's sort of like the Viaduct but bigger and right next to/underneath the Harbour Bridge.
I took a walk up the bridge right next to the traffics. The bridge has a pedestrian walking path and a rail on both sides. I saw a brief documentary whilst on the Python Lookout. The bridge was built starting with the top arch. Then starting from the mid section, the actual road hung from the arch. I just felt that they didn't plan it properly when they first built the Auckland Harbour Bridge compared to Sydney. It's too narrow and is going to be very difficult to expand. There is also no possibility of having trains going North through it!
On the other side of the bridge is the Observatory Hill. The observatory was built in late 1800's. Apart from austronomy, it also served as purporse for notifying sailors the time. The top of the building is a chronometer. When it is exactly 1 o'clock, the circular ball would drop. The observatory could be seen by ships all over the harbour, which ccould then adjust their time accordingly.
This is from within the observatory dome. I think people actually had to sign up on a tour to go in. I didn't, but I saw a door open and then walked in. There's a fat guy explaining the astronomy stuff and finding stars. It's all set up electronically now that he simply entered the star he wanted to find and then the telescope moved accordinly. The ceiling of the dome could also be rotated by clicking one button to align the opening with the direction of the telescope.
After the visit to the Observatory Hill, I walked to the other side of the hill, where there are some more nice old residential buildings. This is the Garrison Church, which was the colony's first military church.
posted by Anderson | 5:04 AM
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