A Day at Darling Harbour - Night 44

The weather proved to be dour again today,

as the clouds hung low over the top of the concrete jungle’s canopy. Outdoors the elements were more like a November day in Seattle than Sydney. For lunch we had American cuisine, large juicy burgers from Burgerlicious, a Red Robin-esque chain restaurant here down under. Quite surprisingly, the burger actually tasted as fresh as advertised.

The rest of the group had plans to walk the gardens and peruse the Opera House, activities I had already checked off the list. Thus we agreed to go our separate ways and meet again at the Sydney Aquarium around 3 o’clock. To pass the time I did some preparatory shopping for New Zealand and eventually stumbled down to the free National Maritime Museum. The actual maritime exhibits were less than enthralling, however, the ancillary showings were well worth the price of

My Kind of Boat

admission. A small room on Jellyfish proved informative and interesting, but the real prize was the Iceman exhibit. Otzi, a resident of the Alps was found completely intact and buried in a glacier about 15 years ago by some hikers in Austria. Dated at 5,325 years old, his remains included everything: clothing, weapons, and even the contents of his stomach. Forensic evidence has shown that the cause of death for the man, in his mid 40’s, was from an arrow through the back, shot uphill from approximately 20 meters away. The curators joked that the culprit remains at large. Through pollens found in his stomach the murder likely occurred in the month of June.

The Aquarium

My scientific exploration continued at the aquarium. Although the entire place was an attraction, the underwater walkways taking you beneath sharks and huge manta rays were the clear highlight. The coral exhibits were captivating as well.
After the aquarium Paolo took off to meet some family and Charlie and I headed home for some dinner and beer. Later on we all me up at Jackson’s on George, minus Paolo who was still at dinner and Karen who was on a date with a guy she met the night before. The night ended early again as we were all exhausted from the day.

My time in Sydney was enjoyable but tiring. Being a morning person I can’t help but wake before the 7 am hour, a fact which makes travelling with evening people a bit challenging. After a whole day of activities I am dead tired by 9pm. That combined with the cold I am fighting meant I was a bit of a bore most nights. It seems every time I try to do a short two week type vacation I end up being run down at the end of it. Though I enjoyed the last 10 days with friends I am also most definitely looking forward to a few nights of sound sleep in Auckland.

What I Learned Today: Despite my best efforts, when tired, I can be a horribly impatient bastard.

written by

exumenius on November 23, 2007 from Sydney, Australia

from the travel blog: Down Under trip Preparation

Send a Compliment

I will 2nd you on "what you learned today."

written by Kim Ramirez on November 27, 2007

Glad you liked the Iceman exhibit.

Thought you might be interested in some of the Iceman activities happening online...

WHO ICED OTZI?
"500 years before Stonehenge, 600 years before the pyramids of Egypt, high in the Tyrolean Alps, a man lies dying..."
The world's first Neolithic blog weaves together the murder mystery of the Iceman's death. Over 101 days, this creative story grows, concluding February 17th. We're already counting down the days!
www.anmm.gov.au/iceman
Or subscribe to the blog on MySpace www.myspace.com/icemanthestoryofotzi

Cheers,
Ali Gordon
Marketing Services Manager
Australian National Maritime Museum

written by Ali Gordon on December 6, 2007

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