Sydney Opera House & Botanical Gardens

        Since it was a particularly beautiful day, this past Saturday we decided to take the ferry into the city. We went to Circular Quay for lunch and then took a walk past the famous Sydney Opera House and through the Botanical Gardens. The Opera Houses are Sydney's most famous landmark so I was glad to finally get to see them in person. I hope to one day see a show or a concert inside so I'll have to keep my eye out for something that looks particularly interesting.
        What really blew me away though, were the trees in the Botanical Gardens. There were so many insanely old and beautiful trees. I had never even heard of most of them. Australia has such diverse plant life because its climate is so varied.  It always amazes me to see how they grow so strangely over time, reaching for the the water and putting down new roots as they become more and more enormous and have a greater need for it. I really can't describe them, and although the photos don't really do them justice either, it's better than nothing. I hope you get a feel for how gigantic they were.
        There are also several shots of bats in some of the trees. There were literally hundreds of them hanging from the tree tops in broad daylight which really surprised me. They had furry brown heads and made a lot of funny squeaky noises. I understand it that they are actually harmful to the trees and becoming a problem in the park, but I enjoyed them all the same. I hope you do too!