Awaking refreshed after a good night’s sleep, Charlotte and I went about exploring Sydney in the morning. It’s a pretty place, sitting on the east side of the Sydney River, which in turn flows into it’s very own Sydney harbour, and historically was one of North America’s main steel mills.
It has a number of green parks, complete with fountains, a smallish city centre, a pier and visitors centre and quite spread out housing – you know the suburban type – houses on decently sized lots. We managed to drive around most of it in an hour or so, which left us looking for something to do. Google revealed that the main historical and touristy thing around was The Fortress of Louisburg historic site
Charlotte and I meandered our way there, paid our fee and were driven from the visitors centre to the foothills of the fortress by the tourist bus.
Per the media blurb, “Founded by the French in 1713, this one-quarter reconstruction of the original French town and fortifications is the largest – and best – of its kind in North America, offering a wealth of experiences for visitors to enjoy.”
It’s certainly a reconstruction. It definitely mimics a town – complete with inhabitants, animals, guards and the like. I’m not sure about “a wealth” of experiences. There are around 20 “buildings/rooms”, many of them inhabited with actors in appropriate garb ready to answer questions. Outside of that, any extra activity must be paid for. A walking tour – sure but it will cost you. So will the rum tour, or firing a musket, or a cannon, or an overnight experience (ok that last one seems fair enough)
All up it only took about an hour to walk around the place, pop my head in to every room, take photos and be done with it. Maybe I’m jaded but I wouldn’t go out of my way to drive hundreds of kms to see it, though if you are visiting the area I suppose it’s worth a pop in. My only suggestion would be to get the timetable and plan your arrival time accordingly as some events are only on once a day (and there are specific English and French versions of most things)
Our departure from the fort coincided with a downturn in the weather, so the views on the return to Sydney were a little, shall we say, mundane.
When we did arrive back home, Yelp pointed me in the direction of one of the evenings more populour events – Trivia at the local brewery – Breton Brewing, where, if posters could be believed, around 60 to 70 people turned up each week and had a ripping time.
With nothing better to do it seemed like the ideal way to spend the evening. I arrived a little bit before the event kicked off, sat quietly at the bar until the host started handing out paper and pens, at which point I mentioned that if anyone was looking for an extra member I’d be happy to join. Within 2 mins I was being led to a nearby table where a bunch of young locals were more than happy to include me.
As with many trivia nights, the evening passed with much laughter, argument and second guessing decisions. Ultimately we ended up 3rd, but not before some excruciating moments when we talked ourselves out of correct answers we had already written down. Still that’s the way these things go. Everyone wanted a look at Charlotte before we left, which I obliged before settling down in the carpark for a sleep.
