I had three days in this wonderful city and I certainly made the most of them! A friend said it was like London meets San Francisco – it is! It’s bustling and charming with tons of things to do and a lot to see that’s easy to access. Though I probably never will, I could definitely see myself living here if I had the Australian salary to afford it :)
Intermission at the Sydney Opera House
I arrived at 11am on an overnight bus from Byron Bay and within an hour, I was at the very iconic Sydney Opera House, buying a ticket for the afternoon show! It felt like it was kismet… Turandot was the one opera I had always wanted to see because of the song Nessun Dorma and it was here in Sydney! To me, Nessun Dorma is the quintessential aria and to get to see it in basically the quintessential opera house was incredible! I got to use my student ID and ended up with near-center orchestra seat for $55 instead of the usual $215 too! I spent the rest of the day blissfully wandering the streets of Sydney seeing Circular Quay and Chinatown and (literally) everything in between :)
In Sydney, for $21 you can buy a day pass valid for transport on all trains, buses, and ferries. I think I got about $50 worth out of the pass with a trip to the Blue Mountains, a ferry ride from Parramatta to the Sydney Harbor, a bus trip from Circular Quay to Bondi Beach and back, and a ferry to Manly Beach and back. The Blue Mountains – having no relation to Blue Mountain coffee – are a mountainous area about two hour outside of Sydney. The area is beautiful with tons of hiking trails and the famous Three Sisters view from Echo Point:
I was thrilled to be able to see the view and hike to the Wentworth Falls without paying for an overpriced tour to do so. Win! Still a bit beached out, I didn’t leave much time for Bondi or Manly, but the time I did spend on Bondi made me want more.
If i ever come back, I just might have to do a surfing lesson because the surfers looked like they were having a ton of fun. Incidentally, it’s pronounced “bon-die” as opposed to “bon-dee”… I never actually said it right while in Sydney :)
The night ferry ride to Manly was probably one of the highlights of my three days in Sydney.
last photo before my camera died...
I sat at the back of the ferry and as it pulled farther away from the Sydney Harbor, I got the picture perfect view of the Sydney Opera House against the Sydney Harbor Bridge. I got the mental picture at least… it was a bit cold out and my camera battery died before I could take an actual picture. It was just magical though and not something I’ll ever forget!
On my last day in Sydney, I was on a pretty spectacular all-day tour that checked off all the things I definitely wanted to do in Australia. First stop was at a wildlife sanctuary where I got to pet a kangaroo and swoon at two ridiculously adorable koala bears!
So cute! We weren’t able to touch the koalas because one had just had a baby; it was therefore very protective and testy apparently. The other one had been over-pet because of the other one’s pregnancy, so she was testy too. The kangaroos were soft though! I didn’t get to see them box, but that’s something to look forward to one day :)
After a chocolate tasting, we visited several wineries in the Hunter Valley region. I didn’t much like the wine from a boutique winery (even though their wines are supposed to be more pure and healthy than the big commercial wineries), but the view was great!
I really enjoyed the wine from McGuigan’s, "World's Best Winemaker," but couldn’t justify carrying a bottle for the next few months. They have apparently won the top rank at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London several times. (I wouldn’t want it for myself but for someone back home…) They do exports to the US though, so I am determined find it! (Jojo, if you see a McGuigan’s Traminer Riesling, I think you’d love it!) I Did get two picolos from the last winery because they only sell their wines at the vineyard and nowhere else. (I’m not sure how, but with the wine and some other things, I’ve added five pound to my pack and am now at 19kgs!)
Leaving Sydney was slightly stressful only because my transport there was late. I had been traveling all the way from Cairns on a hop-on-hop-off Greyhound bus pass – traveling was easy and I had a ton of flexibility. I was using my very last ticket to get to the airport. The buses were not late once the entire time I traveled except the one time I needed it to be on time to get to the airport. My (international) flight was scheduled for 1:15pm and the bus was originally going to get me to the airport at 11:15am. The bus didn’t show up until 11:15am (!) and then I sat stressing out while the driver took his break and stood there chatting with people and having a cigarette. Gah! I made it on time and even had a minute to enjoy a pie from the famous Harry’s Café de Wheels. Actually, I had to eat the pie before security because though I had asked if my mashed potatoes and peas would be allowed through (yes), they had gravy on them…. I had the signature Tiger pie from Harry’s – a beef pie with mashed potatoes, peas, and gravy on to. Good stuff, if you like pies… (Pictured here:
Next stop: Aotearoa – New Zealand!
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