Sydney

Happy New Year!

After living in New Zealand for 23 years we finally made it to Australia

27/12/2016: Day One

Welcome to Sydney!

We arrived to temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius which was a bit of a shock for us. Luckily it is a heat wave and not just us kiwi’s wimping out.

We stayed at Big Hostel in Central Sydney, we got a family room to the four of us and it was super comfortable. We had air conditioning and a private bathroom all for $60 a night each. Big Hostel also had one of the shortest minimum night stays of all the hostels we looked at in Sydney, over the Christmas/New Year period most hostels have a 10 night minimum booking requirement to stop locals from pushing the tourists out over New Year.

After finally found our hostel after walking around the central station a few times, and immediately headed out to explore some of the sites. Walked down to the Rocks where the Sydney Opera House is located and had a look at some of the beautiful old buildings around Sydney.

Public transport in Sydney is super easy, there was a station a 5 minute walk from our hostel and the Opal card system is capped at $8 a day and $2 on Public Holidays.

28/12/2016: Day Two

The temperature soared and we hit as many air conditioned locations as possible. We got the Sydney Big Ticket which gave us entry into five of the Sydney attractions for the price of two.

Today we headed for Darling harbour and went to the Wild Life Zoo, Aquarium and Madam Tussauds.

The Wild Life Zoo was awesome, we saw all the native Australian Wildlife and got to take photos with a Koala (though you don’t get to hold them in New South Wales, you’ve got to go to Queensland for that).

The Aquarium was cool (literally) but there were a lot of people and push chairs as clearly everyone had the same idea as us about the air conditioning. The best thing about the Aquarium is the penguin section where you get to sit on a little boat and go around a river in the enclosure; it was so cold and so worth the half hour waits in the line to be cool for the first time that day.

Madam Tussauds was a bit of a laugh, but would only recommend it as a way to kill some time and get inside somewhere cool for a couple of hours.

We finished off the day with a walk around Darling harbour which is stunning at night!

29/12/2016: Day Three

Day three dawned hot, humid, overcast and muggy; so off we went on the ferry to Manly (with apparently half the population of Sydney, as the whole city goes out to the peninsular when the weather is like this in the main centre).

We went to the Manly Aquarium (included in our attraction pass). I thoroughly enjoyed this aquarium, as it is also a sanctuary for animals that would otherwise not be able to survive in the wild. It was also very quiet when we went so we were able to take our time and enjoy all the animals and the peace, quiet and coolness that came from being in the aquarium.

After the aquarium we headed out to Manly Beach, but even for us life guards it was too wild so we headed back to the safety of the beach next to the ferry. Our first swim in Sydney was more bracing than I thought it would be for this side of the Tasman, but so nice to be in the water for the first time on our trip.

30/12/2016: Day Four

Day four was the hottest yet as we headed to Luna Park. We walked from our accommodation to the park across the Sydney Harbour Bridge which has a free foot bridge and provides excellent views of the Sydney Harbour.

Luna Park was a lot of fun. You can pay for rides individually, or for a day pass, so you can try a few out before committing to spending the whole day there. We had a lot of fun on the Mouse Trap Rollercoaster (which is definitely not designed for two adults no matter what they tell you). We then headed up the Ferris wheel seeking some breeze, of which there was some to be had at the very top of the ride.

Louise and I then headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art on the water front of the Rocks where there was an art exhibition of Tatsu Miyajima in his first instalment in the Southern Hemisphere. If you enjoy art, this gallery is well worth the visit if you are ever in Sydney. Free entry to the general gallery with tickets only required for the exhibitions.

Then it was time for a walk through the beautiful harbour in the night lights, the heat wave had finally broken and there was a cool sea breeze to be enjoyed.

31/12/2016: Day Five

New Year’s Eve!

Today we hit the Australian Museum in the morning. It was extremely interesting as the whole bottom floor is dedicated to Aborigine Culture and History. It was a very eye opening visit, especially to find out that the Aborigine people only got an apology for the stolen generations (and only that, not the rest of the atrocities committed against them) at the same time that New Zealand was wrapping up the Waitangi Tribunal to give back stolen land to the Maori. While I think that New Zealand has a long way to go in terms of the way that the Maori are treated, it’s nice to see that we are leaps and bounds ahead of Australia.

Of course no trip to Sydney is complete without heading up the Tower (ticket included in our pass) to see the amazing views across Sydney.

We then headed back to the hostel for a nap before heading out to celebrate the New Year. We had gotten tickets to Bangaroo Reserve months ago and when we arrived I couldn’t believe how good a spot we had gotten for the cost of the ticket ($40 each). The park was right in front of one of the barges with Fireworks in the harbour and right next to the Harbour Bridge (Darling harbour side). We had enough space to have a good picnic, and there were food trucks and entertainers while we waited. As it turns out Sydney does two sets of Fireworks, one at 9pm and one at midnight, both are spectacular!

01/01/2017: Day Six

Welcome to the New Year!

After a sleep in and brunch we jumped on the Parramatta Ferry going via Cockatoo Island.

Cockatoo Island must be one of the weirdest places I have ever visited. This was the island that the sent the criminals so offensive that they couldn’t be sent back to England. While these were some of the worst offenders the conditions were terrible and the stories shocking. As the island evolved, the prisoners built the dry docks that would eventually separate the island, one half for the prison and one half for a maritime training school. Now both are UNESCO world heritage sites and well worth a stop out to look at. What makes it weird however, is amongst all this history of suffering is Glamping sites. You can go Glamping in a UNESCO world heritage site; I guess it’s something to add to the bucket list.

We then headed up the river to Parramatta for a late lunch before catching the train back down to Sydney, the tide had gone out too far and the ferry could no longer go down river. If you have ever been to NZ, I would compare Parramatta to Hamilton. If you have never been to NZ, Parramatta is that town that is close to a big city and tries a bit too hard.

02/01/2017: Day Seven

A trip to Sydney would not be complete without a trip to Bondi beach, and that’s where we were heading this morning.

It was a bit too rough to swim at the actual beach so we heading to the Iceberg Pools. The Iceberg Pools are rock pools, which is to say that they are a swimming pool which is filled by the ocean as the waves wash over the sides. It is a very cool experience to swim in the outer lane and feel the water wash over you.

03/01/2017: Day Eight

Shopping!
Louise and I went to hit the Birkenhead Point Outlet Mall that is a bus ride from Sydney today. There were many deals to be had, especially with the New Year Sales on. You would think with the Kiwi and Australian Dollar being almost 1 for 1 you wouldn’t notice such a difference in price but I guess have a population 10 times the size of ours pushes prices lower.

Stop two of the day was the Chinese Friendship Gardens, a gift of the Chinese Government to Australia. If there is one wish I had for the whole time that we were in Sydney, it would have been to spend more time here. The tickets are cheap and last all day, you can go in and out as many times as you like on the same ticket. The Gardens are in Darling Harbour right next to the road but they were the most tranquil spot we found on our whole trip. Take a book, some money for the tea rooms and spend a day here!

Then it was dessert for dinner and a hunt for the best cocktail bar in the city for our last night in town!

04/01/2017: Day Nine

Our last morning in Sydney and of course Louise and I managed to get sunburnt!

We went and ticked off the last thing which a Sydney Opera House Tour. There are a couple of options, we did the cheapest which was the building tour and had a blast. You are broken into groups, with each tour guide on their own radio frequency so you can only hear your guide. You get to go all through the Opera House and look at its bones and learn all about its history. Well worth the visit!

Then it was a walk through the botanic gardens back to the hostel and it was time to head to the airport and go home. Thanks for the memories Sydney, it’s been an awesome first trip to Australia!