December 28th
We landed in Sydney before 7am local time after a night flight from Singapore. Neither Jen or I managed to get any sleep, someone behind us was coughing a lot and there was a child who seemed much to excited to try and sleep at all! But Singapore Airlines were great; the food tasted good and the plane was very comfortable so would definitely recommend them. We were staying at St Mark's Lodge in Randwick, about half an hour's walk from Coogee Beach in some fairly quiet suburbs. We'd let them know we were arriving on an early flight so we already knew we could drop our bags off there and go exploring even if we couldn't check in that early. We got there before 9am, but we were lucky enough to be able to check in straightaway! The room was very clean and very comfortable - the hotel had sent me an email shortly before we came to let us know they'd renovated recently, and everything certainly looked pretty new, and we had a little kitchenette area with a sink and a fridge and coffee, which was a nice little luxury we weren't expecting! We also had our own bathroom which is always a treat when you're on the road for a while. After check-in we walked down to the beach - it was hot and sunny, but so much less humid than it had been in Singapore so the air felt nice and fresh. The beach was very clean but the water was very choppy - it's clear to see why it is known for surfing! In terms of layout and architecture Sydney was not really how we expected it - it was very green, but also quite American-esque in it's layout with lots of road grids.
After our trip to the beach we went back to the hotel for a bit of a nap, then got ready and went out for dinner near the harbour. We went to Rosetta. The food was great and our waiter was very friendly and full of recommendations - I had a risotto with cheese, asparagus, and an egg which you stirred in yourself - the egg gave it a really rich texture, and it was super cheesy! Jen had King George whiting fish, which she said was delicious and very fresh - we could see into the kitchen and they definitely using fresh ingredients. Unfortunately we hadn't left ourselves quite enough time as we were going to a circus show at the Opera House straight after dinner so we had to gulp our food down a bit. The circus show was lots of fun - mostly acrobats, with a "space race" theme, and there was an MC who kept on bringing members of the audience up for "participation" which was all very entertaining. The final act was these two guys who span themselves round in hamster-style wheels which rotated like bike peddles - they were massive, they must have been a good twenty-five feet off the ground when they reached the top of the rotation. They kept going faster and faster, and doing more and more impressive things while spinning - they both got out of their wheels and were walking on top of them, and then one of them was jumping clear in the air while doing it! Jen and I could barely watch.
December 29th
Jen and I had planned to get up early today, but we were still knackered from not having had any sleep the night before (and Jen didn't sleep very well at all while we were in Singapore or Sydney unfortunately), so we had a bit of a lie-in. When we eventually got ourselves up and organised we went for breakfast a short walk from our hotel called X74 (tasty food, very strong coffee) then got the ferry over to Manly Bay. Because it was Sunday, it was absolutely heaving - on Sunday, all public transport in Sydney maxes out at $2.80, including the ferries which was great value. (We used Opal cards for public transport while we were in Sydney, which work much like Oyster cards in London.) We got some great views of the Opera House and the bridge on the way out, and Manly was nice to have a walk around, although it was very busy. But there were some nice beaches, some fancy houses, and it was all very pleasant, but I wouldn't like to think how much a house there must cost! We also got some Lambington cake while we were there - it wasn't quite like I was expecting, the outside is chocolate coated with coconut shavings, but the inside is an extremely light sponge. It was a nice little treat - most of the food we had in Sydney was really good, it was probably one of the best places we went to on the whole of our trip for food, definitely a foodie's destination.
After exploring Manly Bay we got the ferry back to Sydney Harbour and had some very tasty ice cream (I had chocolate & peanut butter/rum & raisin and Jen had hokey pokey and chocolate fondant - yum yum. A bit later we got the ferry to Watson's Bay. It was very picturesque here, Jen and I spent some time combing one of the beaches for sea glass. The sun was incredibly red when it was setting, which reminded me of Tattooine at the time, but afterwards we realised was probably due to all the smoke in the area from the terrible bush fires...
When we got back to Bondi beach we went for dinner at Hurricane's Grill and Bar - again, the food and drinks were both amazing. Jen had the prime rib and said it was the best shes ever had! So tender and melted in the mouth! It was super busy in there, probably worth booking if you're going in the evening, but we were quite lucky as we didn't have a reservation and didn't need to wait too long for a table.
December 30th
Our last day in Sydney. We got up in reasonably good time, and had breakfast in our new favourite breakfast spot - the owner of the Cafe recognised us from the day before which was a nice little touch, as they must see loads of different people every day. We then did the walk from Coogee beach to Bondi beach, which is a very well-known walking trail. It was certainly very popular when we did it, there were loads of people walking, or even running it! But we definitely weren't in any hurry and it was nice to stroll along by the cliffs - there was a bit where there were a few cockatoos hanging around by the cliff edge, chattering away to each other, but unfortunately we couldn't get any good photos. Bondi beach is very popular, for good reason! A huge expanse of lovely white sand, with waves crashing into the shore, so there were loads of surfers there.
We also bought a camera - a Lumix. It was a bit of an impulse buy, but Jen seems very happy with it, and it's much better for taking long-range photos on than our iPhones, even though they're pretty new. The camera also worked out as way cheaper than it would have been if we'd bought it back in the UK, due to the exchange rate, and as we were tourists we were informed we could claim the tax back on what we paid when we got to the airport, so we were pretty pleased with that! After we bought the camera we went back to Coogee beach to relax for a bit, and tried to see if we could find any more cockatoos to get some better photos but unfortunately couldn't find any, so we just chilled out on the sand and went for a quick swim.
We decided to do some laundry in the evening. As it turned out this was a bit of a shitshow - our own hotel didn't have a laundry room, but they had a "sister" hotel a few blocks away with laundry functions, so we went there. The laundry area itself was fine - a sort of basement/kitchen alcove area, but it joined on to the car park so it was also accessible by the street. However, the laundry area needed swipe card access, which obviously we didn't have as we weren't staying at that hotel, and although we left the door propped open of course someone else came down and shut the door behind them when they went back up. I was out grabbing some food for us at the time so it was very lucky that I could also hop over the car park fence to get in, as it was later in the evening so the reception area was shut. If there had been no other way in, Jen would have been locked in and I would have been locked out! Someone came down to make a sandwich in the kitchen area shortly before our washing was finished, which was lucky, but all in all it was not a stress-free laundry experience!
We left early the next morning to get our flight to Auckland and start our New Zealand road trip. Although our time in Sydney was as much to help us adjust to the time difference as anything else, it was a wonderful place to stop off for a few days. The weather was lovely and warm, and the food (as mentioned once or twice) was amazing. It definitely felt like a more relaxed, carefree way of life, especially as it was the middle of summer. Unfortunately there was a dark cloud looming over Australia - the longer we were on our New Zealand trip for, the more we heard about the terrible bushfires plaguing Australia, and the awful loss of human and animal life, of homes and habitat. These thoughts stayed with us for the rest of our trip, however our time in Sydney definitely left us with a desire to explore more of Australia. We hope to come back soon!
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