A birthday trip to Sydney

October 6th 2012

Normally when I travel I don’t like to sleep in too much as I like to get out and make the most of the place I am in, but due to the time difference and being up so late I stayed in bed until after 9am.

When I was younger and I thought of places like Australia, I envisaged Kangaroos and endless days filled with sunshine, but this is a pretty stereotypical view. It rains in Australia too.
I woke up to a muggy overcast day. It was about 23 degrees, but so cloudy you could barely see anything.

After breakfast I went on a cycle along by the sea front. My flatmates mum lives about 5 minutes from the beach and when you look across, you can see the runway of Sydney airport.


Very hard to make out, but the little white things are planes lining up to take off at Sydney Airport. Later on in the morning, we went on a drive around the coastal area to Diamond bay for a walk along by the coast line. We walk along a forest park area and up to a period building, where Leonardo DiCaprio recently filmed The Great Gatsby. We continued walking and got to a place called Milk Beach, which is popular with travellers and young people in Sydney. They often have late night parties and it can be a good spot for New Years Eve. The beach overlooks Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. I researched this before we left, and so was excited. However due to the weather, we saw very little. A cloudy overcast view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.   

Our original plan for the day was to complete the Bondi to Bronte beach walk, and to go to the Bondi markets. However it was a shocking day and so we drove to Bondi. Only stopping once so I could take a quick photo (below). Driving through Bondi, I could see how busy it could be in the peak of the summer, with various backpackers accommodation, tattoo places and surf shops.

We then went into Sydney CBD again, and parked up somewhere in Bondi to head to Bondi Junction station. Only to be told trains were not running, so we hopped on a replacement bus and made our way in. The bus journey was a lot nicer, as it gave me a different view of places I hadn’t seen before.
Our first stop in the CBD was Martin Place, so I could find the Fountain used in the Matrix film. I tried to find it on my first visit here, but went round in circles (or up and down streets). When we got to it, I decided that it would be a great idea to paddle in it, much to the amusement of some Japanese tourists.

From Martin Place, we walked 20 minutes or so down into the Harbour and the first area we hit was the rocks area, which is a gorgeous area, and full of so much history. I got very animated about it, as it was the main area that I stayed in on my first trip there. (I stayed at the YHA at Sydney Harbour). We walked around the market area, but I didn’t buy anything, and then took a wander down to the foot of the Bridge and round to the Opera House.

I really love this area in Sydney. It is quite vibrant with little cafes and loads of people.

Taking a picture of Henry my mini hoover, which was given to me as part of my leaving present in my last job, as I am so messy. I have tired to take him with me when I travel to take photos in cool places. I forgot to take him to Fiji however.

I was quite surprised by the Opera House, as although in pictures it looks white, it is actually more of a cream colour up close. It is a massive, and amazing structure. Such an iconic Australian symbol. One of my favourite memories of Sydney from last year, was pulling up at Circular Quay station, and after the train pulled away, I got my first glimpse of the Bridge and Opera House. Amazing! This is the video I took later in the evening.

Later in the evening, I went out for dinner at a place called the Mad Cow, which was based in the Ivy, which is a complex owned by a guy called Justin Hemes, who is pretty famous in Aussie. I had never heard him before, but my flatmates mum works as a housekeeper for him, so we got 50% discount on our meal. Had an amazing meal there, with cocktails and yummy dessert. So not the life of a backpacker at all!

We were due to go and see the fireworks at Darling Harbour later on that night, as on Friday evenings from October, right up until the weeks before Christmas, there is a free firework show at 9pm. However, it started bucketing it down and a whole thunderstorm broke out. So we took a short stroll around the Harbour (under the covered walkway), and then went to head back to Martin place.

I wanted to get a train at Circular Quay, just to reminisce, but it turned out to be a much longer route, as we had to get off at town hall, then walk. It would have been much quicker to walk in the first place. We lost the car on the way back and spent 10 minutes going up and down streets, but eventually found it.

When I got back, I had to pack and get ready for my light to Melbourne in the morning.

What I didn’t realise before I booked my flights was that Sydney was having daylight savings that weekend (a week later than New Zealand) and so at the time I thought a cheap flight to Melbourne at 7am was going to be reasonable. Not so. I was in bed after midnight, and had to be up at 5am (real time), and so I got 4 hours sleep.

Very easy process with domestic flights, and a quick check in and through security I was on my way.

When I arrived into Melbourne, I left my Sydney travel guide (pocket size) at the gate of the flight going to Sydney, so that someone could pick it up and enjoy its goodness. After all, I had explored Sydney a lot. I left my twitter account and travel email details in it, so I will be interested to see if anyone contacts me.