Return to Sydney

Ah, Sydney.  Back again! The weather was beautiful, and we were really looking forward to hanging out with our friends and family, as well as exploring the beautiful city.

We started off with a day wandering around the downtown, doing the usual touristy things – relaxing with a coffee in the Rocks neighbourhood with its cool old-fashioned buildings, walking across the iconic Harbour bridge and stopping in at the local history museum. All the while the spectacular shape of the Opera House loomed up on the horizon and called us over for a closer look. We opted to take a behind the scenes tour of the famous venue giving us a chance to learn about its interesting history and getting us inside the many performance areas that make the Opera House such an amazing addition to the scene in Sydney.

By now we had perfected travelling on the cheap, and took advantage of the many green spaces to eat our packed lunch.

On our way to meet up with friends, we strolled through the Botanical Gardens - it was sometimes hard to believe that we were in the middle of a bustling metropolitan city.

We had fantastic plans for the night courtesy of Ashlin: dinner at the Noodle Market, followed by a live show in one of Sydney’s bustling neighborhoods. We met up with our crew at the popular food festival and enjoyed a delicious boxed meal in the park. Ashlin’s crutches were a hit with the local Aussie kids who alternatingly tried to use them as weapons or pogo-sticks while we ate.

We then walked to the live show, where a stellar line up of bands rocked the night away. After the bands finished, dj's took to the stage to throw down a mix of 90's favourites. Given the age of the clubbers, there was a good chance that the music selection was meant to be "ironic" and so we only half-heartedly boogeyed when "Groove is in the Heart" came on. Fun night!

The next day was Saturday, and we headed with Keira and Dave by bus and then ferry to Manly Beach. Our friends Ritchie and Deirdre met up with us as well, along with friend and local resident Kristen, and we spent the day lazing around on the sand, chatting and catching some waves with Ritchie’s surfboard. 

In the late afternoon, we headed back in time to change and meet up with everyone at a cool bar in The Rocks district called The Hero of Waterloo. It is known for being one of the oldest bars in town, providing service for over 160 years, and we partied it up until closing time…midnight.  Like in the UK, the pubs tend to close early while the clubs stay open later. So we headed over to the bar at the Opera House to continue the celebration and were amazed at the fantastic night life in Sydney.

We woke up the next morning and recovered from the previous night over a delicious brunch we prepared for our awesome hosts, Kiera and Dave.  Our luck held with the weather and after a leisurely start to the day we headed over to Coogee for a last visit with Ritchie, Deirdre and Ashlin, enjoying the afternoon sunshine with an outdoor barbeque in the park. Australia has a great tradition of providing free outdoor barbeques with gas in the many outdoor parks throughout the country, activated at the simple flick of a switch.

We stretched out our visit to the last possible moment, chatting away into the night, until we finally had to say our last goodbyes in order to pack and get ready for our flight to New Zealand the next day.

We couldn’t believe that our time in Australia was ending.  It had been an amazing seven weeks...visiting with friends and family, becoming “radical” surfers and living the sweet gypsy life driving the coast in a campervan visiting some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  What a dream come true, much like the rest of our trip so far.  As we hopped our flight to Auckland (NZ), we looked forward to visiting our friends that live in...oh oh...Wellington. Oops, flew into the wrong city, but that tale is still to come..