Our last stop in Australia was the city of Sydney! We spent 5 days exploring the area, checking out beaches, trying our hand at surfing, ferrying around the harbour, climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge, and mostly just eating lots of good food.
Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge We landed in Sydney on the Monday evening and made our way to our Airbnb in Pott's Point. We settled in with a bottle of wine and poured over the tourist maps at the apartment to come up with some plans for the week.
On Tuesday, our first day there, we started off with the Sydney Opera House, and only got slightly lost trying to find our way there from the apartment. We joined the crew of the 350,000 annual visitors who take a tour of the Opera House; over the course of an hour we learned about the history of one of the most iconic buildings in the world. The tour was fascinating and gave us an opportunity to explore many spaces in the Opera House, although Elizabeth was slightly disappointed by how little they focused on the engineers... Regardless, it was a beautiful space and we had the opportunity to go back on our last night in Sydney when we went to an opera!
After we worked up an appetite, we wandered through the Royal Botanical Gardens and stopped to have lunch at their cafe.
On Tuesday, our first day there, we started off with the Sydney Opera House, and only got slightly lost trying to find our way there from the apartment. We joined the crew of the 350,000 annual visitors who take a tour of the Opera House; over the course of an hour we learned about the history of one of the most iconic buildings in the world. The tour was fascinating and gave us an opportunity to explore many spaces in the Opera House, although Elizabeth was slightly disappointed by how little they focused on the engineers... Regardless, it was a beautiful space and we had the opportunity to go back on our last night in Sydney when we went to an opera!
After we worked up an appetite, we wandered through the Royal Botanical Gardens and stopped to have lunch at their cafe.
Loving the Botanical Gardens!
Our afternoon consisted of some wandering around the historic laneways of The Rocks neighbourhood, next to Sydney Harbour Bridge. We also stopped by the Museum of Contemporary Art to go to a free museum because our pockets were feeling the expensiveness of Australia after a week and a half.
Then hopping on a ferry, we saw the expansiveness of Sydney Harbour as we headed across the harbour to Manly. We walked around this chilled out community until we reached Manly Beach. Grabbing an afternoon drink, we watched surfers and swimmers out in the water, followed by an oceanfront walk to the smaller, more secluded Shelly Beach.
Then hopping on a ferry, we saw the expansiveness of Sydney Harbour as we headed across the harbour to Manly. We walked around this chilled out community until we reached Manly Beach. Grabbing an afternoon drink, we watched surfers and swimmers out in the water, followed by an oceanfront walk to the smaller, more secluded Shelly Beach.
Manly Beach
After some BBQ for dinner, we journeyed back across the harbour, eventually attempting to catch the Sydney Opera House light show. We tried to watch it from Mrs Macquaries Chair, which is on the wrong side of the building. Ooops!
The next day we hopped on a bus out of the city to the Blue Mountains. This World Heritage mountain range is full of breathtaking views with gorges and cliffs galore. Our first stop was Kings Tableland.
The next day we hopped on a bus out of the city to the Blue Mountains. This World Heritage mountain range is full of breathtaking views with gorges and cliffs galore. Our first stop was Kings Tableland.
We hopped back on the bus and headed towards Katoomba, home of the Three Sisters Rock formation and Scenic World. We opted to do some exploration on our own and wandered along the bush walks going down into the gorge. Elizabeth was convinced it reminded her of a scene from an Indiana Jones movie but Luke wasn't so sure.
Our lunch stop was the town of Leura where we broke from the crowd and enjoyed some homemade pies at a local bakery. Normally the tour continues on to the Leura Cascades from there, but due to an extremely unfortunate accident that same day at the Leura Cascades, our plans were changed. Instead we headed to Wentworth Falls for more bush walking, this time with the rest of the group.
On the way back into Sydney, we drove through the Olympic Park, the home of the 2000 Olympics Games, before cruising along the Parramatta river, up Sydney Harbour to Circular Quay.
On the way back into Sydney, we drove through the Olympic Park, the home of the 2000 Olympics Games, before cruising along the Parramatta river, up Sydney Harbour to Circular Quay.
The boat ride was a good way to see more of Sydney from a different angle. Once we hit dry land, we made our way back to Pott's Point and had a tasty Thai dinner - carbo-loading before our big surfing debut on Thursday morning...
(SLIDESHOW)
