We packed a lot into our last few days in Australia, eating and surfing our way around some very different parts of the city and enjoying an incredible experience climbing to the peak of the Harbour Bridge at sunset.
The first of our last 3 days in Sydney was an active one. As Luke's birthday present from Elizabeth, we set off to the world famous Bondi beach early in the morning for our first ever go at surfing. We'd booked ourselves into a 2 hour lesson with Let's Go Surfing. Professional help was definitely needed, as we found ourselves falling on our butts/shoulders/heads/arms repeatedly and swallowing down a few mouthfuls of saltwater in the process. That said, it was a lot of fun and we're now eager to go again whenever we find ourselves in another surf-friendly part of the world (Newfoundland...?). It should also be said that as many times as we may have fallen over, we did eventually managed to stand up, albeit very briefly (and in Elizabeth's case, only when the board had pretty much come to a standstill).
Bondi Beach.
After a well-deserved lunch and rehydrating with a pitcher of sangria, we set off on the coastal walk from Bondi beach along the cliffs to nearby Tamarama, Clovelly and Coogee beaches. The coastal scenery was amazing, and we spent a lot of time watching the surfers ride the big waves at Mackenzies Bay (analysing their technique for when we next hit the waves). After 6km walking in the early afternoon sun we enjoyed a cold beer at Coogee beach before heading back to our AirBnB by way of the Paddington shopping area.
Luke coastal walking.
On our penultimate day in Sydney we thought we'd hop on a tour bus for an easy day of taking in the city's different neighbourhoods. Starting down near Circular Quay, we got to learn a little bit about the different parts of central Sydney before hopping off again at Darling Harbour - a formerly derelict, industrial part of town that has been redeveloped by the city into a tourist hotspot over the past 30 years. We'd been given a couple of free tickets to the aquarium and zoo which we decided to check out.
A weird looking Dugong, just hanging out.
It was a great opportunity to see again some of the varied wildlife of Australia, and to catch a glimpse of some of the sea creatures that we missed on the Great Barrier Reef. The highlight of the aquarium is its two resident Dugong (very similar to manatees), though we were also big fans of seeing Little Penguins again - endlessly entertaining to watch. In the zoo, as well as numerous kangaroos, wallabies, and snakes we also had a chance to see a cassowary up close, which we had missed in the Daintree. There was also a huge resident crocodile, similar in size to our old friend Scarface, who we had met on the Daintree River. They're scale is even more intimidating when they're out of the water.
What you lookin' at?
From Darling Harbour we then walked down to the Sydney Harbour Bridge for one of the real highlights of our entire trip. Luke's sister Sophie had bought two tickets for us to climb the bridge at sunset, as a birthday present to Luke. The experience did not disappoint and was truly extraordinary.
Harbour Bridge Climb.
In the previous days we had both been marveling at the bridge. Neither of us had really understood just how big it was before arriving in Sydney and as nerdy engineers we really enjoyed taking the giant steel structure in from all angles. Needless to say, climbing in and among its structure was something else, and our guide was great at telling us a bit more about the history of the bridge and the people who built as we went. It was particularly interesting to hear how the bridge was a project undertaken during the Great Depression, and, while expensive to build, how it provided much needed work for the people of Sydney. As our climb was at sunset we were lucky enough to take in the great views of the Sydney harbour in twilight and in full darkness, with the city lighting up as we made our descent. Landing firmly back on the ground, it was off to a nearby pizzeria for a quick bite before bed. Thanks Soph!
Descending from the peak of the bridge.
For our final day, we had arranged something a little bit different: a food tour! We set of in the morning towards the Cabramatta neighbourhood to sample a mix of the local Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese food. Sydney, like many great cities, is a city of immigrants old and new and as such has a number of distinct communities with their own cultures and cuisines. We signed up with Taste food tours, which employs lots of recent immigrants to run tours of their own communities, giving a real insider take on a place.
We showed up to our tour a little late (train woes), and were immediately greeted with some incredibly tasty Banh Mi (vietnamese pork sandwiches). It was a good start, and it continued from there with samples of Peking Duck, Thai Desserts, a refreshing sugar cane drink, hearty Pho and rice paper wraps, before finishing with an ice coffee at a bustling local hangout. Our guides, long time residents of Cabramatta, were great and filled us in on the local history, and lead us deftly through the bustling streets. It was interesting to see some of the other parts of Sydney on our last day, though the place is so big that we've left a lot to explore if we ever return!
We showed up to our tour a little late (train woes), and were immediately greeted with some incredibly tasty Banh Mi (vietnamese pork sandwiches). It was a good start, and it continued from there with samples of Peking Duck, Thai Desserts, a refreshing sugar cane drink, hearty Pho and rice paper wraps, before finishing with an ice coffee at a bustling local hangout. Our guides, long time residents of Cabramatta, were great and filled us in on the local history, and lead us deftly through the bustling streets. It was interesting to see some of the other parts of Sydney on our last day, though the place is so big that we've left a lot to explore if we ever return!
On our way back to our AirBnB, we stopped in at the free Art Gallery of New South Wales and lucked upon an exhibition of modern aboriginal art. We really liked the work on show, and it was interesting to see the mixture of old aesthetics with new methods. We didn't have long before the museum closed, but it was a great little stop and we were sorry we couldn't spend more time there.
The last thing we had planned for our packed trip made for a very fitting end: opera at the Sydney Opera house. We set off from our AirBnB in the pouring rain and made our way, once again, back down to the Opera House where thousands of Jack Johnson fans were getting soaked at an outdoor show. Before our show began we enjoyed the views of the Harbour Bridge with a glass of prosecco in the foyer. We then took our seats inside the impressive concert hall, and settled in for a couple of hours of Bach, Brahms and Bartok.
The last thing we had planned for our packed trip made for a very fitting end: opera at the Sydney Opera house. We set off from our AirBnB in the pouring rain and made our way, once again, back down to the Opera House where thousands of Jack Johnson fans were getting soaked at an outdoor show. Before our show began we enjoyed the views of the Harbour Bridge with a glass of prosecco in the foyer. We then took our seats inside the impressive concert hall, and settled in for a couple of hours of Bach, Brahms and Bartok.
Sydney Opera House.
And so ended our trip to Australia. It was quite a whirlwind, and we packed a lot into just two weeks but we had a great time. We definitely wouldn't say no to going back at some point and exploring more of what the country has to offer, as there is so much that we didn't get to see.
