We landed in a chilly Sydney at around 7am and took a short train ride into the city centre. We couldn’t check into our hostel until the afternoon, so found a little cafe across a small park from the station to have a coffee and breakfast. As we walked across the park it was cool to see some birds we’ve never seen before, they had such long beaks and are called ibis birds (although we found out later that the locals call them bin chickens!).
We then took a stroll down through Paddy’s Market and chinatown to Darling Harbour. This was a lovely little harbour surrounded by cafes and restaurants so we sat in the sun for a while near the water, and then popped in to a cafe for another coffee. There was also a stand promoting Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and we managed to get a free dip in their chocolate fountain. To save a bit of money we decided to walk to our hostel which was tiring with a 20kg backpack (for flights I put a lot of Lisa’s stuff into my bag so we only have to pay to check in one bag)! We stayed near Kings Cross which is about a 20 min walk from the city, so a pretty decent location for the price. It was also the most stereotypical backpacker place we’ve stayed at so far – although we were in a private room and mainly kept ourselves to ourselves. The odd announcement about cleaning and returning frying pans over a hostel wide speaker system did crack us up.
In the afternoon we went on a walking tour around the city, then stopped at a Christmas market in the evening for mulled wine and bratwurst. Yes you read that right, a Christmas market! It’s winter in Australia so I guess it makes sense they would do this – they even had fake snow! We also saw the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge for the first time; they are so iconic it was very cool seeing them!
Bondi beach
The next morning we headed straight to Bondi (train to Bondi Junction and then bus the rest of the way) as we had a surf lesson booked. I was so impressed with Bondi Beach, I’d (unfairly) presumed it wouldn’t be that great as a city beach and the standard place all backpackers go, but I have to say it’s one of the best beaches I’ve seen on the whole of my travels! We had some brekkie nearby and then went for our lesson. Our instructor was called Ilias and he first took us through the technique on the beach so we could get some muscle memory before we went into the sea. It’s actually quite hard to catch a wave, you have to be paddling really fast otherwise it just sweeps under you, so at first we’d start by lying on the board and he’d give us a big push as the wave comes. It was fairly tricky to start with, but by the end of the 2 hour session we’d manage to stand up and ride a few waves – it does feel so good when you get it right. I think if I lived there I’d definitely take up surfing as a hobby, we both enjoyed it so much. 2 hours was enough though as by the end I was getting a bit cold and had swallowed enough sea water for one day.
After the lesson we had some fish (barramundi) and chips over looking the beach and then walked around the coastal path to another beach called Bronte (and past Tamarama Beach). Bronte was lovely too, although we didn’t spend too much time here and took the bus back to Bondi Junction and the city.
In the evening we went for a lovely meal in Cafe Sydney which is a fancy restaurant overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I had steak and Lisa had some lamb followed by some delicious rich chocolate desserts, it was so nice having some fancy western food for the first time in ages! Obviously this was way above backpacker budget, but my parents had given us some money for dinner, so thank you to them for that!
Manly beach
We were intended to go to the Blue Mountains this morning and Manly the following day, but we woke up a bit late and also realised we’d got confused about the day we were leaving so had an extra day, so decided to go to Manly. It’s about a 30 minute ferry crossing from Central Quay, has a nice little town and another lovely beach.We didn’t do too much while we were here, just bought a few souvenirs, had a few coffees and enjoyed the views across the beach. Apparently this was named ‘Manly’ Beach by the British as when they ‘discovered’ Australia they thought the aboriginal people from this area were very muscly. The aboriginals had a plan to stop the British here – the local women seduced the British while the men hid in bushes with spears. Unfortunately for them the Brits had guns, so their plan wasn’t very successful!
It was so windy and cold on the boat back into Sydney harbour but we really wanted to see the iconic views of the opera house and bridge, so stayed on the outside deck for the journey. Australians like to discuss the weather just as much as us brits, however, they are much better with the facts by giving us details on the wind direction and the reason behind the cold weather.
Blue Mountains
On Sunday in Sydney, all travel is limited to $2.70 if you use an Opal card (similar to our Oyster card). This meant our 2 hour train journey to the Blue Mountains and back cost about £1.50 each – such a bargain! London has a lot to learn from this! We also could have used all the local buses in the blue mountains and as much of the underground in the city as we wanted and it would have cost no more.
We arrived in a town called Katoomba and walked to the main viewing area of the three sisters, which is the most iconic view/photo of the Blue Mountains. It was so cold and we don’t have many warm clothes so we stopped at an Aldi on the way and picked up a few mid-aisle bargains to keep us cosy. From this (very crowded) viewpoint we walked one of the trails through to the next town called Leura. There were some amazing vast views on the way and a lovely waterfall too. They are called the Blue Mountains as all the eucalyptus trees emit oils into the air which gives a blue haze, you can see this as you look into the distance and the tinge gets darker the further you look.
The last day we had a walk around the Royal Botanical Gardens and went back to Darling Harbour to chill out with a coffee enjoying the ambience before we had to go to the airport. We have both absolutely loved Sydney, it is such a green, clean, beautiful city with some amazing landmarks. Then it has incredible beaches and amazing landscapes a short journey away – I can see why so many people who visit this place end up staying, I think I’d be tempted if I was a bit younger and it wasn’t so far away from friends and family!
Next up is Melbourne, which I have also only heard amazing things about. There is a lot of rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney as to which is the best city, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what Melbs has to offer. We also learnt that when all the states decided to join as a single country these two cities were arguing as to which should be the capital – to settle it they built a small new city between them and called it Canberra.
Chris and Lisa x
Crunks and Dunks on tour 