Breathtaking. After another busy week of field trips to music performances, the Table Tennis Zone Day, and meeting wonderful people, I topped off the week with an extraordinary visit to the beautiful city of Sydney.
To put things in perspective...
Sydney has a population of 5 million people.
Chicago currently resides about 2.7 million people.
Here in Auckland, the population is about 1.5 million.
That being said, Sydney felt like a bigger, cleaner, classier Chicago.
Our 3ish hour plane ride reminded me of flying to Colorado...quick and easy...but then also having to go through customs and everything because it's an entirely different country.
As soon as we arrived, we took the train right to our Air BnB. This time, I was in charge of booking the Air BnB and found one (moderately priced) right on Darling Harbour. I had no idea how centrally located it was, other than the great reviews, but boy, was it the perfect location.
Hop on Hop Off Bus
The best way to see a little bit of everything is the Hop on Hop off Bus. Successful in Auckland, decided to do the same here in Sydney. The Big Bus Tour offered a well-designed route for us to see the beaches, museums, scenic views, and the many angles of Sydney. One route (red) toured the city and the other route (blue) toured Bondi Beach area!
With the Two-Day Deluxe pass we could hop on at any of the stops 8AM-6PM, take a cruise around the harbor, and then visit the Sydney Eye.
Fish Market
What else is there to do bright and early when you could be at a fish market?! While I do love me some smoked salmon, deep fried calamari, and fresh cod, I'm not a huge fan of seeing all those fish, raw.
This fish market is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, so it was quite a sight. With the various restaurants, bars, buffets, there was unique seafood every corner of this market. I think the octopus really just hit it on the head for me. It was actually very fascinating looking at the little suction cups.....................okay, next adventure.
Chinese Garden
This garden is the second largest Chine Garden, with the first being...in China. Remember how "a picture speaks a thousand words?" Well, every picture except this collection. I was speechless when explaining this garden to my parents, aside from simply recommending this was a must-visit. There were feeding times we could watch the elegant birds and ginormous fish swallow up their food; the various paths each contained new elegant flowers to enjoy; along with the Chinese costumes and attire we could try on and spin around it (although that part was an extra few dollars I didn't have to spare). After about an hour, we realized we were getting short on time and wanted to seA some more!
SEA Life Aquarium
How better to enjoy the Sydney Harbour than with my friends, Nemo and Dory???! There was so much to see. My friends went to go hangout with some koalas, while I couldn't resist the underwater world. Lake Michigan is great and all, but the non-existent underwater tunnels and sharks aren't too fascinating. The fish, starfish, octopus,
jellyfish, urchins, sharks and hundreds of species were just overwhelmingly intriguing. I got to snap a few good pictures, but just like the rest of the trip, no photograph could truly do this city justice. A few videos here and there helped, but my favorite was getting up close and real personal with the
penguins. Seeing them in action, diving, swimming, waddling, sleeping, and chatting it away was unreal. There was a little boat ride, lasting about a minute, taking the tourists around their natural habitat where they live peacefully with their mates. There were even a few pop-up holes we could peek in and get really close and personal withSo, to say the least, it was definitely a sight to seA. I don't think I'd have ever been that close to a penguin before, no wonder people love them so much they're adorable and so silly and ok, I just absolutely love how some of them waddle!
Captain Cook Cruise
We spent our first day on land with the bus tour, whereas this cruise was the perfect addition to see the rest from on the water. Just when you thought you couldn't be more impressed, everything was just perfect. The calm water front, the bright blue waves, the famous Opera House, and also Opera's (vacation) house. Our guide on the ship was quite hilarious. I learned so much just from his humorous jokes and random crazy facts he would share throughout the cruise. We had the chance to stop on Shark Island (which was super exciting because I thought I was going to be surrounded by sharks...but apparently the island is just in the shape of a shark). We walked around a bit, but, with not too much to see or do, a 10-minute walk was enough for us before we headed back to catch a bus to Bondi Beach.
Bondi Beach
Arriving just in time for sunset, we couldn't have unintentionally planned it any better. There were still plenty of surfers out catching their waves and the nightlife was already beginning. I was impressed by the waterfront/boardwalk shops and eateries as they lined the entire shore. The lights were glowing and the entire beach was filled with people, but not wall to wall like North Avenue beach...although, I assume it occasionally gets that packed during the day. Some hours later, we hop back on, the last possible bus, and head back into the city. Walked home, picked up some dinner on the way, and got ready for a night out on in Darling Harbour. Thankfully, everything in Sydney was walking distance and we were able to minimize our use of Ubers and maximize our step count.
Although, unfortunately as our weekend came to an end, so did the spontaneous excursions. Australia is an absolutely gigantic country I was lucky enough to tour a bit of; however, I do plan on returning soon to continue my tour.
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