G'day, Mate!

After an amazing five weeks in New Zealand, Laura and I hopped a flight from Christchurch (on the south island) to Auckland (on the north), then another to Sydney in the Land Down Under. We arrived late on a Friday night with only a few vague ideas about what we wanted to see and do during our month-long stay in Australia, a mode of travel we’re both starting to get pretty comfortable with. Our four days in Sydney included some great walks, a few scenic ferry rides, a ridiculous afternoon at the Four Seasons spa, one very quirky B&B and another “boutique” hotel (we are *so* over that word), a bit of post-Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade chaos, one very grumpy walk through Chinatown in search of breakfast, birthday tequila shots, and even a bit of culture at the Sydney Opera House.

Our re-introduction to Australia was a bit of city shock. After spending over a month in rural, laid-back New Zealand, the hustle & bustle of Sydney seemed manic. We spent the first day getting settled in our quirky little B&B — “look, honey, they converted their broom closet into a room with a view of the Galleria mall!” — and taking a long walk around the Quay and through the Botanical Gardens. They have trees full of Flying Foxes there (bats!), which is crazy to see and hear. We also tried to do some shopping, but it turns out the big tall building with the gigantic “Westfield” sign on it is not, in fact, a shopping mall, but rather a bunch of boring corporate offices. To be perfectly honest, I was having a bit of a “meltdown” day — between the city shock, the numerous travel planning tasks, epic failures of our so-called unlocked iPhones, and the fact that I’d left our camera battery and charger plugged in at our hotel in Christchurch (and was having serious issues getting them mailed to us somewhere along our Australia itinerary), I was not a happy camper on our first day in Oz.

But the walkabout helped, and of course we had to pay a visit to the Opera House, which truly is a beautiful bit of architecture. We decided to buy tickets for an opera that night (La Traviata), and it turned out to be just the kind of cultural therapy I needed — the performance was fantastic. The set designs were incredibly elaborate, and all three of the lead singers were really strong. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but Violetta dies at the end. :)

On Friday, Laura and I ventured over to Manly to hang out on the beach for a bit and do a walk/hike along the coastline. The 10k walk along the shore was hot and humid, but it provided some great views, both of the lovely Sydney cityscape and the less lovely, shockingly large lizards and spiders that fearlessly hang out along the trail. (Seriously, these guys looked like they could eat a small bird!) We caught a bus back to the city with some fellow traveling newlyweds (Canadians), and spent the evening eating a great dinner at a tiny little Spanish restaurant hidden down a old walkway called “Nurses Walk” behind our B&B. After a full jug of sangria, we stumbled (literally) upon the Friday night “night market” in the Rocks, and had a great time wandering around the stalls and listening to some really good live music. Sydney, despite its big city-ness, was definitely growing on us.

Saturday was my birthday, and Laura went above and beyond with the birthday plans. After a late breakfast at our hotel, we headed over to the Four Seasons (just down the street) for a two-hour private couples massage and spa treatment. Very naaaaayz! In our post-massage haze, we caught a cab over to our second Sydney hotel — The Vulcan, a “boutique” hotel near the Darling Harbour. I’ve decided that “boutique” is the new word for “quirky” — we gave the hotel itself an 8, but the location was a 3 at best. It was a very strange neighborhood, close to Chinatown and the UTS (University of Technology, Sydney), but the whole place felt very industrial, like SOMA before all the high-rise apartment buildings and Amici’s Pizza popped up. After settling into the third room we looked at at the Vulcan (so Lustin), we walked over to Darling Habour to explore. It was a beautiful evening, and after a drink and an entree (that’s appetizers to us silly Americans), we caught a late evening ferry over to Circular Quay and had a leisurely dinner at the Opera House Bar & Cafe. What a scene! We’d never seen so many slutty dresses and young guys trolling for action. We managed to score a table overlooking the Harbour Bridge, and after a few drinks, tequila shots, and mains (that’s entrees to us silly Americans), I was pretty sure I’d had the best birthday ever. An that was before our dessert at the fancy chocolate shop/restaurant. Yummy!

Sunday was a self-proclaimed GSD day, and fortunately the overcast, rainy weather helped us not feel too bad about spending the day in our hotel room working on future travel plans, the blog, and paying bills. Definitely not a glamourous end to our time in Sydney, but a much-needed one nonetheless. 

Comments

[Mary]

Your night-time shots of Sydney and the Harbor are spectacular, particularly the one with the bridge in the forefront and the Opera House in the distance.