Update on my trip! (it's long!)
It is winter in Sydney so I packed dresses, tights, and boots, with a pair of flip flops for LA and a pair of flats and nicer sandals for the plane.
Tuesday July 4th: Our flight out of LAX was for 11PM, so we decided to rent a car spend the day at Universal Studios. We flew into LAX early that morning, with a first class upgrade (YAY! mimosas!), and were ready to go. Being a holiday helped, I think, as the park was not busy at all. We spent about 6 hours there and did everything we wanted to do.
We got a hotel for a few hours to shower and change before our flight. We both got upgraded to first class, which was amazing. Lay down flat beds (though I still slept very little), turn down service, great meals, and individual TVs to watch movies or just the details of our flight really made the time fly by. They offer you pajamas, and give you slippers. The bedding is a mattress pad for the chair, 2 small pillows, and a quilt. They even give you a toiletries bag that has the essentials as well as socks and a sleep mask. Bose headphones for watching movies (I watched like 6 or 7 movies on a combo of both flights). The fight was just at 14 hours.
Thursday July 6th (we skipped Wednesday): Arrival in Sydney at around 6AM local time. Long line at customs, but we were on the train by about 8:30 AM, just in time for rush hour. Nothing like being crammed in a train with luggage! Got to our hotel after going the wrong way from the train dragging our luggage around for blocks. Checked our bags and headed to Circular Quay (pronounced KEY) to get our first view of the Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House. It was an easy walk and the harbor is just as beautiful as I imagined it was! We hopped on the ferry to Manly Wharf and had spectacular views of the Opera House, bridge, and the harbor itself. The water is very clear, and the ferry ride was a lot of fun.
At the wharf we had lunch and checked out the area shops and Manly Beach. Despite it being winter, the beach was busy with sunbathers and surfers (sunny and mid 60s). The beach is very nice, if it was warmer and we had more time I’d definitely want to have a swim and lay on the sand for a bit. I bought my usual magnet there, and we checked out a Coles (grocery) Store where I bought some Tim Tams (cookie that is well known in Australia). We took the ferry back to Circular Quay and walked to the hotel to check in. Our room was tiny (about 300 sq ft) but modern and clean. We headed back out to find China Town and some dinner.
Walking in the city was a fun experience. First, you need to get used to keeping left on the sidewalks. (they drive on the left, so it makes sense) Second, we both remarked at how clean the city was. We noticed very little trash on the streets, everything looked fresh and modern. The streets were busy with both car and foot traffic, the city felt very alive. There was a lot of shopping including convenience stores and lots of massage parlors, especially as we got closer to China Town (and Thai and Korea town). Many areas to shop for clothes and jewelry, etc. We walked for quite a long time before we stopped at a Thai restaurant for a nice meal. No tipping is always a plus. The walk back to the hotel seemed very long as we were both pretty tired at this point and my back was killing me, as were my feet. When we got back to the room it was probably 8PM. We were both asleep shortly after.
Friday July 7th I had plans to meet an online friend. We have known each other since the late 90’s and met in the early days of Yahoo Chat, but never in person. I had breakfast at the hoteland tried a bit of Vegemite on my tongue from my knife. I have to say it was the most disgusting thing I have ever had! It is made from yeast and is very salty and almost has a beef bouillon flavor. I was later told that I should have spread some on toast for a better first try. I think it is an acquired taste. I read that they originally developed it as a way to find a use for leftover yeast from brewing beer.
We met up at the Lindt Café at Martin Place, which she later told us was the scene of The Seige in 2014 in which a lone gunman took 14 people hostage, claiming to be part of ISIS. 3 people died and the standoff lasted 2 days. She said it was the first time she had been there since that event. From there we walked to the Royal Botanical Gardens and had a stroll around as we chatted, eventually making our way to the Opera House for a closer look. To say the Opera House is amazing is an understatement. Had we more time I would have loved to have taken a tour. So amazing to be so close to such an iconic building.
That afternoon we said goodbye to my local friend and headed out to a whale watching excursion that we had booked that morning. It left from Circular Quay and headed through the harbor to open ocean. Almost immediately we saw whales in the distance. Over the course of 2 hours we watched several groups of whales surfacing, as well as one who seemed to enjoy hanging near the surface and repeatedly slapping his tail on the water. We learned that the sea birds love that as the whale is likely kicking off old dead skin which the birds find delicious! We were also surrounded at one point with a large pod of dolphins. The tour guide said we had a very good viewing with many active whales and nearly calm water. An amazing experience.
Saturday July 8th we started out with a trip the The Rocks Market, which is in the old part of Sydney. It’s like an art/food/craft market. I bought a small picture to hang in my house and another magnet. I had some roasted sweet corn as well. Lots of cafes in this area. Very cool.
We then decided to check out Taronga Zoo which you access by ferry, which I was more than happy to take! (I love being on the water) We opted for a package deal that was a smaller boat (a catamaran, really) and zoo admission together and had a nice ride over. I ditched my boots and went with flip flops which turned out to be a good idea because of all the walking. My feet felt much better! The weather was sunny and pleasant again, so we had a great time walking around and seeing animals in person I never had before such as a duck billed platypus, red kangaroos (the really big ones), and of course, koalas. We arrived in time to hear a zoo keeper’s talk about koalas and found it interesting that they sleep 18 hours a day, don’t drink water at all (they get it all from the eucalyptus they eat) and have very small brains. They are not smart. In fact, over time their brains have gotten smaller as they don’t need them! The zoo has a plantation designated to growing eucalyptus just for the koalas. We also happened to ride in an elevator with a couple of zoo staff and a red panda in a carrier. I could see his little face peeking out. There was a baby elephant there, too, born in May. So cute.
The zoo is built up on a hill/bluff overlooking the harbor so every time we turned around there were stunning views of the city, Opera House, and the harbor. As you walk the zoo you make your way up hill, but the good news is you can ride the sky tram back down, also a fun experience, with again, great views.
We took the boat from the zoo but this time rode it all the way to Darling Harbor. It made a stop at Luna Park which is a Coney Island-style park on the water that was built in the early 1930s. If we had more time I would have loved to visit! Darling Harbor is another wharf area with loads of shopping, restaurants, etc. We saw a big naval ship and submarine docked, as well as a couple of pirate ships. We had a meal on a terrace overlooking the water as the sun set. No tipping, of course, and you ordered at the counter. Had a bottle of wine. It was very relaxing for our final evening. We walked back to the hotel and by this time we didn’t need a map anymore as we were learning our way. My back was killing me from walking but I didn’t care as my feet weren’t hurting nearly as much since I ditched the boots. We were both exhausted again, and had to get up early for our flight, so we crashed.
We got up at around 6 AM and checked out at 7. Our flight was at 10:15. We took the train back to the airport and got through customs and security fairly quickly even though I was randomly selected for extra screening. I got another first class upgrade, flight was just under 13 hours. We landed at about 6:30 AM LA time, so our second Sunday started.
My overall impressions of my short time in Sydney is the city is very clean and modern and the people are beyond nice. If they bump into you they say “oh, sorry!” and you feel they mean it. The weather was wonderful, the air is very clean, the city seemed to be very alive.
Many people said such a short trip there was not possible, that jet lag would kill us, but I feel fine today, back at work. I am no more tired than had I taken a long weekend in Vegas. I slept VERY well last night, though, as I was up nearly 2 days straight minus a few short naps here and there. The biggest thing was not knowing what day it was when we were there. It was Friday but REALLY felt like Thursday to me, that kind of thing.
I’d LOVE to go back. I already miss seeing the harbor! (or Harbour, I suppose
) There is so much else I'd love to see.
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