Sydney - Australia
/After our adventures in the camper van, Sam and I flew from Auckland to Sydney, Australia. We were excited about moving from our tiny little shared van to a bit more spacious AirBnb in a proper city. I was really excited about our time here, as everyone I know that has visited Sydney has raved about it, and I was also jonesing for a bit of urban exploring after a few weeks in New Zealand.
We spent our days exploring Sydney on foot, and loved it. On our second night, we met up with some friends of Cindy, my stepmom, in the very hip area of Manly Beach. It was so great to meet up with some locals and get some insider tips to what could otherwise be an overwhelming city. We had a great dinner preceded and followed by drinks at some really cool venues nearby, including an awesome microbrewery. Di, Graham, and their son Matthew showed us a great evening, and were able to help us create a bit of an itinerary for our remaining days in Sydney. They recommended two really pleasant walks which we really enjoyed, and gave us a list of some really awesome spots for dinner.
Samantha had always really wanted to see a performance at the Sydney Opera House, so we made sure to check that off the list. The show was interesting, a mix of circus-like acts (sword swallowing, contortionists, trapeze, acrobatics etc) music, and humor. While not an opera, it was really fun, and very cool to see a show in such an iconic setting. Before the show we had a really nice dinner near our apartment, which was situated in the middle of a very hip neighborhood. It was really nice being somewhere that was within walking distance to everything we needed, and while Sydney and Denver are almost nothing alike, did feel a little bit like home.
Our last full day in Sydney, we decided to do one of the better-known walks, Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach. The walk itself is really pretty, but we had the misfortune of choosing the hottest recorded day in Sydney since the early 1900s. We didn't have any way of knowing this at the time, but when we got back to the apartment we saw news reports that temperatures as high as 117 Fahrenheit, and it felt every bit that hot on portions of our trek. We took several stops on our way at different little beaches, but didn't feel any relief until we arrived at Bondi, and on another tip from Di and Graham, stopped at the Icebergs Club for a couple beers. The club is situated on the southern end of the beach, and provides an awesome view of the beach and the swimmers below. Unfortunately, we were too hot and distracted to take a photo, so you'll have to check it out for yourselves.
Our next stop was Kangaroo Island, in Southern Australia. Stay tuned for our update, with loads of wildlife and close encounters!
