Part 2, Week 16: May 6-12
- Katie and Webster
- May 12, 2019
- 6 min read
This week we explored all the touristy spots in Sydney with Paisley and Liz! We had such a wonderful time seeing all this city has to offer.
After arriving back in Sydney late from Fiji on Sunday night, we spent Monday morning sleeping in and relaxing. I headed to class in the afternoon, while Webster spent the day with Liz and Pais.
They took a short walk down to Darling Harbour and stopped at Riverano Gelato, another restaurant from our long wish list. They had salted caramel, chocolate hazelnut and mango yogurt. The mango was the best of the three but all three flavours were amazing! From there they caught a ferry under the Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House. It was a very sunny day which made for great views and pictures of the city. After the ferry ride, they headed up to Mrs. Macquarie’s chair, a lookout point Liz read about online. They had to walk through the beautiful botanical gardens on their way, feeding birds and walking past thousands of plants.After enjoying the view they wanted to get a glimpse of the Opera House up close so they walked back through the garden toward the Opera house and enjoyed a drink at a nearby restaurant while watching the sun set behind the bridge.
In the evening, we all met up and went to Spice Alley, a favourite of ours. This alley is home to 6 or 7 restaurants, which offer food from several countries around Asia. It was delicious as usual!
On Tuesday we both had school most of the day, but sent Liz and Paisley with a plan of things to do and see. In the morning they joined a free walking tour run by I’m Free tours Sydney. Their walking tour covered several cool spots in the city, like Hyde Park and Angel Place Birdcages. Once the walking tour ended, Liz and Paisley had lunch on top of the Glenmore Hotel. This restaurant has a lovely rooftop balcony with harbour views over the city! After lunch they took the elevator up to bridge level and walked all the way across the harbour bridge. The Sydney Harbour Bridge has a wide walking track down the east side of the bridge which offers spectacular views of the Opera house, harbour and downtown area. Walking all the way across the bridge is easily a few kilometres, but well worth it.
Later in the night, we joined Liz and Paisley to head up the the Sydney Tower Eye for dinner. The Sydney Tower Eye is a spectacular 309 meter tall and offers incredible 360 degree views. From the tower, we could see all of Sydney and the incredible lights that shine in the city at night.
On Wednesday I woke up bright and early to head to volunteering. Meanwhile, Webster, Paisley and Liz headed out to Paddy’s Markets to shop for some cheap souvenirs! Paddy’s is our favourite place to buy Australian things so it was fun to show them around. After the market, and a few shopping bags, they headed to UTS to get some school spirit wear. When I met them for lunch, all three of them had matching UTS sweaters!
In the afternoon, we visited Spice Alley once more for some delicious Thai food. Liz, Paisley and I had cashew chicken and Webster had katsu chicken. It was great as always!
Then, Webster had to head to class so the girls headed into the suburbs to visit an Instagram famous coffee garden. The Grounds of Alexandria was a beautiful spot for an afternoon coffee! We explored the little shops, wandered through the citrus gardens and then settled down with a Nutella donut and coffee!
In the evening we took Liz and Paisley to Newtown for Belly Bao. One of our favourite restaurants in Sydney. We had a great dinner before dropping them back off at their hotel.
On Thursday, we woke up bright and early to head up to the Blue Mountains. We rented a car and Webster was our driver 100km North West of the city. Once we arrived we spent a few hours hiking along the Prince Henry Trail and up to the Three Sisters. The stairs were so steep it was like climbing a ladder! Then, we explored the Wentworth Falls about 15km into the park. It was a great day with clear skies and a nice breeze. At some times it was a bit chilly but once we got going we quickly warmed up.
On our drive home we stopped at a burger restaurant Webster saw on a Facebook video. They have a burger that comes with cheese sauce to dip it in. We all got something unique and it was all delicious!
We were quite tired after our long day so we spent the evening relaxing at Liz and Paisley’s hotel.
On Friday we had our busiest day in Sydney yet! We woke up at 6:15am to head to the WildLife Sydney Zoo to have breakfast with koalas. We got a private behind the scenes tour with a zookeeper before heading up to the koala breakfast area. We were lucky to meet some kangaroos, snakes, frogs, wombats and crocodiles along the way. Once at breakfast we were joined by a few very playful koalas. We had a great time watching them have breakfast, climb trees, and sit on each other.
After breakfast we headed to SeaLife Sydney Aquarium. It was really convenient because SeaLife was right beside the zoo. We explored the huge aquarium and saw fish, corals, stingrays, sharks and even a dugong. We were really impressed with the variety they had and how most of them were orphaned or injured in the wild, so rehabilitated in captivity. Our favourite was the Nemo fish!
Then, we headed to Circular Quay to climb the Sydney harbour bridge. The harbour bridge is an icon of the city and this experience has been on our list since the day we arrived. We arrived under the bridge and got all suited up, attached to the guardrail and were given a radio. Then we headed up 1309 steps to the top of the bridge. We had a fantastic view of the entire city on the climb up and once we arrived at the summit. Our guide, Jake, was really knowledgeable about the history of the harbour and the bridge. On the way down it got very windy but we didn’t let it stop us from enjoying every minute. The whole experience lasted just over three and a half hours. We really recommend the bridge climb to anyone visiting Sydney. It was amazing!
After bridge climb, we headed to an amusement park for the evening. Luna Park is on the opposite side of the harbour to the Opera House. It lights up in the evening and has a bunch of carnival games and rides. We spent our evening riding the ferris wheel, playing with bumper cars, going on roller coasters and even down a huge slide! It was epic!
On Saturday we had a little sleep in from our very busy Friday. Then at about noon, we took a bus to Bronte Beach. We walked along the coastal path to Bondi stopping to take in the salty ocean air and beautiful sun along the way. Once we got to Bondi, Webster jumped in the ocean with a surfboard. He managed to do really well despite the major wind and waves breaking on the beach. It was neat for Liz and Paisley to see him in his element doing his new thing.
In the evening we headed to Darling Harbour for one last dinner together. We introduced Paisley and Liz to Hunter and Barrel, another one of our favourite restaurants in Sydney. We had a great dinner followed by some great fireworks over the harbour. What a way to end a fantastic trip!
On Sunday, Liz and Paisley were scheduled to take off at 10am Sydney time but their flight was delayed almost 5 hours! Although it put a delay in their travel plans, it meant we had time to do some last minute exploring before they headed off. We wandered around the Chinese Garden of Friendship, from the outside because it was closed, then headed to the Grounds in the City for some yummy breakfast.
We saw them off at about noon with lots of tears and hugs. We spent our afternoon doing some grocery shopping, school work, and catching up on sleep.
We have been really lucky to have visitors for the last four weeks! It has been the highlight of our Sydney experience.
This week we are back to the status quo (well the normal in Sydney). We have to catch up on some school work and get planning for our trip in the summer.
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