I got to spend a few days in Sydney with my mom before she headed back home to Colorado. We had so much fun but it was quite chilly. Our hotel was in a great location. It was just a 5 minute walk to the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The first day we did a hop on hop off ferry pass. It allows you to do to different parts of the bay all throughout the day. First stop was the zoo. We saw koalas, kangaroos, giraffes, elephants, and many more. The Taronga Zoo is really big and we got lost trying to find the Australian animals.
Our next stop was Watson Bay. We grabbed lunch at a Greek restaurant and then walked along the cliffs looking onto the Pacific Ocean. Next we went to Manly Beach, which was my favorite of the ferry stops. I think it was actually my favorite place in the Sydney area. Mom and I shopped around and walked along the beach watching brave souls go surfing and SUPing in the cold water. We stopped at Seaside Grill and had a delicious beer warming up by the fire and watching the three big screen TV’s. They had two different types of rugby on and lawn ball. Definitely different than what I am used to at home. We hopped back on the ferry and headed back to our bay, Circle Quay.
That night we had the most delicious Taco Tuesday dinner and margaritas at El Camino. It sounds absolutely amazing right now considering I haven’t had good Mexican for the last month. Then mom and I walked around for an hour trying to find a place to grab a night cap. There weren’t too many places near our hotel. Everything seemed to close early or looked extra pricey.
The next day was freezing. It rained almost all day! We had the bus hop on hop off pass that took us all around Sydney. We started in Bondi Beach where we shopped and walked around. There was absolutely no one there which I guess is quite rare. A few surfers started trickling into the water though and the waves looked perfect.
Next we went to Central Station and decided to walk to a market that I saw from the bus. Big mistake! Mom was not the biggest fan of the area we were in and we got caught in a downpour. We walked through the streets trying to find one of the stops to hop on our bus using a dinky map they gave us while getting absolutely drenched. We only had one umbrella and my raincoat was worthless. We finally made it back to the hotel to warm up and dry our clothes. Afterwards we met up with the others and went to the Opera House and Botanic Gardens. Luckily the rain had ceased so it was a beautiful walk. But when we tried to go to a place we picked out for dinner it started pouring again. Just our luck, when we got there the place was packed. Soaking wet (again) we found a little burger joint and decided on that. It was seriously the most cold rain that I have ever been stuck in. It was definitely an experience neither of us will forget. We packed up our bags that night since we were both moving on in the morning. It was hard to say goodbye and be on my own for the first time of my travels. At the same time, I was excited to move on and see what the world had in store for me.
~The Pathless Atlas
The Pathless Atlas 