week seven | sydney, new south wales

For those of you that know me personally you’ll know that Facebook is a pretty big part of my life, well duh, how could it not be? It’s the sole reason I am still in contact with pretty much everyone that I’ve attended school with and my trip to Sydney was a tribute to Mark’s vision if ever there was one.

Just a couple of months ago I got a message (via FB, gawd I love it) from one of my friends from my middle school days in South Africa. A and I had been pretty inseparable for the few years I lived there and I was thrilled that our big reunion dreams were finally coming true! After a few messages back and forth over the finer details it was all arranged that we would spend three days together in Sydney doing some spectacular touristy things before a visit to my parents’ place in good old ‘Berra.

I have always adored Sydney – not very “Melbourne” of me I know – but it’s great. It’s big, busy, fancy and always, always sunny meaning it makes for a pretty great place to bring international friends. Plus, whether we Aussies love it or not, it’s what they most want to see most, even if it’s just to shut up friends and relatives back home who will inevitably ask if they’ve now seen the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

It was these things that were, of course, top of our Sydney to –do list and so on our first morning we took the train from my god-parents fabulous Newtown house (where we were lucky enough to be staying) into the city and towards Circular Quay.  For those who haven’t been yet Circular Quay is where all the magic happens, and I’ll be honest - the brilliant sunshine, delighted tourists and the curved arches of both the bridge and the Opera House always put me in a lovely mood. It’s a beautiful sun-filled walk and a few snaps later that we then decided to do some more exploring, this time by boat.

If you do nothing else in Sydney you should probably still grab the ferry to Manly. The 30 minute (or so) ride across the harbour provides great views and Manly itself is a great place for a beach-side beer and some fish and chips if your brave enough to face the sassy seagulls snapping food from your fingers. It’s everything people imagine about Sydney, and perhaps even Australian life.

Apart from the postcard worthy attractions at Circular Quay there is also my favorite spot in Sydney, the Botanical Gardens. Now I’m a pretty big sucker for gardens anyway but Sydney’s is just delightful, sunny (I know I keep going on about it but I’m from Melbourne so it’s always a bit of a shock) and you can see the water sparkling as you sit and have a picnic or an ice cream at Lady Macquarie’s chair just around the bay and across from the Bridge.

While most of our days were filled up in the city by the ocean we were also able to spend some time exploring adorable Newtown by just walking out our front door. Newtown’s great, and has a bit of a hometown feel for me because it’s a lot like parts of Melbourne. With tiny shops, great cafes, good bars and a few really wonderful BYO Vietnamese restaurants that we took full advantage of.

While I might be a Melbournian for the most part, Sydney is great, and it is well worth a trip if you’re ever Down Under.

TRIP RATING 5/5 NEWTOWN TERRACES