After the very long night train from Melbourne, we arrived in Sydney. We checked in at our guesthouse, cleaned up, and then met our friend Amanda for lunch at a restaurant called Ripples under the famous Harbour Bridge. Amanda grew up in Sydney, but we met her when we were all teaching in South Korea. It was so nice to catch up with her and her fiance Cameron.
After lunch, we walked around Luna Park, had ice cream, and took photos with the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House in the background. It was a nice afternoon!
After saying goodbye to Amanda and Cameron, John and I decided to walk across the Harbour Bridge on the pedestrian walkway to the other side of the harbour, down near the Opera House. We had great views of Sydney and even got a glimpse of the "Bridge Climbers" who were climbing the top of the bridge as part of a tourist attraction.
It was pretty cool seeing the Sydney Opera House up close. It's always fun when you see many photos of a building but then you finally get to see it in person.
In Sydney, John and I also took a ferry to Manly Beach. The beach was pretty busy with sunbathers and surfers. Walking up to the beach was a nice pedestrian road called "The Corso" which had tons of shops and restaurants. We had a picnic on the beach and had ice cream afterwards. It was nice to just relax there and take in the nice views.
We also made a trip to Darling Harbour, a colourful spot with a great view of Sydney's tall towers. At Darling Harbour we watched street performers and had a nice 3-course dinner at a pretty good price for Sydney. Travelling in an English-speaking country much like Canada was definitely a treat, but it came with a nice price tag.
Our final full day in Sydney was spent hanging out near the Harbour Bridge, waiting for the fireworks show on New Year's Eve. We arrived at one of the parks near the bridge at around 1:30pm and stayed there all day until midnight. It was pretty packed when we arrived, and we were lucky to get a decent view. The place became CRAZY busy... people everywhere, sitting anywhere there was a shred of space. The line for the public toilets was long, but getting to the toilets was an ordeal. It was quite the trek passing through the crowds of people in the quickly narrowing pathway. In the end, it was worth it for a great experience! We saw the "family fireworks" show at 9pm and then the midnight showing. I always saw TV clips of the New Year's Eve celebrations from Sydney, so it was very cool to be there live to do the countdown to 2014! Getting back to our guesthouse after the show took a while due to the massive crowds. At least public transportation back was free!
Our visit to Sydney was lots of fun, but it seemed like the end of our holiday since we were headed back to Melbourne for business... the job fair, the main reason why we came to Australia for our holiday...
After lunch, we walked around Luna Park, had ice cream, and took photos with the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House in the background. It was a nice afternoon!
After saying goodbye to Amanda and Cameron, John and I decided to walk across the Harbour Bridge on the pedestrian walkway to the other side of the harbour, down near the Opera House. We had great views of Sydney and even got a glimpse of the "Bridge Climbers" who were climbing the top of the bridge as part of a tourist attraction.
It was pretty cool seeing the Sydney Opera House up close. It's always fun when you see many photos of a building but then you finally get to see it in person.
In Sydney, John and I also took a ferry to Manly Beach. The beach was pretty busy with sunbathers and surfers. Walking up to the beach was a nice pedestrian road called "The Corso" which had tons of shops and restaurants. We had a picnic on the beach and had ice cream afterwards. It was nice to just relax there and take in the nice views.
We also made a trip to Darling Harbour, a colourful spot with a great view of Sydney's tall towers. At Darling Harbour we watched street performers and had a nice 3-course dinner at a pretty good price for Sydney. Travelling in an English-speaking country much like Canada was definitely a treat, but it came with a nice price tag.
Our final full day in Sydney was spent hanging out near the Harbour Bridge, waiting for the fireworks show on New Year's Eve. We arrived at one of the parks near the bridge at around 1:30pm and stayed there all day until midnight. It was pretty packed when we arrived, and we were lucky to get a decent view. The place became CRAZY busy... people everywhere, sitting anywhere there was a shred of space. The line for the public toilets was long, but getting to the toilets was an ordeal. It was quite the trek passing through the crowds of people in the quickly narrowing pathway. In the end, it was worth it for a great experience! We saw the "family fireworks" show at 9pm and then the midnight showing. I always saw TV clips of the New Year's Eve celebrations from Sydney, so it was very cool to be there live to do the countdown to 2014! Getting back to our guesthouse after the show took a while due to the massive crowds. At least public transportation back was free!
Our visit to Sydney was lots of fun, but it seemed like the end of our holiday since we were headed back to Melbourne for business... the job fair, the main reason why we came to Australia for our holiday...
How wonderful to be able to see Amanda again! Ushering in the new year in such a fantastic part of the world will be a memory to treasure!
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