G’Day!
I finally reached Sydney after nearly 26 hours of travel. I left my parents in Richmond, VA and traveled from Charlotte – Los Angeles – Sydney. The Los Angeles to Sydney flight was a little over 15 hours and surprisingly went by quicker than I thought. The lack of sleep from the night before & late flight probably helped!
I have wanted to visit Sydney since I saw Mary Kate & Ashley’s ‘Our Lips are Sealed’ as a kid, and it lived up to my expectations & then some. I landed around 9am and breezed through customs before finding the way to my hotel. The only thing I had planned on the 1st day was the Sydney Bridge Climb at Twilight. This was set to begin at 6:15pm, and I thought it would be a great way to force myself to stay up until a reasonable hour on the 1st night to help adjust to the timezone ASAP. This activity was a bit pricey, but definitely worth it. You cant take any phones or cameras on the bridge with you (they take pictures for you), so you are forced to just be in the moment… imagine that. Twilight was an amazing time for this climb. Seeing the city during both the day and night was great. Once we reached the top of the bridge our awesome guide Jack noticed the sun was sitting on the horizon. He called out to the group and said, “the sun will take about 2 minutes and 40 seconds to disappear from here, so lets all just stop & take it in.” I will never forget that experience. The climb ended close to 10pm and I went to bed shortly after.
Day 2 was spent on Captain Cook’s Hop on/ Hop Off explorer cruise. This left from Circular Quay in the Sydney Harbour, which is pretty spectacular in itself. The opera house is beautiful. I had no idea how many beaches and areas are considered to be part of Sydney too. On this cruise tour I saw Watson’s Bay, Taronga Zoo, Manly Beach, Shark Island, Darling Harbour, Barangaroo, and Luna Park. I got off and walked around at Watson’s Bay, Taronga Zoo, and Manly Beach. Make sure you walk through the town past the little marina in Manly Beach so that you make it to the actual beach.. Its massive!
I left this tour mid-afternoon and made my way back to the hotel for a quick bite to eat before heading to Bondi Beach to close out the afternoon. This beach was much bigger than I imagined, so despite the crowds I had plenty of space.
I wish I had more time in Sydney, but I know I will be back. I wanted to visit ‘The Rocks’ & Darling Harbour aread more, so if you go to Sydney be sure to check those areas out for lunch or dinner!
These first 2 days in Sydney have me excited for the weeks ahead!
Next stop, Melbourne!
Ally Round the World 