Sydney

April 2 - 7, 2009


Photo: Inside the Sydney Opera House

We took an evening flight from Bangkok and arrived in Sydney the next morning. After checking in we settling in for a much needed nap. We awoke to a pleasant view of Hyde Park and set out for a little exploring in the fall weather, a very welcome change from the overbearing heat of Southeast Asia. It was a bit of a novelty being able to understand the language of everyone around us!

The next day we headed down to the Sydney Opera House. T and K received a really great Christmas gift for a couple sets of tickets to performances at the Opera House (thanks L, J, C and T!). We got to see a performance of Tom Stoppard’s Travesties. It was a great, funny, show and going to a play was something we had not done in a long time. The Opera House is such a beautiful structure. We’ve always seen pictures of it and it was awesome to actually attend a performance in it!

Photo: K near The Rocks

The next evening we enjoyed a performance of Hero in the Making –Young Beethoven in the concert hall of the Opera House. The performance was great and the setting was amazing. That night, we decided to do a little bar-hopping on Oxford Street, which was a lot of fun.

On Saturday, we explored an area of Sydney referred to as The Rocks, which is the area around Australia’s first European Settlement. The Rocks has many restaurants, pubs and small shops and it retains a smaller-scale feel. No doubt the atmosphere is what attracted the constant barrage of weddings (or wedding photographs) that we saw. That evening, we went out on Darlinghurst Road in Kings Cross. The area was teeming with people bar-hopping – kind of a crazy, a bit like going to the Meat Packing District on a Friday night. It was an experience.


Photo: Yayoi Kusam exhibit

On Sunday we made a brief visit to Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, which was exhibiting Yayoi Kusam: Mirrored Years – we found it to be a little unusual, but entertaining.


Photo: Contortionist in Sydney

Afterwards we took a ferry to Manly, the ride took us past the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and provided great views of the city from a different perspective. Half an hour later, we arrived in Manly. We made the short walk across town to Manly Beach then grabbed a fish dinner, followed up by a Lamington for dessert, which is one of K’s new favorites. After dessert we walked back to the ferry terminal and grabbed a few VBs at the Manly Wharf Hotel, a popular local bar, which attracted a large and remarkably good looking crowd.


Photo: View of the Sydney Opera House from the ferry






Photos Above: Views from the ferry to Manly


Photo: Sydney Opera House at night

The next day, we took a short bus ride to Bondi Beach. From Bondi Beach we took a beautiful walk from to Coogee Beach. The 6 km walk took us along the coastal cliffs and through a creepy cemetery, but it provided amazing views of the coastline. When we arrived at Coogee Beach a few hours later we decided to grab dinner. Though we chose a nearby sushi place mainly for its byo policy, it turned out to be fantastic sushi. It was really some of the best sushi that either T or K has ever had. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, we highly recommend Takeya.


Photo: Bondi Beach


Photo: Cool pool near Bondi Beach





Photos Above: Walk from Bondi to Coogee Beach




Photos Above: Downtown Sydney

The following day, before our afternoon flight, we walked through town to Darling Harbour, a pleasant pedestrian section of town, and stopped at the Queen Victoria Building on the way back to our hotel. We were sad to leave Sydney, but curious about our next stop, Tasmania.

The blog is still a bit behind. Currently (5/29/09) we are in Cusco, Peru - going to Machu Picchu tomorrow! Will update soon!