Annnnnnd we’re back, guys!! So excited to share the second post about my amazing vacation this past month! Did you miss the first post about our time in San Francisco? See it HERE!
Over the next week, I will be sharing about our time in the down unda! Today, will be all about our time in Sydney, Australia!
Day 1:
After surviving a long 14.5 hour flight from San Francisco to Sydney, we FINALLY arrived!! …2 days later. Uh what?! Yep! There’s a 18 hour time difference between Sydney and San Francisco, so we literally woke up and “lost” an entire day. Crazy right?! Good thing we “gain” a day back, when we get back to the states! Surprisingly, we both slept decently well on the plane, which is an absolute MIRACLE for me! Seriously. So, once when we arrived in Sydney, we suffered no jet lag (YAY!) and were ready to explore the city!
After checking into our hotel, we put on our walking shoes and went exploring! We made our way through Chinatown, Circular Quay (pronounced key), and to an area called The Rocks. The Rocks had so many cool restaurants, stores, and several streets filled with shops. Luckily, we arrived on the weekend which is the only time you can visit this market!
Next to the Rocks is Circular Quay which is where the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House are located. I will warn you guys…I took WAY too many photos of these two iconic structures. As you’ll see below, I took pictures of them during the day, mid day, and just as the sun set. I’m a nut. I know.
Day 2:
By the second day, I was ready to hit the beach, y’all! Living in Chicago (and especially during the winter time) you don’t get as much as sun as you might want to, so I was ready to take any opportunity to lay out on the beach! Bondi beach is one of the most well-known beaches in the world so I was really excited to get to spend a few hours of the day out there. Oh, and believe me, a few hours is all you’ll be able to stand! Even though it wasn’t unbearably hot that day, the sun rays were definitely out with full force!
After a relaxing day on the beach, we got ready to attend an Italian opera show at the Sydney Opera House. Talk about a DREAM! We watched the famous La Boheme and it was amazing! We left our phones and cameras in the hotel that night, just to have a good ole fashioned date night, so there’s no photos to share from that, but think about a red carpet, us all dressed up, and a dark theater with velvet curtains. That just about sums it up 🙂
Day 3:
The way Vince and I like to travel is to see everything at our own pace and to make little to no plans before arriving in each city. By day 3, we had already accomplished quiet a bit, but we still had so much to explore! I’m a sucker for a gorgeous garden, so when Vince mentioned going to the Chinese Garden of Friendship, I was all about it! This garden was absolutely breathtaking! I was so surprised to see this right in the middle of the city, close to the Darling Harbour and Chinatown. We got to enjoy the view of the gardens while also chowing down on yummy scones and sipping hot tea. I highly recommend doing this if you ever visit the gardens!
Close to the gardens was Darling Harbour. Like Circular Quay, it was filled with restaurants lining the water, ferry boats, and lots of people! Though not as popular as the circular quay area (in my opinion), I found it to be super charming and fun!
We tried to decide on the best way to see the city and the surrounding areas, so we decided to take a ferry ride from Darling Harbour back to the Circular Quay. Although it was a short trip, it provided the most amazing views of the bridge and the opera house! I was one happy photographer!!
Who could resist a late afternoon cocktail at Cafe Sydney especially with THIS view!!
I loved the ferry ride so much, we decided to take the ferry back to Darling Harbour so I could take some night shots as well!
This was the perfect way to end our time in Sydney!