Across the ditch -- Sydney

This is an overdue post. I finally had the time to blog again. =) I can't believe my last post was November 2009 pa!

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Celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary, off we went to see and experience what Sydney offers.

The proximity of Australia as an out-of-the-country destination made it appealing. Sydney is just 3 hours away plane ride from Auckland. Apart from that, there have been several reasonable deals from different trans-tasman carriers reflecting the healthy competition amongst these airlines. It is cheaper to go to Sydney/Melbourne/Gold Coast than take a dive down to Queenstown!

A couple of months ahead, I was able to book a flight for the three of us with Jetstar – Qantas’s sister company offering cheap trans-tasman fares. We had the free 20 Kg check-in luggage for both ways. Food and entertainment were not included in the airfare though. But I must say, the items in the menu are quite reasonably priced.

We flew on Friday afternoon arriving in Sydney about almost the same time as we left NZ. The time difference of two hours made that possible – not the plane’s speed. There are different ways to reach the city. We took the airport transfer shuttle which is the cheapest and most efficient. Or so I thought. Airport transfer picks you up in the airport and drops you off to your hotel or wherever it’s near your hotel that the driver can park his vehicle without getting the ticket. I found this appealing since taking a bus or a train would be more of a hassle in finding your way around looking for your hotel.

The down-side is that due to the uber traffic condition in Sdyney, these shuttles won’t be able to follow the timetable for departures and arrivals. Thus, we ended up waiting for our ride for almost two hours. Wasted two hours just wiling away the time inside the airport.

I booked our hotel at Travelodge Sydney. It was the cheapest and newest hotel I could find within City Centre. It’s very clean and very well-situated within all the major tourist attractions in Sydney given the reasonable price we paid for it.

First Day – 21 November 2009. We started our day earlier than expected. Blame the timezone difference. We headed off for our breakfast at Hungry Jack’s. It’s the Australian version of Burger King. Interesting fact is that you won’t find Burger King in Sydney. It’s Hungry Jack.

We strolled around Pitt street heading towards the Town Hall. Amazingly, two malls were interconnected underground – these are the Queen Victoria Building and the Myers at the Sydney Central station. We found this out on the third day! I so love the Queen Victoria Builiding (QVB). I love its architecture inside and outside. What I love more are the stores. I was drooling with what I can buy. But that didn’t happen. The shopping aspect I meant.

We then trailed our way towards Tumbaloong park situated in the Darling Harbour Park. Then we took a rest amongst the little trees lining the entrance of the Chinese Friendship Garden. Tristan saw the mini-train which takes you around the major tourist spots within the Darling Harbour Park. It’s AUD10 per person and AUD5 per child. The trip includes the train driver making the stop to the major spots including some background information. It was worth it especially when you’re tired due to walking.

We went around Sydney mostly by walking. It’s a must to have your most comfortable shoe on. Otherwise, you’re at the mercy of swollen feet afterwards. Tristan is 3 ½ year old and the stroller we brought was heaven sent. Since we walked most of the time, the stroller came in very comfy for Tristan and a life-saver for us. Apart from walking, we took the monorail once (super pagod na kasi kami and super init). It was airconditioned. The temperature by mid-afternoon was at 38C! Imagine the heat we’ve experienced that day alone. Unknown to us, the following day is the worst with 41C and heatwave across the city. The train stations were handy as well; however, it wasn’t airconditioned. We used the train more than the bus, though.

By lunchtime, we headed back to Sydney Central Station mall. We had our lunch in the foodcourt. The food selections were alright. Nothing fancy. Afterwards, we headed back to QVB to meet up with a very dear friend of mine who graciously became our tour guide for the rest of our stay in Sydney.

The afternoon was spend mostly around Darling Harbour Park. The park offers so much than what we expected. The usual tourist attractions are the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife Museum, which we never bothered entering since NZ has it’s own version of those. I missed seeing the kangaroo and koala bear though! Next visit to Oz, it’ll be a must to say hello to those cute creatures.

What I found very interesting is the park itself. It boasts of a well-thought and well-planned park. I love the fountains lining the walkway and almost everywhere I turn to. Auckland has nothing like it. The cafes lining the harbour is refreshing. The children’s park is the best. It’s what Tristan enjoyed the most.

By late afternoon, we headed back to our hotel to cool ourselves and take a break. Tristan was so exhausted he fell asleep in his pram.

Evening time was spent on Opera house domain. The scenery was breath-taking with all the lights along the harbour. From the Opera house, you could have the spectacular view of the lighted Harbour Bridge.

Day 2 – 22 November 2009. We had a hearty breakfast in the hotel itself. This saved time from looking for breakfast cafes.

Our walking started with a stroll along Hyde Park. We took the train to Circular Quay this time for our Opera house and Royal Botanical Garden trips. The temperature by lunchtime was shocking – 41 degrees C! I never even experienced that in the Philippines! The heat wave sweeping across the city was even worse.

Lunchtime was spent in Sydney Central park foodcourt again. I was looking forward to a lunch spent at Sydney’s Tower. I love the dining experience we had at Auckland’s Sky Tower and since we are at Sydney, I decided to book lunch and probably repeat another memorable experience. I was wrong. Sydney Tower is nothing compared to Auckland Sky tower. I’m not saying this because I live in Auckland. We can’t even find the entrance to the Tower. It took us almost an hour just to find the entrance. When we finally found it, the inside was not what P and I expected. It wasn’t that inviting. Since there was some drilling taking place around the Tower, we just decided to cancel our booking and go with the foodcourt.

We then met up with J for at QVB for our Bondi beach experience.

We headed to Bondi beach at around 3PM by bus. The view was breath-taking. Even more is the idea that I’ve set my foot on the famous Bondi beach! Syempre, it was Tristan who enjoyed the waters the most. It was so hot that day but the water was still chilling. J insisted we taste Bondi’s famous Oporto chicken. And it was really yummy.

We ended our day earlier than yesterday. We were so exhausted from all the walking earlier in the day. We just head back to our hotel and wasted the hours chatting. J and I haven’t seen each other for 5 years now and imagine how many things we have talked about that 5 hours isn’t enough. That evening J and I walked our way towards Chinatown for a couple hours of stroll.

Day 3 – 23 November 2009. Our last day in Sydney. We’re scheduled to fly back in the afternoon thus we only have the whole morning to do some last minute shopping and sightseeing.

We had our breakfast in the hotel. We then prepared ourselves and our belongings for check-out.

We then strolled the Hyde Park and have some photos taken with the fountain and St. Mary Church. We then had our lunch at the foodcourt (again). Afterwhich, we went to see the whole of Queen Victoria Building, buying some souvenirs along the way.

By 2PM we had to say goodbye to J and thank him for the time he spent with us. We were picked up by the airport transfer van and headed back to the airport.