Sydney...

We were up early to take the tram and bus to the airport. And at 7:45 we were up in the air on our way to Sydney to start our holiday! From the airport we took a train to our hotel, dropped our luggage off and went to see the sights of Sydney… First we took a walk through the botanical gardens where there were spectacular views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. We then walked to the Opera House and stopped for fish and chips at the Opera Bar – with lovely views of the Harbour Bridge. After lunch we caught a ferry to Manly – which is a popular area for its beaches. From the ferry there are, once again, wonderful views of the harbour bridge, Opera House and the Sydney itself.  That evening we went to see a philharmonic orchestra performance at the opera house. Being the first day of our holidays we weren’t aware of the weather and we ended up with some slight red faces that evening! Needless to say the next day we made sure we were covered in sunscreen and used our hats! 

The following day we joined a tour guide that does free walking tours around the Sydney sights.

We took a train to Bondi Beach which is one of the best beaches in Sydney apparently… We took a walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee which is about 6km. It was very scenic – but very hot too! We had salad for lunch in Coogee as it was just too hot for anything else!

As it was New years eve we were booked to go to a restaurant which has a rooftop terrace with views of the harbour bridge to see the midnight fireworks. People start queuing in the early hours of the morning to get good views to see the fireworks… In the afternoon we decided that paying $300 (R2400) each for our meal that evening was unjustifiable! So we cancelled our reservation, went to the liquor store and bought a bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne and booked a restaurant close to our hotel instead. We went to watch the 9pm fireworks at a lookout that was just down the road from our hotel – and had a great view! Then we went for dinner and at 11:30pm went to the same lookout where we watched the 9pm fireworks and got our same spot to watch the midnight fireworks. It was a great experience and the fireworks were quite spectacular!  We were so glad that we changed our minds about where to watch the fireworks from – we had a great time without the crowds and hustle and bustle, and best of all it took us only a few minutes to get back to the hotel!