I Love Sydney!

I'm in love Sydney! No, not that Sydney...

This one...

This past week Will and I have been in one of the most wonderful cities in the world, Sydney! I had been there before, but I was 13 and brooding and thus didn't really enjoy it to the full potential. This was Will's first time to the land down under. Will had to work in Sydney for the week so we thought it would be fun to make a holiday out of it.

Saturday we flew in early in the morning. Our friends from a Contiki Europe trip 4 years ago (Rick and Emma) picked us up at the airport and after getting our hotel situated (long story), we drove out to Bondi Beach for a beautiful day in the sand. It was a hot, but windy day and we even got in the water! The water was a bit chilly, but Rick said you know it's a good swim if you can't feel your legs :) After that we went back to the hotel, got cleaned up (tended to our burns...) and then we were off to the Opera House. After getting some obligatory pictures we went to The Opera Bar for some drinks. Apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea. No where to sit! After an hour of standing drinking we decided to join everyone else in "claiming" tables from people while they are still sitting. We asked two ladies if we could have their table when they were done and they said "well we're not planning on leaving for a while, but you're welcome to join us". So we did, and we had a lovely time! They had also met while traveling in Asia years ago. After a few more beers we decided to have dinner, and invited our new friends along. We tried to go to Jamie Oliver's new place, but with a 3 hour wait, it wasn't going to happen, so we ended up at La Rosa in the Strand. We had a lovely meal and just a great time with old and new friends. Thanks Rick and Emma for an awesome first day in Sydney!!

Bondi Beach

Looks like other people had the same idea...

Will and Rick swimming in the waves

After our swim, Bondi in the background!

The Harbour Bridge

Opera House and Bar, you see why it was hard to find a seat!

Up close of the opera house tiles

The most photographed image in Sydney!

With our Contiki friends Rick and Emma

Traveling friends! 

Sunday we got up early and toured downtown a bit. Our hotel was right near a nice park, a stunning church and some old buildings including the first hospital in Australia, Sydney Hospital. After that, we walked around the Botanical Gardens for a while, took some more obligatory pictures and made our way to Surry Hills for lunch. For lunch we met up with some of my old classmates from JIS, some I haven't seen since I moved away in 10th grade! It was so fun catching up and felt like it was just yesterday sine seeing them! Sunday afternoon we took the fairy to Manly Beach for a bit. The ferry only had a few outdoor/scenic seats, which was a bit of a bummer, but it was still lovely.

St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral

Sydney Hospital, the oldest hospital in Sydney

Hyde Park, "Art and About" In Auzzie speak, it rhymes :)

At the beach in Manly

Monday Will had to go to work so I trudged out on my own. First stop was the Aquarium, which was amazing. Of course the sharks were best, but they also had a Dugong, which is like a cousin of the Manatee. Don't need to say much here, the pictures do all the talking. Then I just walked around Darling Harbour, stopping for some coffee and enjoying the view.

Beautiful sea life

Angel fish! 

Sharks hanging out

The Dugong (a cousin of the manatee)

Watching a storm come in. We don't get this in Auckland!

The rest of the week I hung out in the hotel room, walked around, shopped and had nice lunches by myself.  We ate dinner with Will's work mates, and one night with his old high school classmate Elsa! I even ended up running into one of my best friends from middle school (Tara's) mom, crazy!

Shopping in the Queen Victoria Building

Shopping at The Strand

The Harbour Bridge up close, you can see people walking up it doing the "Bridge Climb"

Only in Sydney is Carhartt clothing sold in the uber trendy stores

Will's Rib dinner :)

We absolutely LOVED Sydney. It had such an amazing feel, wonderful weather and really neat sites to see. We would move there in a minute! We are also so thankful we stayed in touch with friends from our near and distant past and made the effort to connect with them. We will definitely be going back there again and again :)