LittleSandyBeach

As it was as a Saturday for our first day in Sydney all the weekend markets were on so we went to check out two of them. The first one was called Glebe Market, which is a long running flea market known for having lots of vintage clothes, varied street food and many craft stalls.

The second market we went to was Paddy’s Markets Haymarket. It has a huge souvenir section, fresh meat and fish and also a lovely food hall.

Just across the road from the market is Chinatown. The Chinatown in Sydney has moved from three different locations since being founded originally during the Gold Rush in 1850. In its current location it’s been transformed into a main tourist attraction offering lots of different dining options from all over Asia.

We were making our way to Hyde Park afterwards and as we entered the park we came across the Anzac Memorial. It was completed in 1934 and was built to commemorate the Australian Imperial Force who fought in World War I. It now acts as a memorial for all wars that Australian men and women have fought in from NSW (New South Wales).

Underground we got to walk around a few exhibition halls which talk about all the wars that Australia and New Zealand have been involved with. There are a lot of artefacts that have been donated by the families of the fallen that are on display.

One of the main rooms in the memorial is the Hall of Service. On the walls are the names of 1,701 towns, cities and districts in NSW where a volunteer enlisted to the First Australian Imperial Force. Next to each name is a soil sample taken from that location.

In the middle of the room is a circle containing the names and soil samples from 100 significant military sites around the world where NSW personnel have served.

We then took a stroll through Hyde Park to get to our next location, The Australian Museum. We walked past a statue of Captain Cook that was erected in the park in 1879.

The Australian Museum was founded in 1827 and is Australia’s oldest museum. It houses over 22 million scientific specimens and cultural objects.

We walked around for a couple hours as there was lots to see from many taxidermy animals, dinosaur skeletons, aboriginal artefacts, and precious stones to name a few. We particularly liked the taxidermy animals that are endemic to Australia.

In the afternoon we went to see the Royal Botanic Gardens which border farm cove overlooking the world famous Sydney Opera House. The gardens are massive at 74 acres and they were spectacular!

After walking through the gardens we made it to Mrs Macquaries Point where we got to see the amazing view across Sydney Harbour.

The garden is home to a large flock of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos which we definitely heard before we saw them as they make quite a lot of noise! The oldest Cockatoo known to have lived up to 120 years old in a Sydney Hotel and was nicknamed “Cocky Bennett”!

Also in the garden as well as in most parks around the city we got to see the dinosaur looking locals, the Australian White Ebis!

In the evening we went to a Dark Comedy show that we had booked a few weeks before as we had seen it was Sydney Comedy Festival. As you can imagine there was quite a lot of swearing…

The next day we got a bus out to Coogee from the city centre to do a popular coastal walk which ends at one of the most famous beaches in the world, Bondi!

We walked past many lovely beaches including Clovelly and Bronte. We watched many brave swimmers and surfers enjoying the sunny autumn day.

After about 1.5 hours and walking 7km we made it to the Bondi Iceberg Club. It was founded by local lifeguards in 1929 to stay fit in the winter months. The views from the pathway were truly amazing!

Having watched Bondi Rescue a lot years ago Bondi Beach definitely lived up to the hype. Absolutely amazing. We also walked past the lifeguard building where most of the show was filmed.

In the afternoon went and checked out Sydney Harbour. The waterfront along the harbour was lovely with many bars and restaurants dotted around. It’s also used as a cruise terminal which adds to the whole atmosphere!

Of course the main attractions around the harbour are the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The Opera House is one of those buildings that definitely looks better in real life and is stunning!

We then walked around the Harbour and walked onto the bridge to see the view of the Opera House from there. The Bridge was completed in 1932 and moves a lot more than you’d think with the traffic and train line that runs over it! A popular activity for people is to climb over the top arch of the bridge which looks incredible.

Afterwards we walked to the nearby Observatory Hill which is a popular location to watch the sunset over looking Harbour Bridge.

The next day we started off by going to the Museum of Sydney. It is built on the land of the first government house and explains Sydney’s colonial and indigenous history.

It was very interesting to learn about the aboriginal history and how the first Europeans ended up in Australia. There were many artefacts that had been dug up from the grounds when it was excavated in the 1980’s.

In the afternoon we went around the area known as The Rocks. It is where the first Europeans settled in Sydney and was built by the convicts that came over from England. We went around The Rocks Discovery Museum where we learned a lot about the history of the area.

In the evening we walked through the Queen Victoria Building which was built in 1898. It was originally built as a marketplace and now houses an upmarket mall with over 140 small designer shops and boutiques.

On our last day we started off by going around The Hyde Park Barracks. It was built in 1819 to house convicts coming over from England. The entrance was free and even included audio tour guide. It was one of the best museums we’ve ever been around!

It took around 1.5 hours to complete the tour and we learnt so much about the lives of the convicts and how they played a huge part in building many of the key areas that still stand in Sydney today.

After a lovely lunch in a local pub we went back down to the Harbour to try and catch a glimpse of the famous resident who frequently visits one specific step just next to the Opera House as they weren’t there on our first visit. Luckily Benny, a New Zealand Fur Seal was in his spot taking in the afternoon sun!

Whilst we were enjoying some Australian wine at the Opera bar we had great fun watching the seagulls trying to take everyone’s food! Luckily the seagull patrol dog turned up and helped keep them at bay!

We enjoyed the afternoon sun and stayed until the sun had gone down so we could see the area at night all lit up and it was lovely!

Yesterday it was time to leave Sydney. We got the train to the airport and caught our flight to New Zealand! We’re in Auckland for 3 days before we explore more around the North Island of New Zealand and we can’t wait!