I arrive back to Sydney on St. Patrick’s day and head from the airport to Hils Irish friends house for a BBQ. It’s roasting, too hot even to sit out on the deck until later in the evening. We have amazing food (thanks Lesley & Dave) and a few drinks… sure what else would you be doing on a St. Patrick’s day in the sunshine!!!
The rest of the week I tick off more Sydney highlights. I visit Cronulla beach which is gorgeous:
I run the 10k Bay run and another day I cycle it.. twice!
I’m loving the light rail which takes me to Pyrmont bay and Darling Harbour. This is my favorite way to get into town and I’m in and out like a yo-yo.
I do the Sydney Opera House tour which is really interesting and if you buy the tour ticket you get a discount on all opera tickets.
Hilary and I have a fancy meal at Benalong restaurant and see La Traviata. It’s a fabulous production and we love it.
I visit Mrs Macquaries chair where there’s a great view looking back on the city
and the Botanic Gardens:
I got to meet up with more of my pals from the Sri Lanka trip:
I really want to see a platypus and I find out that I don’t actually need to go to the zoo as there’s one at the Sydney wildlife Centre which is on my way into town. There’s so many cool animals and I spend hours there. The koalas are so cute:
I see the platypus actually two of them – they’re a bit smaller than I was expecting and they are in a dark tank but I watch them scurry around, hide, then come out again. I see an animal that I had never heard of until today… a cassowary. They’re related to the emu and ostrich and are extremely vicious.
The name of this guy is Princess and I got a chance to feed him which was great . They do all their damage with their claws so feeding them is not dangerous at all. Princess ate grapes out of my hand and took them from between my fingers and he was very gentle – you wouldn’t want to be getting near those clays though, they are considered the deadliest bird in the world.
I’ve eaten amazing food while I’m here.. got all my Asian cuisine fixes including yum cha (or dim sum), sushi, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, ramen, banh mi and I even tried kangaroo which was on a pizza and delicious! Hils, Pete and I got out for a great meal at Osaka in the Tramsheds – a really cool building with loads of different restaurants.
The bao buns with pork belly were particularly good:
I got to meet so many of Hils & Pete’s friends which was a real treat and everyone was really welcoming and friendly
I got to hike in the Blue Mountains which was amazing. From Blackheath to Pinnacle rock:
Saw this gorgeous bird:
And of course the obligatory visit to the Three Sisters:
I saw The Book of Mormon which I’ve been dying to see for ages and it was hilarious. On my last day I take a final trip to town and spend some more time in the botanical gardens and at the NSW art gallery which I love. They have lots of old art from all over the world and the building itself is beautiful. On the way home I spend an hour at the aquarium and see lots of different fish, dugongs, penguins and sharks swimming over my head.
For our final family meal we hit the local, aka The Royal and have a great dinner and lots of rose. I’m going to miss being au pair to Orla and Joe (sniff sniff). I just hope they’ll be ok without me – at least they won’t be blinded by the sun when forced to take a photo with me!!!!
I’ve had an amazing time in Sydney.. it’s such an easy place to be and I can’t wait to get back.
odohertyelaine 