We flew from LAX to SYD and the airport experience at LAX was fantastic. I highly recommended flying Delta from LAX if you’re flying to Australia. After a 15-hour journey, we finally made it to Sydney. We got from the airport to our hotel using Uber because the taxis were about 30% more expensive.
We then asked if we could check in to our hotel at 10 am because our flight came in early and they were really accommodating. Though we couldn’t check in at 10, he told us we could check in in a couple of hours and could take a shower at the spa while we waited. We checked in at 12 (4 hours before standard check-in time) and we even got a room upgrade to see the beautiful Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The room was wonderful and quiet.
Unfortunately, when we landed the first two days were rainy and grey, but we knew we had to make the most of it. We went to the White Rabbit museum and saw some really great exhibits. We then went to a nearby mall and saw there was an arcade and played some arcade games. There was a very popular game that we witnessed people playing for the entire time we were there. It was crazy to watch. You can take a look at the game here
To round out the day, we went to a place called La Di Darts and wondered why there wasn’t a branch in the US. It was an augmented dart competition game and we had a lot of fun. We then went back to our hotel and slept (a lot!).
The next day, we wanted to get breakfast. I asked Jack, as I looked at the grey clouds, do you think it’ll rain? He said it’s not supposed to. I looked at my suede shoes, I looked outside and I thought better of it. We went outside and it started raining. We had a really great breakfast at the Rocks Cafe. Later on, as the sky was clearing, we took a boat road and took some cool pictures of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. The nice weather was short-lived; it started pouring as we got off the boat. We ended the night with a 7-course dinner. Though expensive, it was one of the best dinners we’ve ever had.
The next day we woke up, and we walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We stumbled across a Sunday Market on the North Side. We then went to the immersive Frida Kahlo exhibit, part of the annual Sydney Festival that takes place each January. We then had a serendipitous encounter, where we ran into two of my friends from New York! Small world.
We then continued our walk into Hyde Park and the Botanic Garden.
Afterward, we walked back to the hotel to take a break. We then went to the pop-up Gucci Garden exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum. To round out the day, we went hiking along the coastline, starting at the Hermitage Foreshore Reserve, via Nielsen Park and the Parsley Bay Bridge before ending up at Watsons Bay. We then took a ferry back to Circular Quay, near our hotel. This hike took us past a number of small and very picturesque beaches.
We woke up and took the ferry to Manly and had a nice time walking along the beach. We took a quick stop at the hotel and picked up our rental car to go to the Sydney fish market. We got a giant box of various seafood and got back to the car quickly because parking over an hour is expensive! We then went on a hike in the Royal National Park and saw some amazing cliffs. They reminded me of the cliffs of Moher but much better. We then went back to the hotel to get ready for the next day.
On our last day in Sydney, we woke up and went to Bondi beach and had a nice walk on the beach. We then went on a tour of the opera house. The Joan Sutherland theater foyer is one of the most beautiful event spaces I’ve ever seen. If I were throwing a wedding in Australia I would throw it there. After the tour, we started our nine-hour road trip to Brisbane
