Sydney
General Trip Info
Australia was an amazing experience. A group of friends and I spent over ten days exploring three separate cities (Sydney, Cairns, and Melbourne). Each was unique in its own way and we were able to see and experience things that we couldn’t anywhere else. I’ll provide a breakdown of highlights of each place we went to in different posts in an attempt to detail/describe the trip. First off: Sydney!
Sydney
We landed in Sydney on St. Patrick’s Day and I was wearing my white socks with green trim to celebrate the holiday. The journey there was brutal with 19+ total hours of continuous travel (MSP -> DEN -> LAX -> SYD). Fatigue, irritability, and general wackiness were all present at varying levels amongst the group. We decided to try the public transit options to get to the place we were supposed to stay and, fortunately, it turned out to be a seamless process. We got to our place unscathed and took in our surroundings briefly before starting to check-in. You can see my photo of our hotel below and my specific review listed here.
Sydney Potts Point Central Hotel
We quickly discovered our rooms weren’t quite ready yet. So, we stashed our stuff, cleaned up as well as we could, and charted a course to the Royal Botanical Gardens since it was so close by. I made the comment to the group, “I don’t know about y’all, but I’m actually feeling pretty good.” The universe clearly has a sense of humor, because as soon as we stepped out of the hotel my nose started to bleed. Thankfully with some tissues from the group I was able to get it stifled on our way.
I like to think I’m a mindful person and that’s generally viewed as a positive thing; however, this typically means I’m not opportunistic in the way of taking photos. All of this is to say that I hope you enjoy one of the only photos I took. Rest assured the rest of the gardens were diligently cared for with paved paths, ornate sculptures, and an abundance of greenery. It’s an accessible space and well utilized by the public it seemed. If I lived locally, I’d be here often taking advantage of the area.
After looking around a while we made it back to our hotel and got into our rooms. We settled in briefly before getting ready for our next adventure of Bondi Beach in which we’d be meeting up with another friend who lives in Australia.
Royal Botanical Gardens of Sydney
We eventually convened at the beach and made ourselves at home. My immediate thought after seeing who was all around me was, “Wow, I’m pale.” So, I promptly put my sun shirt on and got in the water to swim. The water was beautiful and we were surrounded by spectacular views (overlooks, restaurants, etc). The beach was covered in a light colored sand and it felt extremely welcomed after leaving Minnesota in March. We spent a good portion of our time here swimming and hanging out on our towels while catching up.
We then went to a local swimming club/restaurant/cocktail bar(?) place named Icebergs. We initially walked into a space where post-beach attire was not going to cut it and the patrons’ eyes on us told us so. A quick retreat found us where we should’ve been in the general area and we sat down to get food and drinks. It was a little strange because someone we met up with had a membership at this place. I couldn’t tell you what that means besides that it gave us discounted drinks. So, we enjoyed that thoroughly and reveled in a great time before returning to our place to wind down.
Being in Sydney we eventually made our way to the Opera House. It was a truly surreal experience being directly in front of a structure that I had seen in photos in books, online, etc all of my life. We got up close and personal for some photos and to take it all in. The Opera House itself fits pretty seamlessly into the surrounding area, so we were able to walk through towards a restaurant area to some other activities once we were finished. We eventually made our way to some famous bridge where we sat down to enjoy a sunny, scenic view.
On our way to get some lunch we came across a musician marketing a new song. His social media team was on the scene to capture some fun moments, including having a little kid “play” the drums to the soundtrack. Someone in our group found the musicians’ social media (Go-Jo) and, unfortunately, we didn’t make the final cut for promotional material. I’ve embedded a YouTube video below with the song we heard.
Afterwards, it’s a blur to me where we ended up for lunch. What I do remember is, because of the favorable exchange rate, I splurged and tried a wagyu burger for the first time (well worth it). We then took a ferry to Manly Beach and did some body surfing, hanging out, and chilling. The waves here were a good mix of small, medium, and large. My favorite part of body surfing was when a huge wave would come to wipe us out and, before it smacked us, I’d hear Australian kids yell in their Australian way, “Oh, noruuu!”
After the beach we grabbed a couple drinks at a local spot before eventually taking the express ferry back to our hotel . We hung out on the rooftop to play some games and party it up prior to heading out. I couldn’t tell you the names of the places we went, but it was in an LGBTQ+ area with a lot of personality. All in all, it was a fast and furious introduction to Australia with lots of memories made, laughs had, and tons to look forward to.