And I never thought I’d have to put suntan lotion on my toes!
Really enjoying Sydney (and the fantastic sunny weather) but there is a couple of downsides to the beautiful city. Firstly, free Wi-Fi is nearly non-existent (hence the huge gap since our last blog posting) and secondly, it’s a very expensive place (especially in comparison to the States) e.g. pints are around $5/6 and everyday essentials like bottled water are around $3.
We had originally intended to stay in Sydney for around 2.5 months to make use of our working visas, but after looking into apartment rental and hostel prices we decided to cut our stay short, to just one month. Luckily, our friends Laura and Katie (who arrived in Sydney last year and are set up with jobs and a nice apartment) offered to let us stay at their apartment while we are here, which is an amazing help to our travel budget – thanks guys!
Sydney is a great city, there’s so much to do and there seems to be a different festival or event on every weekend. So far we have...
- Watched live music in the Domain during the Sydney Festival. Was all going well until the torrential rain hit and the whole crowd had to run to the subway station (the only bad weather we’ve experience in Sydney so far).
- Chilled out in Hyde Park. Named after the park in London; it’s a mini replica.
- Walked over Sydney Bridge in the blistering sunshine. Not quite the same as walking over the Forth Road Bridge or Brooklyn Bridge, as the walkway fence is extremely high and covered in mesh and barbed wire! But you can still get some good photos through the slight gap and the views were still good.
- Visited the Botanic Gardens in the Domain. Amazing place, with flying foxes nesting in most of the trees – We’ve never seen such big bats!
But I think our main highlight so far, was riding the ferries over to Cockatoo Island and Manly beach, last weekend.
Cockatoo Island (a former prison, school and shipyard) is a historical site with regular art shows and events. We spent a good few hours walking around the small island and taking in the exhibits. We had a quick drink in the Island Bar, before catching our next ferry.
Manly beach is a lovely bay in Sydney Harbour; lots of funky restaurants and bars and surfer chic shops. We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out on the beach with a couple of beers, watching the surf! Ended the day with fish and chips in the pub overlooking the beach.
Looking forward to celebrating Australia day this Thursday (a national public holiday) and heading to the harbour to watch the ferry races and taking in a band or two.
