We had a great week, last week, as well as exploring a bit more of the city, we managed to firm up the arrangements for the next part of trip - not long before we pick up our new set of wheels and hit the road again!
We spent Monday booking our campervan for our east coast trip. It’s similar in size to our last camper, but newer and more reliable (so we are pretty confident this camper will not breakdown). We pick up our camper next Monday. Really looking forward to camping again, seeing the beautiful east coast...and having a few BBQs on the beach!
Last week, we spent most of our time outside enjoying the lovely weather. Monday was Sydney’s hottest day so far this summer at a sweltering 36 degrees!
o Centennial Park
In the funky Surrey Hills part of town, there’s a huge park called Centennial Park. The park houses the Moonlight Cinema, an outdoor cinema screen set up in the park over the summer months. We picked up tickets to see Sherlock Holmes 2 on Friday night. We spent most of Tuesday just chilling out in the park, before grabbing some dinner and a couple of schooners in a pub nearby.
o Shopping in outdoor mile in Sydney
Thankfully all the outdoor stores are located on the same street. We discovered this street on Wednesday and spent the afternoon stocking up on essentials for our campervan. I also bought a really good pair of walking boots; essential for the last part of trip when we go walking in South East Asia. We spent the morning in the historic Paddy’s Market, a huge indoor market with lots of stalls and the best value fresh fruit and veg we’ve found so far. Sydney is pretty expensive for most things, but out of season fruit and veg is particularly pricey (a bunch of bananas might cost you $12!), so Paddy’s Market is really handy for cheap supplies!
o Blue Mountains
On Saturday, we hired a car and headed out of town to an area called the Blue Mountains with Laura and Katie. The Mountains are part of a large National Park. We were very lucky with the weather as it had been raining constantly the day before. When we arrived the mist had lifted and the sun was out, it was perfect. We bought a pass to explore the mountain range on the various transport modes – the world’s steepest railway took us down the rainforest track (the train was more like a rollercoaster but without any safety belts. It was a bit of a shock as we plummeted 200 metres into darkness, before reaching the bottom of the cliff! The Indian Jones tune should have been a sign that this was no ordinary train! We took the cable car back up for views of Solitary Mountain, the Orphan Rock and the Three Sisters (three single rock formations) before catching the Skywalk over to the Katoomba waterfall and the Three Sisters walkway. We finished the afternoon off in the local village, with a drink in the local pub, listening to ukuleles! (the ukulele festival was on - how could I forget!).
o Dragon Boat Race
Sunday was probably just as hot as as Monday, so we were pleased we got our hike around the Blue Mountains out of the way on Saturday! We headed to the harbour in the afternoon to watch the Dragon Boat Races. It’s part of the Chinese New Year Festival and is an annual tradition. We spent the afternoon watching the rest of the races with some cold drinks under the much needed shade of a parasol!
This week is our last week in Sydney and it will be pretty busy as we try to fit in the last few attractions and activities we have planned.
