4 Days in Sydney

We spent 4 days in Sydney. We stayed in Potts Point which was within walking distance (approximately 3.5 kilometers) to the downtown Sydney harbor. It appeared to be filled with different backpacker accommodations. It also had a McDonald’s which provided free wireless.

Sebastien found a short term studio apartment rental called Azure Apartments. I give the place half a star. This is due to the visible mold on the walls and the cockroaches that came out at night. It was gross! Though it was right across from Woolworth (N.Z. and Australia’s grocery store chain) and had all the kitchen necessities like a toaster, microwave, t.v., pots, pans, etc., and a T.V. and D.V.D player. I would never go back though!

Day 1: The day we arrived we walked through the area with the most o’s in its name, Wooloomooloo, and over to see the famous Opera House. It was pretty amazing to see such a symbolic land mark. We must have taken 50 pictures of the Opera House and the bridge that day.

Day 2: On our second day in Aurstralia we went to the famous Bondi Beach. The transit system in Australia is wonderful. It was easy and convenient to figure out and use the bus, train, and ferry system. To get from Potts point to Bondi we just hoped on the train heading to Bondi Station and then took a bus (which you could pick up at the Bondi station) down to the beach. It was a little confusing to know which bus to take to the beach (because there were two) but there are so many people are in the same boat that its not a big deal.

Finally, after almost a month of traveling in Australia we got some surf. We rented a 7’2 fun shaped board from a place at the north edge of the beach. It was about $30 dollars to rent the board and a wetsuit (for Sebastien) for about 3 hours. Sebastien was called out first but with in 20 minutes of being out there he was told by the life savers (a.k.a. lifeguards) to go back in and head to the area for hard surfboards. There are lots of people who ride soft top surfboards in Australia. So many that they have a little area for them. Or maybe they can surf with anyone in the swim zone.

About 100 meters south there was the “real” surfers area. Sebastien went back out there for and hour as I watched all the entertaining people around me. There are all kinds of people from everywhere that come to Bondi beach every day. I even saw Life Saver Mr. H. On our flight to Sydney we watched a clip of him and how he is known as the “bad ass” life saver of the bondi patrol team. After Sebastien surfed I went out and had a nice session amongst the diverse crowd. It was great to be in the water.

Day 3: The following day we headed to Manly Beach which is suppose to be “THE” surf spot of the Sydney area. We had to catch a ferry over to the beach and while in route the weather changed from sunny skies to gray, wind, and rain. Not ideal for a beach/surf day. On the ferry we were able to take a few more amazing photos of the Opera House and bridge as well as see the rugged coast line and the multimillion dollar houses.

Day 4: The last day in Sydney the weather remained windy and rainy. We spent a good chunk of time at the McDonlald’s with its free wi-fi. We did take a nice walk around Potts Point and ended up walking through the Friendship garden by the Opera House. As we walked towards the Operal House we saw a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in port. It looked enormous in the slim harbor. We ended up watching the cruise ship depart from the harbor and waited till it was dark to take a few more pictures of the Opera House at night.