A bustling city is what first comes to mind when describing it in a word. I am writing this while sitting in the heart of the city on an evening. The morning held a hint of rain and it poured the entire afternoon. Now the clouds seem to take a break and here I sit under the Opera house. The city seems alive as if the rain did not impact it at all. The breeze still speaks of the rain that was and that is to come, and the sea gulls are back between the people unafraid, begging for a morsel.
We did the touristy things here with a twist. The twist being that we entirely relayed on our own resources and not that of a tourist agent! We arrived one afternoon, headed to the Circular Quay which seemed like the heart of the city, collected all the information, guide books and maps at the tourist information centre there and set about scheduling our Sydney itinerary. We changed this several times during the entire stay in order to suit the weather and our mood, the joy of being out in a city on your own.
Opera House
Places we visited and how!
Sydney Tower - take the train and alight at the Townhall station and walk to the Tower.
View from Sydney Tower
Purchase a Hop on Hop off day pass at Circular Quay and jump into the ferry to tour the Islands. Take the attraction combo pass to visit the Tarango Zoo. You can spend the whole day at the Zoo if you wish as the other islands hold little appeal. The Zoo has lots of shows to take in and some cool animals like Meerkats.
Climb the Harbour Bridge- We booked this activity online a month before. The Harbour Bridge is again near to the Circular Quay. We climbed the bridge in the rain and the view was spectacular!
Opera House- Take a tour of the Opera House to learn a bit on how it goes on! The tour tickets are available at the venue.
St Mary's Cathedral
None of the above will be operational after 5pm except the Tower, a lesson we learnt!
The last day we went on a drive to a special place named Kiama, a classic seaside town in New South Wales. the Kiama Blowhole has a history that is unique and fantastic! We packed at a pizza at the nearby Dominoes and sat by the harbour and ate at this beautiful location, an absolute delight!
Storm Bay at Kiama
We stayed at a service apartment which was about 20 mins from Circular Quay. It was close to the Train and bus stations. We booked the accommodation through Airbnb website.
Best part of Sydney-the people!!! So friendly and i am not saying this statement in any of my other travel posts! There were countless times that we lost our way,even with Google Maps we had a tough time to figure out which bus to take on which side of the road! Whom ever we approached for help with the directions went out of their way to help us out!
Good to know:
For train tickets, there are
ticket kiosks at every station. Ask at the information centre about the station name and purchase your tickets.
Purchase a SIM card at the Sydney Airport which has a good data plan so that you can use Maps to find your way.
Down the App: Trip View, to plan your routes.
For the bus you can purchase the tickets at any convenience store.
Nothing is too far in Sydney CBD (that's what the locals say!) so keep your most comfortable walking shoes on!
Anzac Memorial at Hyde Park
Precise..yet beautifully described ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you :-)
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