After spending the first night in a shoddy hotel in Kings Cross, an area not too dissimilar to our very own namesake, we stayed in Cammeray with Dazza, a friend of Steve's whom he met whilst travelling in India some years before. As well as living in a really flash pad, Dazza lived a mere 20 minutes walk from Central Sydney and, better still, the North Sydney Olympic pool! Quite possibly the most scenic swim in the world.
Sydneysiders, and Aussies in general, are extremely active outdoorsy types, with joggers literally everywhere and swimmers effortlessly thrashing it out in the pool. It felt only right to follow suit. As well as frequenting the pool several times, we spent much of our time walking, walking and…walking. If there was ever a path to tread, we walked it, including several trips to-and-fro across the infamous Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Come rain or shine, morning, noon or night, Sydney Harbour looks amazing, whichever way you look at it. Yet nothing quite prepares you for the spectacle that is sunset, with the sun casting a silhouette of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the twilight lights of the majestic Sydney Opera House illuminating the sky of what is undoubtedly the most stunning skyline and most beautiful harbour in the world.
Naturally whilst in Sydney we visited the usual haunts; Manly Beach, The Rocks for a true Aussie beer, the Sydney Observatory (just when you thought we couldn’t get any geekier), and who could resist a nostalgic trip to Palm Beach aka Summer Bay. Sadly, Alf Stewart was nowhere in sight, the flaming mongrel!
Although I personally cannot understand the hype associated with Bondi Beach, the coastal walk from there to Bronte was lovely and of course, as with all the Sydney suburbs, Steve and I did check out the Real Estate. We can but dream!
Darling Harbour was, as its name suggests, another real darling with a vast array of wining and dining (not that we could afford it), a buzzing atmosphere and a beautiful setting to go with it. We raised a “glass” to me old cobber Louisa in memory of her Aussie backpacking days spent in this exact spot, albeit that our vino was cunningly disguised as a bottle of Coke – sadly our budget couldn’t quite stretch to a bar!
On our one day that we chose to invest in public transport opting for a day pass we crammed in as much bus, train and ferry travel as we could to get our pennies worth, taking us from the hustle and bustle of Paddys Market to the quiet and tranquility of Carmone.
It was whilst in Sydney that Dazza introduced us to Ceroc dancing and although we weren’t quite ready to don our dancing shoes, we were happy to spectate. As Dazza wriggled his hips in an attempt to woo the ladies, Steve and I sat with a XXXX and watched the fun unravel. These dancers, young and old, were amazing. And as for the pins on those women…it certainly inspired me, I can tell you!
Dazza also very kindly took us to Bathers at Balmoral, another
beautiful spot with a beautiful beach, beautiful scenery and quite possibly the most beautiful cooked breakfast ever! A real treat for Steve and I as we had been gagging for a fry-up since leaving the UK and this posh nosh was certainly a contrast to your average East End greasy spoon! Not only that but also very welcome following our evening spent in The Oaks pub with Dazza and Paula, his very classy Italian chick, knocking back the beers and vino whilst surrounded by big, burly Aussies watching footie aka Aussie Rules (ie. a game for men not metrosexual enough for soccer and not quite macho enough for rugby!!).We spent a relaxing last day in Sydney floating around aimlessly. Relaxing, that is, apart from the Jet Boat and a free ticket courtesy of Dazza. Being agreeable as I am I let Steve take the plunge and as I watched the jet boat whizz out of the harbour it suddenly dawned on me – Steve gets seasick! Ooops! Nevertheless, 30 minutes and several 360 degree spins later Steve returned to dry ground very wet, slightly queasy, but nothing that an ice cream sundae from MacDonalds couldn’t fix!
Sydney truly is an amazing and encapsulating city, with its relaxed vibrance of a Cosmopolitan city, its unrivalled outdoor lifestyle, striking architecture and some beautiful, scenic beaches just a bus ride away. With so many beaches and such a beautiful, quiet and serene harbour, you almost forget that you are slap bang in the middle of a major city. In fact it's quite surreal.
And thus ends our 10 days in Sydney and our time spent (gate)crashing Dazza’s. Had time not been against us we would have happily stayed several weeks more as Sydney felt like home. However, c’est la vie. Time to move on and discover what other treasures this country has to offer…
