The thing about Australia is that
to me it is a cooler America. It has all of the things that I enjoy about the US and none of the things I dislike. People are utterly friendly, wine at lunch is perfectly acceptable, and the land is just gorgeous. Ryan likes to remind me that the
grass is always greener, and I like to explain to him that people from other countries fascinate me to no end.
So as our honeymoon in Sydney continued so did our adventures and discoveries. We started all of our mornings the same: coffee treat at Starbucks and brekkie as they say at Maccie's (McD's in our world). Starbucks has a different variety of holiday specialty drinks particularly the toffee nut latte. Think pumpkin spice and gingerbread meet to make the most beautiful baby. The menu at McD's is rather different as well. Eggs are not scrambled, Boston & New York get shout outs, and their McFlurrys are intense.
Post these discoveries on day 2, we set out on the Hop On-Hop Off City Sightseeing Tour. Ryan booked the one with Bondi Beach so we stopped off there first. The wind was blowing and the waves were crashing as surfers paddled out to ride. Along the coast line, there is a long standing exhibit called Sculptures by the Sea. You might have caught Leo DiCaprio spotted there in People mag. Such a wonderful addiction to the beach stroll.
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| city sightseeing tour |
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| his work follows us everywhere! |
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| public library |
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| street hustler |
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| bondi beach |
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| just the two of us |
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| don't mind the swim club in the middle of the pacific |
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| zebra art |
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| surfer boy |
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| my fave- the say No artwork |
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| simply lovely |
We made sure to stop on the Paddington Street strip of shops for a lengthy shopping trip. I adore
shopping browsing through fun fashions. The Aussies were rocking short shorts with super fun tops and those thick heeled wedges. I fell victim to purchasing a few of those trendy outfits ;) Oops!
Other highlights included the Fish Market district, Darling Harbour (they spell all things with a u), and Central Station. There is so much to see in Sydney, but most sights are easily accessible by foot. It makes for a nice way to pretend that you are exercising while vacationing.
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| lunch at Dunkirk |
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| the bus! |
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| darling harbour |
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| love this view |
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| mid-afternoon snack |
We finished up day 2 with a simple dinner at Jackson on George Street across from our hotel.
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| artsy photo |
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| please notice sunday specials... |
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| dinner for 2 |
Day 3 started early with another surprise planned by the hubs. We hopped on a lovely coach bus with 50 other mates and headed on a day long tour. We traveled up to the blue mountains, named this because from a distance they actually look blue. We stopped in the small town of Leuret which has a French flare. Then continued on to Echo Point lookout and the Three Sisters lookout. The mountain tour finished up with the Adventure World and a walk through the rainforest. The day's weather was misty so we technically did not see the mountains but got some lovely postcards to enjoy what we should be seeing!
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| reading about the tour |
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| the ride |
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| Leuret |
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| Josephine's chocolate shop |
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| echo point |
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| train ride to the rainforest |
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| mock fire |
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| rainforest walk |
As we descended the mountains, we stopped off at the Wildlife Park to play with the koalas and kangaroos. I love, love, love the animals of Aussieland and they very well might be my fave part of the country. So this stop was a real treat for us. We saw cockatoos, emus, wallabys, penguins, and (Ryan's personal fave) a tasmanian devil.
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| wildlife park! |
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| even wallabys get red eye ;) |
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| love this little guy |
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| hello little koalas |
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| Ryan's new sleeping position |
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| so soft |
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| feeding the roos |
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| hungry little buggers |
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| looks like the hubs & me all snuggled up |
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| baby penguins |
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| dingo dog |
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| TAZ! |
To top off the tour, no stay in Sydney would be complete without the 2000 Sydney Olympic Park. State of the art facilities that are rarely used have left them in fabulous condition. The stop pumped us up for the 2012 London games! Then we cruised back to Darling Harbour via ferry and enjoyed a dinner seaside.
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| the olympic hopeful |
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| all of the flags behind me represent each volunteer from the 2000 Olympics |
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| cruisin on the ferry |
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| end of a fab day! |
All in all, day 2 and day 3 covered so much ground that we almost felt like real Aussies! More to come about our adventures in the land of Oz!
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