Sydney

Sydney is officially my favorite English-speaking city. Sydney is sunny, modern, clean, and easy to get around using public transportation. The people living there are generally happy, active, and love being outside. The city has beautiful sites, free botanical gardens, a huge waterfront, great restaurants, and beaches. The neighborhoods range from artsy to touristy, luxurious, historical, and multicultural. The city has so much to offer and there was no way I could do everything I wanted in the short amount of time I had.

My friend Maggie, who I met in New Zealand, is working in Sydney and we met up to check out Surry Hills one night. Surry Hills is known for its bars and restaurants, which there was definitely no shortage of. We got dinner at El Loco, a Mexican restaurant that was celebrating the Day of the Dead. Afterward, we got drinks at Sugar Rays, where an incredible singer and saxophone duo were playing. Another day we checked out a vegan restaurant, The Golden Lotus, in the artsy neighborhood of Newtown. Their meat substitutes were impressively good. The neighborhood itself was fun to walk around in and check out the shops filled with artwork and antiques. Maggie also took me to Burwood to see their little Chinatown, which was really cute. We got some bubble tea and walked around the area, checking out the Chinese decor.

​I spent a good amount of time just exploring the CBD (Central Business District) of Sydney, walking through beautiful, old Victorian-style streets of Woolloomooloo and taking a free walking tour around the more touristy areas. I loved walking through the historical area of The Rocks and then making my way around the harbor to see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. The waterfront in Sydney is truly spectacular and the opera house is even better in-person. The architect, Jørn Utzon, created a masterpiece. The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge are especially breathtaking at night, which I had the pleasure of seeing from a boat while attending an evening boat party on Halloween.

​The highlight of my trip to Sydney was the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. I took the bus to Coogee beach and walked north to Bondi. The walk was stunning, with picturesque beaches, colorful rocky cliffs, and turquoise water. When I got to Bondi, I paid the small fee to enter the Bondi Icebergs Pool for the day. Bondi Iceberg is a pretty well-known ocean pool on Bondi beach. In Sydney, ocean pools are fairly common, with most beaches having access to one. Bondi is fairly large and built into the rock face of the cliffside. I expected to go to it and swim a few laps, nothing crazy. But I was in heaven! The swim club is right up against the beautiful Bondi Beach, but away from the sand, heat, and crowds. The pool is refreshing and fun to swim laps in — although I am a former swimmer, so I am biased about lap pools. I spent the greater part of the afternoon bathing in the sun on the concrete pool deck, watching the surfers and waves beside the pool, while periodically going for a swim. Bondi Beach itself was also really lovely and I spent a lot of time there, relaxing with friends. The beach is huge and there are some impressive graffiti artworks on the walls of the pathway that walks along it.

My hostel was one of the worst hostels I’ve ever stayed at, but the common areas were great and the people staying there were even better. There was a rooftop that everyone would hang out on all afternoon and evening, with a big seating area in the kitchen that we would hang out in after hours, and a TV room in the basement. At dusk, all the bats in Sydney would come out and we could see dozens fly over our hostel’s rooftop.

Unfortunately, the night before my last day in Sydney, I ate something that gave me pretty horrible food poisoning and I was bedridden for most of the day. I spent the morning laying in bed, trying to hydrate and rest. When I finally started to feel better, I hung out on the hostel’s rooftop, chatting with my friend Nico, who’s from Germany and has been traveling Australia for almost a year. I managed to have enough energy to walk around by the Sydney Opera House one last time, as the sun set and the lights of the city began to shine.

---

Watch my video blog from Australia: