My last Australian blogpost, the last chapter in this story. Last Friday I safely arrived back in the Netherlands, but before that I still enjoyed a few days in the biggest city of Australia: Sydney. After a 12,5 hour night bus from Byron Bay I arrived in Sydney early on Friday morning, leaving me four days to explore the city, one to go to the Blue Mountains National Park, and one day for my day trip to Canberra. Arriving in such a big city again, with more than five million inhabitants, was quite a change after the small cities and towns of the East Coast, but I definitely loved the vibe and the fact that I had a long list of things to do!
So on day 1 I immediately took the bus to Coogee, a suburb of Sydney along the beach, to start the famous Coogee to Bondi Beach walk. This six kilometer walk connects the prettiest beaches of Sydney while also bringing you past the numorous parks, cliffs, bays and rock pools. As I was pretty tired from the night bus, it was very refreshing to walk along this beautiful coast line, and I have to say that although I have seen a lot of beaches and coast on my East Coast trip, that this was still something completely different.
And so I started off in Coogee and from there walked past the Dolphin's Point to Clovelly, and from there on past the Waverly Cemetery to Bronte. There were a lot of surfers here trying to catch some of the big waves crashing into the beach. From Bronte I continued to Tamarama beach, a cute beach where I had lunch on the rocks watching families and children enjoying the refreshing water and another bunch of surfers trying to catch some waves.
Then from Tamarama it was only a short walk to Sydney's most famous and busiest beach of all: Bondi Beach. Of course I had to take some shots of the Bondi Icebergs swimming pool, an ocean pool filled with the salty water that surrounds it. The big waves come crashing into the pool and can make swimming really challenging, but it makes for spectacular sights and photos! Bondi Beach also has a lot of street art around it and I explored this some more before heading over to the other side of the beach to see the rock pools there. I then sat down at the beach and waited for two of my friends from Melbourne to arrive who happened to be going to Bondi that afternoon as well, so we could catch up on our travel stories! A very good first day in Sydney!
Saturday is market day in Sydney, and so I set off early in the morning to take a look at the Paddington markets, a local arts and crafts markets where they sell art works, souvenirs and jewelry and fashion. Though not very big, the items sold were all very beautiful and I picked out a new phone case while strolling past the various stalls. After Paddington, I headed to the other side of Sydney to the Glebe markets. Glebe is a very hipster part of town and it came with no surprise that this market was full of second-hand clothes, jewlry and healthy food and drinks. With some new souvenirs in my bag I headed to Circular Quay to take a first look at the Opera House and Harbour Bridge when meeting up with two girls I had met on the Whitsundays. After an amazing lunch it was time for the third and last market of the day, the Rocks arts market, where I enjoyed the numorous arts stalls in the old neighbourhood.
From the Rocks I also walked across the Harbour Bridge to the luna park on the other side of the river to enjoy a beautiful view of both the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House at once. Unfortunately, I missed the ferry back so I had to walk all the way back across the bridge, but luckily the views were worth it.
Day three in Sydney I actually left the city to explore some of its surroundings, the Blue Mountains National Park. Protected as a World Heritage Site, this enormous national park is famous for the amount of gum trees that give it its blue glare during sunset. Though the average age of the tour group was about 40 years older than I was, the sights of the Blue Mountains definitely made up for that. We first went to several lookout points and some of the mountain towns before going to the famous Three Sisters rock formation and the Wentworth Falls. From there we went to Katoomba Scenic World, where we first took two skyrails to cross the cliffs of the national park, and then took the steepest incline train back up the cliffs. It was very cool to see the national park this way!
Included in the tour was also a scenic cruise back to Circular Quay, and I enjoyed the sights of the Sydney skyline, Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the boat. A spectacular way to end this tour! It was also a perfect timing to see the sunset behind the city skyline and Opera House, very stunning!
My last two days in Sydney, I did a lot of souvenir shopping for family and friends while at the same time exploring many of Sydney's suburbs. I walked through the CBD area and saw Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building, and many of the other beautiful historic buildings of this part of town. I also brought a short visit to Alexandria where I went to the Grounds of Alexandria, a cute hub of several cafés, restaurants and shops, which looks really cute due to all the plants and flowers surrounding it.
I also went to Chinatown to buy very cheap souvenirs at Paddy's Markets and to taste some of the very delicious cream puffs they sell for just 35 cents per piece at one of the Chinese bakeries. Last but not least, I visited Newtown, which reminded me a lot of Fitzroy back in Melbourne, and where I enjoyed a good last lunch in a cute café and the many artsy shops.
Last but not least, I ended my time in Sydney by going to the ligtshow at the Opera House together with a friend I had met in Cairns. Badu Gili is on display for a full year and runs twice a night showing Indigenous art. It was very impressive to see and a great way to end my time in this beautiful country!
And so now, 209 days, 108 classes, 53 Skype sessions, 28 hostels, 10 flights, 8 states, 4 rental cars, 3 flatmates, 2 countries and 1 amazing exchange later, I am finally back home! And though it is really sad to leave this unforgettable experience behind, it is also really nice to see each and every one of you again!
And so I started off in Coogee and from there walked past the Dolphin's Point to Clovelly, and from there on past the Waverly Cemetery to Bronte. There were a lot of surfers here trying to catch some of the big waves crashing into the beach. From Bronte I continued to Tamarama beach, a cute beach where I had lunch on the rocks watching families and children enjoying the refreshing water and another bunch of surfers trying to catch some waves.
Then from Tamarama it was only a short walk to Sydney's most famous and busiest beach of all: Bondi Beach. Of course I had to take some shots of the Bondi Icebergs swimming pool, an ocean pool filled with the salty water that surrounds it. The big waves come crashing into the pool and can make swimming really challenging, but it makes for spectacular sights and photos! Bondi Beach also has a lot of street art around it and I explored this some more before heading over to the other side of the beach to see the rock pools there. I then sat down at the beach and waited for two of my friends from Melbourne to arrive who happened to be going to Bondi that afternoon as well, so we could catch up on our travel stories! A very good first day in Sydney!
Day three in Sydney I actually left the city to explore some of its surroundings, the Blue Mountains National Park. Protected as a World Heritage Site, this enormous national park is famous for the amount of gum trees that give it its blue glare during sunset. Though the average age of the tour group was about 40 years older than I was, the sights of the Blue Mountains definitely made up for that. We first went to several lookout points and some of the mountain towns before going to the famous Three Sisters rock formation and the Wentworth Falls. From there we went to Katoomba Scenic World, where we first took two skyrails to cross the cliffs of the national park, and then took the steepest incline train back up the cliffs. It was very cool to see the national park this way!
Included in the tour was also a scenic cruise back to Circular Quay, and I enjoyed the sights of the Sydney skyline, Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the boat. A spectacular way to end this tour! It was also a perfect timing to see the sunset behind the city skyline and Opera House, very stunning!
Last but not least, I ended my time in Sydney by going to the ligtshow at the Opera House together with a friend I had met in Cairns. Badu Gili is on display for a full year and runs twice a night showing Indigenous art. It was very impressive to see and a great way to end my time in this beautiful country!
And so now, 209 days, 108 classes, 53 Skype sessions, 28 hostels, 10 flights, 8 states, 4 rental cars, 3 flatmates, 2 countries and 1 amazing exchange later, I am finally back home! And though it is really sad to leave this unforgettable experience behind, it is also really nice to see each and every one of you again!