Australia: Those Pretty Sydney Sights

Sunrise over the Harbor

Final Days
The very end of our trip was spent in the beautiful bustling metropolitan of Sydney. When we arrived it was already dark (before 6pm), it was cold, and it was super rainy. The airport shuttle we took to our hotel was quite a joke and for awhile there, we weren't even sure our driver (a) even knew where he was and (b) was going to be able to get us to where we needed to be. (Spoiler alert: he didn't.) Added bonus: because the Vivid festival (a festival of music, lights, and ideas held in Sydney for a few weeks) was starting that night, the traffic was in-sane! After being rerouted a few times and having to walk about 10 mins - with all our luggage - from the place we were dropped off to the place we actually needed to be, we finally made it to our stay. In all it took us about 3-4 hours to get from the plane to our hotel room 20-30 mins away. Off to a great start! :)

Exploring the City

Vivid lights

We jumped right in exploring the city and all the pretty lights, eating dinner on the water and even catching a glimpse or two of fireworks in the distance over the harbor. Throughout the next couple of days we became more and more acquainted with the area, exploring some popular spots near the harbors and wharfs and, my personal favorite, the adorable and culturally delightful Rocks district. There are several areas (like the Rocks) that are home to some pretty big weekend street markets. We got to visit one but didn't have near enough time for them! (Also, after trolling some Instagram shots, I'm pretty sure we had to be about 2 steps ahead of Hugh Jackman the whole time. Buuut sadly we never saw any famous Aussies. ;) )

Fun Stuff
While we were in Sydney we filled every day with excursions and activities and tried to hit as much of the big stuff as we could! It went a little something like this:

* Taronga Zoo w/ behind-the-scenes tour (see separate post for photos)

* Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb

* Blue Mountains Tour (see separate post for photos)

* Behind-the-Scene of the Sydney Opera House

* Vivid!

* Beautiful Bondi Beach

Sunrise over Darling Harbor our last day.

View from the Opera House

 Inside the opera house in the 2 biggest theaters in the building. The one on the right is made entirely of wood to accommodate a better acoustic sound for performances.

One of my favorite shots of our trip. Travis' artwork!

A bit blurry but a quick shot of the opera house all lit up.

 






















































** Photo credit: Sarah-Jane Cruz and Travis Simnitt **