First Day in Sydney - January 16, 2010

Once again, we had to be up very early this morning to catch our flight from Brisbane to Sydney. A 7:15am flight meant getting up at 5:30 to catch the 6:04 train. Once we were out of the hostel, the morning passed very quickly. We caught the train on time, arrived at the Jetstar domestic terminal 45 minutes before the flight, and breezed through security onto the plane. Had we driven from Brisbane to Sydney, it would have taken about 12 hours, but our flight was less than an hour and a half.

Upon reaching Sydney, we dropped our bags off at the hotel and went out to explore the city. Unfortunately for us, the YHA hostels in Sydney were more expensive than a three star hotel, so we decided on a hotel that is a 10 minute walk from the city center. First, we hit up a market in a section of the city called Glebe, an area very similar to Williamsburg, BK with all it’s hipness and trendiness.

Once we finished at the market, we decided to enjoy the rest of the day at Bondi Beach. We caught a bus that deposited us back in the city center so we could transfer to another bus to Bondi. Unfortunately, buses don’t give transfers, so we lost a few dollars in the process. Colin was disappointed in the bus system, especially when our bus drivers all seemed to hate their jobs and most could not tell us information about reaching our destination.

We finally reached Bondi around 2:30pm, just as some hazy clouds were rolling in. It was actually perfect since we both wanted a nice nap on the beach!



Once we rested a bit, we were off for some shopping and exploring. Bondi seems to be hit by the recession – I found some of the cheapest prices on items. One employee even told me the hours of the store change based on whether or not people are out late.

I had to take a photo of the water fountain, or as they call them in Australia, “bubbler” – just like my Rhode Island roots!!



After our shopping adventure we decided to grab some dinner at a pub off the side road. We were so hungry that we ordered two entrees and an appetizer! In hindsight, it was way too much, but the pub specialized in Mexican food, and their guacamole was divine.

We had heard there was an amazing cliffwalk from Bondi Beach to it’s southern neighbor beach. It was getting late by the time we finished dinner, but we decided to check out part of the walk. It reminded me of the cliffwalk in Newport, RI. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do the whole thing because it was dark. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!!





We managed to catch the correct bus back to the downtown area of Sydney, where we walked back to the hotel. It was so nice to have a room to ourselves where we could keep the air conditioning on. Too bad the train passed pretty close by – but I think we were so tired it didn’t really keep us from sleeping.

Tomorrow the plan is to see the touristy areas of Sydney by making our way to the Opera House and the Bridge.