New South Wales

Sightseeing and Eating in Sydney

Nov 11, 2017

After our diving adventure at the Great Barrier Reef and tropical conditions in Cairns, we continued our trip in Sydney where the climate was much more pleasant, especially because now it was spring. Ilinca and I liked Sydney a lot. It’s hard to name one factor why we liked it so much, I guess it is the combination of the harbor, the beautiful beaches, the modern skyline, clean suburbs, the multicultural gastronomy, the many parks and the fantastic weather during our stay. We were basically only in our accommodation for sleeping, the rest of the time we spent exploring Sydney. Unfortunately we only allowed ourselves four days in Sydney, there would have been so much more to do.

Downtown Sydney and the Harbor

The first stop when exploring Sydney was Circular Quay. This is basically the main harbor for passenger transport in Sydney and is located directly at downtown Sydney. From there ferries leave in all directions and pass directly beneath the famous Harbor Bridge and the opera house. It is a beautiful place for a walk either along the quay into the Royal Botanical Gardens, or for exploring downtown. Thanks to temperatures around 20°C and clear skies, it was very pleasant to go for a stroll around that area.

Another nice area close to downtown was Darling Harbor with lots of restaurants and an esplanade along the bay. Lots of locals meet here to get one or more after work drinks, visit concerts, or go to the movies. As we were on a tight schedule however, we only briefly walked through there, not even allowing us to get a drink at one of the bars. We only allowed ourselves time to visit the Chinese Garden of Friendship.

Gardens, Parks and the Taronga Zoo in Sydney

Even though Sydney has a population of more than 5 million, there is plenty of open space in gardens and parks. The most prominent ones are the already mentioned Royal Botanical Gardens and Hyde Park. But one of the highlights of a visit to Sydney is Taronga Zoo. While I have already seen more generous zoos when it comes to space for the animals, it still is a very beautiful zoo that lets you discover Australia’s native wildlife. What makes the zoo unique is its location: a 10 min ferry ride from Circular Quay on a small hill with superb views of Downtown Sydney. The view alone almost justifies a visit to the zoo.

Harbor Bridge

One of the landmarks of Sydney is Harbor Bridge. And apart from simply looking at it or walking on the sidewalk of the street, it is even possible to walk over the whole arch of the bridge. This sounded very exciting to me until I actually checked the prices for this: Tickets were up to AUD 380 for the dawn tour. This corresponds to almost 300$. A very steep price for a probably also steep climb. While this was way more than I was willing to pay for such a walk over the bridge, the tours seemed to be booked quite frequently, because we saw many groups walking over the arch of the bridge.

Beaches

Unlike other city beaches, the beaches of Sydney are very appealing. They have great waves for surfing, seem reasonably clean, and can be reached within less than an hour from downtown Sydney. The Pacific Ocean in Sydney is not as warm as up in Cairns, but I guess in summer the temperatures will go high enough to fully enjoy beach life.

Eating in Sydney

The food options in Sydney are just endless. No surprise we did not eat one single meal in our Airbnb apartment. We had basically everything from super spicy Thai food to delicious Indian and Lebanese dishes and for Ilinca’s birthday some excellent Australian wines and cheeses. If we had had more time, we would have tried many more different cuisines. You can basically eat all around the globe in Sydney.

Beaches and Surfing in Byron Bay

Oct 26, 2017

After three days of city in Brisbane, we headed south to Byron Bay with its wonderful beaches. It is the first time since my departure from Switzerland where I actually went swimming in the ocean because at the latitude of Byron Bay, the risk of crocodiles and jellyfish us much lower than in the tropics. And because Byron Bay is famous also for its waves, I took some surf lessons as well.

Byron Bay Village and Surroundings

The Village

With its amazing beaches, it is no surprise that the whole village center is aimed at tourists. There are countless shops, bars and restaurants, tour agencies trying to sell activities such as surfing or kayaking. But even though I am not the biggest fan of tourist places, here at Byron Bay it still is quite relaxing. There is no loud music anywhere, people are relaxed, and the village looked quite pretty, without any huge hotel blocks and awful traffic. What I also appreciated is that in Byron Bay there are lots of young tourists, some of them staying in backpacker hostels, or like we did, on a campground where you could easily get in touch with other travelers while cooking dinner together at one of the BBQ stations on the premises. Just like at other beach places though, German and French are commonly used languages and most likely you would get along just fine here without speaking a word of English.

Around Byron Bay

The nature around Byron Bay is just amazing. The beaches are white and clean without any big rocks, the waters are somewhere between turquoise and deep blue, and there is lots of green around the villages.

And there is plenty of wildlife here, both on land and in the waters. One morning when I went for a morning run to the lighthouse, there was a 2m carpet snake just lying next to the street warming up in the sun. A very beautiful and impressive animal, and as I was told by a ranger that passed by, not dangerous at all. And at the same location a few hours later, there was a huge lizard walking in the bushes next to the street. Too bad I did not have my camera with me.

Other times during my surf lessons I could watch humpback whales splashing around out in the ocean, or dolphins approaching us while paddling on the surfboards. While this is very exciting for me, I guess it is quite common here. And as everywhere, there are birds of all kinds around.

Surfing at Byron Bay

The beaches here at Byron Bay are not just wonderful for swimming, but also for surfing. So I decided to take some surfing lessons here to refresh my basic skills I gained in Brazil in a two day course about 11 years ago.

I remember from Brazil that learning to surf can be quite painful, and also this time it should be no different. I ended up with two small wounds on my right foot because I hit the board with it, sore knees because of the surfboard’s rough surface, and some muscle pain. But I consider these as minor scratches. Apart from that, it was a wonderful experience, and after another two days of lessons, I managed to enter the waves myself, stand up on the board and go straight to the beach. But when it comes to making turns, I guess I am still a long way from actually controlling the surfboard once I am on the wave. But maybe I get the occasion again at some other places here in Australia to improve my surfing skills.

By the way, Ilinca did not join for the surfing activities, but spent more time exploring Byron Bay Village. So check her blog if you want to know more about the village itself.

Next Stop Noosa

After Byron Bay we are heading 300 km north to Noosa, another famous spot at the east coast of Australia with beautiful beaches and lagoons.