Back at Cairns Airport, I find myself waiting to embark on the next leg of my Antipodean Adventure! Sydney, here I come! 😎 Sydney is the capital of Australia and is located in the southeastern Australian state of New South Wales – or NSW as it’s more colloquially referred to – with Queensland to the North, Victoria to the south and Southern Australia to the west. NSW is also home to the ACT – an enclave within the state, otherwise known as the Australian Capital Territory (or the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, pre-1938).
Having dropped the trusty chariot back at the Avis Car Hire collection point – thank you, my faithful friend, it was a pleasure; you served me well – it was time to board Virgin VA1426, a 737-800 at, I’d say, around 75%-ish full.
Virgin are not as “generous” as Qantas, so there were no interesting “freebies” like there were on the flight to Cairns. However, having a window seat over the wing – without the extra legroom, sadly 😞 – made for some interesting photo opportunities as we headed into the night: being an hour ahead and with an estimated flight time of ~3 hours, touchdown in Sydney was going to be around 9:30 pm.
Travelling also gives me an opportunity to do two things: (a) run through my lines – surely I must have mentioned by now that, next year (2025), I’ll be starring in a production of the adaptation of Bill Bryson’s “Notes from a Small Island”? No? 😉 And (b) let the Director see that I have (been running my lines); apparently, she’s quite a fan of these posts. Clearly, there is no accounting for taste 🤷🏻♂️
Touching down at Terminal 2, I collected my luggage, did the digital “hailing” of an Uber – which, surprisingly, I also managed to find; the Uber pickup spot is not that obvious – and headed out of the Airport to my hotel: the PARKROYAL Darling Harbour. Sydney Airport Terminal 2 is the domestic terminal, so it’s much the same as taking any other internal flight. Flying to/from Fiji – which is the subject of a future post – will be via Terminal 1 (a.k.a. Kingsford Smith), the International terminal, so there might be something more interesting to share there; stay tuned! 😎
At Sydney airport, I actually bumped into Sharad and his wife – the travel companions from the excursion I did to the Daintree. They were on the same flight, but we obviously missed each other at the Cairns departure gate. Small World, though, eh?! 😎
A Restful Evening
Checking into my hotel room – located on the sixth floor – I took a few snaps of the evening view from the window of my room before taking a much-needed shower. The next day, I figured out that my room looked directly onto a bunch of apartment blocks; it was probably best that I took photos from the window whilst I was still dressed…rather than being naked from the shower! 😳
Having washed away the day, it was time to take the Red (and White) pills and call it quits. The drugs I got in Port Douglas – 🤔 not sure I’ve told you about that yet – have been doing a great job of fighting off my general travel malaise, and I’m definitely beginning to feel more like my normal self again! 🎉
Morning Activities
Feeling a lot better after my medically induced coma – you really do have to take the Green ones, though, to become functional again – and after breakfast at the Hotel, I made plans to maximise the time I have today: Sunday, December 15th. I opted for breakfast in the Hotel, however unlike my experience at the One Queen during my time in Melbourne, this ended up being an experience I did not feel the need to repeat 😳
The plan I’d come up with was to go visit the Sydney Opera House 😎 As the PARKROYAL is located within the CBD, I’m going to be spending a lot of the day crisscrossing out/through/within it (the CBD, that is). My experience at the Opera House I’ll reserve as a post in its own right, so don’t forget to check it out once it’s published! 😁
For those of you who’ve not been keeping up, the term CBD refers to Central Business District, and like every other Australian City I’ve visited so far, Sydney has one, too. At this time of year, it’s also decked out in Christmas regalia as well – though, I’d say Melbourne probably has the edge when it comes to the festive adornments.
Sydney and Melbourne have this friendly, what I can only describe as sibling rivalry. Depending on your perspective, the degree of Christmas regalia is either a +1 or -1 point to the score for Melbourne 😉
Being fairly early on a Sunday, there weren’t many folks around. My first impressions of Sydney – which haven’t really changed much – are that it’s a lot like London. And quite a bit different from Melbourne, too. The sights, sounds, and smells are similar to London, and it is also arrayed in a similar way…with its core business district giving way to the parks, gardens, and suburbs that provide the eclectic balance typically associated with capital city life.
Hyde Park & St James’s
With my ultimate destination firmly top of mind, and via the wonder of Apple Maps (other mapping services are available 😉), I discovered some quintessentially British locations en route. I mean, how much more do you need to convince you that this is London by any other name 😉
Botanical Gardens
Next, I found myself strolling past the Hospital, the Library and eventually into the Botanical Gardens.
The Botanical Gardens are more akin to Kew; however, comparatively, they are situated similarly to where Kensington (Gardens) would be if one subscribes to my London analogy – and naturally, why wouldn’t you?!? 😉.
An Adventurous Afternoon
My morning concluded with a visit to and tour around the Sydney Opera House, which is the subject of a future post 😎 There’s a lot of stair climbing on the tour, so with all that exertion, I was kind of feeling it was about time for a spot of lunch.
There are a lot of cafes located alongside the waterfront as you make your way from the Opera House heading back towards Darling Harbour (more on that below). I picked Cafe Gigi. To say it probably wasn’t my best choice is a little of an understatement and just goes to show that even a relatively seasoned traveller doesn’t make the best choice every time 🤷🏻♂️
I mean, it’s not a terrible venue – otherwise, it probably wouldn’t still be in business – but it wasn’t great. To start with, I found the staff to be a bit abrasive; the one pseudo-Italian gent really wasn’t pulling off being either Italian or a convivial host! The food was so-so, too: to drink, I had the Queensland Mango smoothie – which is just mango and milk, so kind of bland, and with an absence of ice, fairly warm too 😳 The bruschetta I also had wasn’t awful, it’s just that it lacked imagination; then again I guess there’s only so much one can do with toast and tomatoes 🤷🏻♂️
Christmas Market
Continuing my travels, I happened upon The Rocks (Christmas) Street Market being held on Playfair Street. By this time, Sydney CBD and the surrounding environs had certainly come to life 😁
Darling Harbour
Having almost made a complete circuit back to the PARKROYAL, I found myself at Darling Harbour. This is a district of the city that’s home to a varied assortment of eateries and attractions aimed primarily at a tourist population. It is touristy, yes, but not in an over-the-top way. It’s also home to the Australian National Maritime Museum, an absolutely fascinating place, my experience of which I shall share in more detail in a future post 😎
In addition to the National Maritime Museum, there are three other places of particular note (and for various reasons) that I shall mention:
Drinks at Cafe Vogue
Head out towards Tumbalong Park, and you’ll find Cafe Vogue. This is a great little place to stop and relax with a drink or two as you watch the world go by. It was also where I managed to catch up with John (Finch) of Ledge Consulting. I’ve been working with John for the last few months – since circa March 2024 – and in that time, he’s helped me tremendously in improving both my professional and personal outlook. John and his family moved out to Aus in 2023, so this is the first time he and I have actually met! It was really good to finally get to say hello in person, and I got the opportunity to meet his son, too. If you have ever considered or thought about engaging with a coach, then I’d highly recommend giving John a try 😎
If I was more of a social media guru then I’d have likely snapped a couple of shots of John and I conversing over a beer. As I’m not (a social media guru), I didn’t. That clearly needs more work 😂
Lunch at the Adria Bar & Restaurant
Polluting the timeline a little here, I’m going to claim poetic license (or whatever the equivalent is when it comes to prose 😉): I spent some time in Darling Harbour again on Monday afternoon (December 17th) after running a few vacation-related errands in the morning and also visiting the Tower Eye (more on that in another future post), and for lunch, I stopped in at the Adria Bar. Unlike my experience with Cafe Gigi the previous day, this was an altogether different kettle of fish. The staff we much more hospitable, and the food was a whole different calibre. Do consider stopping here if you’re ever in the vicinity and in need of refreshment 😎
An Ice Cream by Gelatissimo
🤔 Well, it’s Ice Cream, and it’s good 😋 Especially on a warm day! I don’t think I have anything more to say about that! 😂
Nighttime Excursion
As I was given a dining recommendation before I left the UK this evening (Sunday 15th; I’ll make a time traveller out of you yet 😉), I headed out to find the Meat & Wine Company – more on that below. Because it’s Summer over here in Aus, I keep forgetting that it’s almost Christmas, so it did take me by surprise somewhat to see all the Christmas revelry and the Party-goers partying around the harbour 😂
Dinner at The Meat & Wine Company
Inspired by my friend Neil (Morton) – whom I first met in 2023 during one of my initial outings on the iOS Developer conference circuit – my venue of choice for Dinner was The Meat & Wine Company on the corner of Barangaroo Avenue and Watermans Quay in Barangaroo (a little district off of Darling Harbour).
They do pretty much what their name suggests, and they do it really well! Both of my dishes were excellent, and so was the wine (a Merlot). I’m going to +1 Neil’s recommendation and say if you’re in the area and looking for a place to dine – and you’re a Meat and Wine lover – then put this one on your list, too 😎
I’d have to say that Melbourne is still my favourite Australian city. And that’s probably because I’m not a city kind of guy. However, I did become very fond of Sydney, and it grew on me a lot more than I thought it would! 😎
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