I’d been told that I should really be sticking in Oz for Australia Day and no better place to do it than Sydney.
My first couple of nights were spent in Kirribilli; not a bad spot to be staying, just on the shore by the harbour bridge on the North Shore. For Oz day, we jumped a ferry over to Circular Quay to join the madness of the crowds that were already starting to descend upon the city at 10am.
We had a harbour tour booked for early afternoon which got us out into the Harbour to watch the Tall Boat Race, the Red Arrow equivalent, the war ship out into the waters as well as general boat dress up on the water.
A stroll down through the Rocks area, a jump on an old Sydney bus, around the city to jump off and head over the bridge back to Kirribilli to watch the cruise boats come in, the fireworks displays from said cruise boats and a glass of bubbles to round off the night.
Another night out was to the outdoor cinema, no tickets were available to the Botantic Gardens overlooking the Harbour (these get booked out straight away) but I did manage to get some for Centennial Park. VIP tickets they were called. Off with our picnic and bottles of wine, we headed off to see Robert de Niro in Dirty Grandpa.
VIP meant a cordoned off area to be seated in at the front of the grass area; cushions and backrests as well as waiter service. What more could we ask for, we were sorted for the evening. The weather evening held off and I thought the movie was hilarious!
Last night in Sydney was spent with my Australian friend, who was heading back to London via Sydney. We thought we would do something nice for our final night in Australia. We checked ourselves into the Old Clare Hotel. It was an old out and brewery admin building that was recently renovated keeping a lot of the original features intact. Another bonus was the new Jason Atherton restaurant had opened up there, Kengsington Street Social. How could I not pop in and check it out?
It was a fun night and the food was pretty good too. Time to say cheerio to this continent and head to the next one…
Vonn Voyage 