As I'm not excited about driving and parking in Sydney, we opted for public transport. Our first dilemma was to buy a multi-pass from the service station across the road. He only had concession tickets available for a daily multi-pass (so we could catch all forms of public transport, and I needed an adult ticket), so he suggested that we just get a regular bus ticket off the bus and buy a multi-pass from the city and take it from there. The bus tickets to the city were only $3.40 for the three of us! Completely shocked, as I heard how expensive Sydney public transport is. We caught the bus, and within three stops, the transit police came on to check our tickets. We were fine because we had purchased it off the bus driver, but there were a few others who needed fines and they kept the transit police on until our final stop. The bus driver was nice enough to tell the transit police about our circumstances, so we stepped off the bus and had a chat with the transit police about where to buy a multi-pass. They asked me where we planned to go, and gave us complementary tickets for the rest of our day!!! How nice was that?!
We took a bus outside Hyde Park to Bondi Beach. I explained to the boys before we got there, that Bondi Beach was about ten times the size of our little Half Moon Bay, but with surf waves instead of bay ripples. They were definitely impressed! They wanted to jump in the surf waves, but as it was our first destination for the day, I really didn't want them getting wet and wanting to go back to the hotel straight away, but re-assured them that we could take advantage of the surf beaches on the northern shores tomorrow. They waded in the water, saw the two swimming pools either side of the beach (which is an oddity for Melbournians!), the surf-life savers, the surfers and just everyone enjoying the sunshine.
After a brunch of pancakes with marscapone, blueberries, banana & maple syrup, and some banana and blueberry bread with walnut butter, we headed to Paddington to their famous Saturday morning markets in the school grounds. It was a gorgeous setting, and we were on a mission to buy some 'Sydney' T-shirts for the boys, as I accidentally didn't pack enough T-shirts for them. But the markets were a little girlie... women's fashions, jewellery, some gourmet delights (which we really didn't need after our brunch), arts & crafts, buskers, decorative make-up bags, handbags, etc. It just wasn't what we wanted.
So we caught the 380 bus back to the city, all the way to Circular Quay. I already had a grumbly child saying his legs were tired... but we kept going. When they saw the ferries and the Sydney Harbour Bridge beyond, they were happy with our destination. We walked passed Wharf 2 and found a Jet-boating kiosk. We asked if they had an age limit, but the size limit was 120cm, which the boys lived up to, and as it was something we hadn't done before, and being on a boat really is the best way to see Sydney, I splurged on some tickets for the 1pm ride.
While we waited, we found the absolutely beautiful architecture of the Sydney Opera House. I just didn't imagine it was so big up close! (sorry about the sun glare!)
We went on our jet-boat ride and it was fabulous! I couldn't wipe the grins off the boys faces. We did 270degree spins and got completely soaked, despite our oversized raincoats they insisted that we wore. We rode up to the heads of Sydney, saw the beautiful yachts sailing, kayakers paddling and all the luxury homes on the harbour edge. Unfortunately, because we had such a soaking, not 'electronic devices' were allowed on the boat... so no photos to show :(
Except our boat!
We then walked up to Pitt Street and tried out a Pie Face pie & sausage roll (Pie Face in a Sydney company that's just opened up in New York and was featured on Letterman a few weeks back!) Excellent pies if I may say so... really chunky beef in them!
We walked along Pitt Street Mall until we reached the monorail and decided to have another iconic Sydney ride. We checked out the 6 floors of Myer to search for Skylander & Trashies toys. And then the boys wanted to check out the Queen Victoria Building, which we did, but were beyond tired and wanted to go home.
Even though we really had no idea where we were, we actually found the right bus stop to get back to our hotel. Our freebie bus tickets had enough credit on them to get us back...
After a shower, we're now ready to go out for dinner at the Crocodile Farm Hotel - apparently it's a cross between boutique pub grub and Australian cuisine... when in Rome, do as the Romans do!
No comments:
Post a Comment