We landed in Sydney on the 1st July 2015, it was the beginning of our Australian adventure and we couldn’t be more excited, and at the same time we couldn’t be more broke. ‘Brexit’ had caused the GPB to plummet in value, we’d been travelling for 10 months and had bled our wallets dry. We were scraping pennies together like the last precious scraps of a roast dinner. This made things difficult, because as we tell people often, unless you are earning AUD, then yes, Australia is very expensive to foreigners. Our lack of personal funds made it difficult not to worry, it’s tough when you really want to enjoy your time somewhere but you consistently feel restricted. It will undoubtedly affect decisions you make and therefore how you spend your time. We spent five days here on our own, and to add to the pain of our empty pockets, the weather was shockingly cold. We had been chasing the sun for the last 10 months, and our previous destination was the luscious Philippines islands, we were sun kissed and without jumpers. We didn’t explore everything the city had to offer, and that’s why we are really glad we decided to come back on our road trip, because now our minds are totally swayed and we LOVE Sydney.

There’s some obvious ‘must do’s’ when in the city and the two key sights everyone wants to observe are Sydney Opera House and Sydney harbour bridge.

Our recommendation would be to head to the Opera House Bar..

Situated alongside facing the bridge, it boasts an epic view of both landmarks and the surrounding harbour. In fairness, it isn’t over priced either considering it’s prime location, just expect to pay standard Sydney prices for beers and a little extra for a glamorous cocktail. There’s also opportunities to climb the bridge should you desire an elevated 360 view of the city and an adrenaline rush. To get closer to the bridge without summiting it you should head to The Rocks.

Famous for one of the first settlements in Australia and also a major hub for convicts sent over from the UK. There’s an awesome free museum with lots of historical information, great food markets often line the streets and plenty of pubs to grab a refreshing drink or some incredible food. We ate at Harbour View Hotel, a traditional English Pub style inside, wooden furniture and low ceilings, but with a great bar and decking area tucked away underneath harbour bridge, so again more brilliant views and the food was divine.After our meal we fancied another tipple and found ourselves at Bulletin Place, hidden down an alleyway near Circular Quay, and within walking distance of the harbour. It’s a unique gem of a bar, just one room where you share tables and the speciality is cocktails. Our waiter explained the drinks specials of the night, which are changed every evening, but they are able to make anything you wish, if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, tell them your favourite drinks and flavours, then they will magic up something specific to your tastebuds. Hayley chose this option and was offered a cocktail unique to what she had described and was more than satisfied. It turns out this cocktail bar is world famous, the last 4 years it’s secured a place in the “world’s best 50 bars”, by drinks international.

Australia Day is arguably celebrated every year across the country, I say arguably because the day represents when the first ships arrived in Australia, although, controversially not all Australians believe this is something to be toasted to. For those who aren’t aware of Australia’s history and how the country was founded, well, we suggest you google because it’s interesting and why wouldn’t you want to learn about the history of our world. However, to brief you, when ships arrived in Australia there was already a large community of aboriginal people happily settled. To summarise they were attacked, frightened off, threatened and this ultimately resulted in a loss of lives, communities, languages, culture and sentiment. We don’t want to get political here, but for us, we viewed it as a bank holiday, everyone has the day off, the sun is shining, and we wanted to join in. There were a number of activities happening all over the city, but to be confessional, we just wanted two things; booze and beach. Sadly a large drinking ban has been implemented across Sydney’s beaches, as things got largely out of control at Christmas and the famous Coogee was left looking like a dump tip-literally, google it yourselves. Litter and vandalism are not cool, and it’s a shame that people’s selfish and probably drunken decisions not to take their mess with them has caused punishment for all, in the act of a drinking ban. However, when there’s a will, there’s a way. That way comes in the form of plastic cups, and brown paper bags. Seriously, many people were drinking, a few were asked to move along, but mostly the one in their hand was removed then if you were secretive enough you could continue. Just PLEASE take your rubbish with you, there’s no need to add salt to the wound. We walked from Coogee to Bronte, people were spread across the rocks and we’ve never seen so many floats in the sea since school swimming lessons, although these ones were large enough for people to sit and float around in. Music pumped through speakers, ‘Triple J, top 100’ the chosen unanimously station for the day.

We even bumped into one of Jonny’s friends from Primary School, it’s amazing when you travel that the world can feel so huge but at the same time so small when of all the places it’s 24 hours away from their hometown that Jonny and Ollie would cross paths.

There’s was a great atmosphere, we even witnessed police officers joining in games of cricket whilst on duty, people launched themselves full pelt down a giant slip and slide, like a greased turkey and children ran around playing games with flags painted on their faces. It was a brilliant day, and we ended up pretty drunk from our sneaky bottle swigging. We stuffed ourselves with fish & chips, then Jonny brought himself a McFlurry, which subsequently ended up on the sand of bondi beach, just five minutes after it’s purchase, and like a child he dropped to his knees in his drunken devastation, head in hands like a footballer whose just missed a winning penalty. We bussed back to the Air B&B apartment we had treated ourselves too, because camping in central Sydney isn’t an option, and we collapsed into bed clutching a packet of Australia’s famous, ‘Tim Tams’.

Surprisingly we awoke hang over free from our Australia Day blowout, and unfortunately for us it was time to depart from this gorgeous city, although on a more exciting note, it was Jonny’s birthday! We checked out of our air b&b and headed to Watsons Bay, a recommendation to us from a fellow backpacker and previous Sydney local. We were thrilled to have been told about this secret suburb, it was beautiful and we spent a few hours lounging around the local swimming baths against a city skyline backdrop. The swimming baths are a netted off area of the sea, with a pier to launch yourself off into the surprisingly ice cold water, but there are platforms nearby to scramble onto for the sunshine like a slithering seal wanting to warm up.

However despite the temperature the water was refreshing against our heat prickled skin. Many locals were here with children-what a place to grow up-we thought. There is a scenic walk which will lead you to high views of the area and the distant city skyline, you can spot the harbour bridge and opera house, although be warned that this walk is simple yet intense in the heat. We’d definitely recommend doing that first and then cooling off in the water. 

Next stop was Manly, a more well known suburb to visit and for good reasons. Littered with surfers, sunbathers and suburban locals it’s more than just a tourist hub. It has a small town centre decorated with shops, buskers and market stalls. Just a thrones stone away from the largest beach, a rowing competition was taking place and free ice lollies handed around. Within five minutes walk you can be at a different beach, quieter vibes either side of the pier which has restaurants, fast food and ice cream available. The turquoise ripples invited us to wade in, although they are deceivingly cold-a recurring theme. Flashbacks of the social media ‘ice bucket’ challenge run through our minds as we attempt to dunk into the water with a quick and pain free aim, like ripping off a band aid. Although we soon found the sandy surface much more inviting than the oceans icy touch. You could easily spend an entire summers day at Manly and not be bored.

The suburb itself is beautifully located, almost on it’s own island jutting out from the mainland like torn paper. Houses are an impressive size and aesthetically pleasing. Not sure how appealing it would have been in the winter, but then everything is more pleasant in the summer over here in our experience! 

Our Sydney finale was driving over the harbour bridge, which to a local is probably a pretty underwhelming and hilarious statement, but for us it was exciting. Hayley was behind the wheel, as Jonny did it himself last time he was in the country with his friends.

Sydney ended on a high and we had an awesome few days there, but we were back in the tent later on in the night with an awesome camping spot…read the next post to hear all about it!

Jonny & Hayley 🙂