48 Hours in Sydney!

After an awesome stay in Queensland, the next destination on my Australian itinerary was a 2-day trip to visit Sydney. I have always wanted to see the iconic Opera House in person, and was so lucky to be able to score some really affordable flights for under $120 CAD!

Shortly after landing at the airport, I took a train to Sydney’s central station. After a 5 minute walk I arrived at Bounce Sydney Hostel (the first time I’ve ever stayed in a hostel alone!) The staff were super nice and offered to store my bags, and they also gave me directions to Circular Quay. As I started making my way downtown, I came across a free walking tour of the city! It was so cool because the tour guides are locals of Sydney, and they showed us quite a few unique places that I never would have found otherwise! 😛 After a couple hours we ended up at the harbour, where I got my first glimpse of the famous opera house sails and the Harbour Bridge! I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing, because it was honestly one of the most incredible sights I’ve ever layed eyes on.. 🙂

On the first day, I walked ~43k steps in total (according to an app on my iPhone), which was so tiring… but completely worth it! I went across the Harbour Bridge to check out Luna Park, explored “The Rocks” district where I learned about Sydney’s convict origins, and went for a nice dinner at the Quay. Later that night I thought I might try walking back to my hostel.. but that definitely turned out to be a very bad idea. First of all, I really underestimated the distance, and I also had a scary encounter with a large man who started following me as I was walking down a dimly-lit street.. D: Immediately after I noticed this, I quickly ran to to a slightly busier street and jumped in the first taxi I saw. Luckily I arrived back at my hostel safely, and then was able to get some much needed rest.

The next morning I went to Darling Harbour. I found this district to be very touristy and expensive, but I really enjoyed the nice weather and views. 🙂 While there, I decided to have a late breakfast on the upstairs patio at the Hard Rock Cafe (which had an amazing view of the Harbour)! After that, I went to visit the popular SeaLife Aquarium, and saw all kinds of fish & sea creatures. It was expensive, but considering how much time I spent there, it seemed worth it. 🙂 I ended my day in Sydney by going for a nice stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens before flying back to Singapore, and then Jakarta.

Thanks for reading!

-Jackie