Sydney Travel Diary 2015

6 Days in a Concrete Jungle

First day, Friday.

I visited Sydney for a week at the beginning of July with my boyfriend. Our hotel overlooked Hyde Park. The morning after flying in, we had breakfast in a small cafe facing the park named The Canopy. The food was perfect and service was faster than I've ever had in Perth, the prices were also a lot nicer than most breakfast spots I've been to. Before checking in at the hotel, we walked through the main shopping streets in an attempt to gain some sense of direction. We walked through places such as Martin Place to the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house on Circular Quay. After checking in we slept until the afternoon, woke up and discovered a Wood fired Pizza restaurant at the end of Pitt St, or maybe it was George St, named Macchiato. We had amazing pizzas and a few drinks before walking back to the hotel through the park. Walking through Hyde Park felt like what I would imagine it to be like walking through Central Park in New York.

Second day, Saturday.

Together we visited the Glebe Markets, it was easy enough to catch a bus there from George St. The markets were amazing and I wish I had of spent some more time there. I found a beautiful fringed bag, silver rings, a large amethyst crystal and a vintage parker jacket. We ate Gozleme for lunch and ventured into a record cafe. We spent the rest of our day shopping through Pitt St, getting lost in the QVB and trying to navigate our way through Westfield. I bought a few things in Zara, their bags are always the best. I also found store on Oxford street where I bought my white knit and a grey coat after finding a new and perfect pair of Nikes on Pitt St.

Third day, Sunday.

We spent the entire day getting lost at Central Station. Later spent lunch with my Auntie, Uncle and cousin a little further south of Sydney than where we were staying. Lunch at Bundeena was beautiful.

Fourth Day, Monday.

In the morning we walked around looking at record stores close to Oxford Street and around George St. We ventured back to the stores in Pitt St before going up to Centre Point Tower at sunset. I ended up in Sephora again and added a few things from Benefit to my growing collection. From the tower, it was beautiful to see the concrete city become sparking lights while the skies turned orange and purple. Reis and I sat on a window sill for a long time admiring how beautiful our view was. I felt like an excited little kid, it was just so mesmerising. I also bought my mum a kangaroo oven mitt at the towers souvenir shop, it seemed like a reasonably weird gift.

We ate dinner at the Opera Kitchen, I wish ate at at the bar next door. We had a few drinks at the bar and they had much nicer food on their menu! Drinking wine looking at the Sydney Harbour Bridge was the perfect way to end a big day.

Fifth Day, Tuesday.

We woke up late and enjoyed breakfast at The Canopy. We felt as though we had the public transport sorted out and made our way to Bondi Beach. I was dying to see Bondi after seeing it on TV for years. It was much more beautiful than I imagined (Featured in the first photographs of this post). We walked from Bondi over to Bronte, enjoyed the fresh air and the little bit of exercise. Ben and Jerrys was our lunch after taking in the view of Bondi and the Icebergs, we shopped for a while in Bondi Junction.

We walked a few blocks from our hotel near Hyde Park and found a street with a few Italian restaurants along it. It was easily close to the hotel so we had a nice last dinner there before making our way back to the hotel to pack up our mess of a hotel room and to squish all of our shopping into our bags.

Sixth Day, Wednesday.

We spent our last day visiting The Grounds of Alexandria. It was amazing, I loved the whole grounds. We ate in the Potting Shed and I ordered Gnocchi (The third image). The food was amazing and I felt so happy there, I wish I had of spent more time there over my trip. I'll definitely be visiting The Grounds next time I'm in Sydney.

The rest of the day we spent looking through vintage stores and making our way back to Pitt St to pick up the last few things before we flew out in the evening. I bought four new knits and I had to stuff them in my carry on luggage otherwise my suitcase would have popped open.

We ate Krispy Kremes, Gozleme, and fries while we waited in the airport for our plane. We both regretted leaving but we loved our time on holiday and we will definitely be making our way back soon. I think Sydney suited us both in that it was busy and felt like England crossed with Perth, but there were also spots where we could escape into record stores, beaches and the best little cafes and restaurants.