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Sydney October 2017

October 2017
A 13-day adventure by Michelle Read more
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  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 1

    It seemed like a good idea at the time

    October 18, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Before today I’d only ever been to Sydney Airport, not the city itself. Last year I realised just how much I love travelling and so I planned this trip to Sydney.
    When I looked at the flights the earlier flight was cheaper so I thought I’d take that. After all 5:45am isn’t that early. It’s not but when I factored in getting to the airport on time I realised I’d need to be up at 3:15am. It was after midnight by the time I went to bed so I’ve had very little sleep.
    And how much I missed flying business class. I didn’t have enough room to get any sleep although I think I did doze a bit.
    Going down the ramp to get on the plane I remembered how much I like travelling.

    We made good time and got in early. Coming in low over the ocean was a bit disconcerting, I felt like we were too low.
    I’m staying in the CBD, close to China Town. I’m in a one bedroom apartment with a balcony and it is lovely. I pottered around for a bit and then went and found the hop on hop off bus. I find them a good way to get an overview of the city. It should have taken 90 mins but the trip ended up taking about 2 1/2 hours. So I’ve seen the harbour bridge and the opera house.

    I ended up with Taiwanese for tea, there was so much to choose from. I may not be in China Town but the only restaurant I saw, apart from pubs that wasn’t asain was a Spanish restaurant. I was tempted just because of the incongruity of it but with so much lovely Asian food around I decided against it.
    Photos:
    The Sydney Haroboir Bridge
    Sydney Opera House
    Sydney skyline
    Sydney Harbour Bridge
    View from my balcony at night
    Marshmallow clouds as we approached Sydney    Read more

  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 2

    All about the ocean

    October 19, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    A beautiful day in Sydney today. I started with a trip to the Sydney fish markets. Originally I had intended to do a tour at 6am but I didn’t book it ahead of time and last night they were sold out. A blessing really as I got to sleep in and I don’t think I would have cope with the smell. It was bad enough in the market without being on the auction floor.
    I started out with some brunch, most of the shops also sold ready to eat food as well as the seafood. It was an opportunity to try something I’d never cook. I had scallop mornay, abalone, oyster kilpatrick and grilled octopus.
    Both the scallop and oyster were drowned a bit in their dressing/topping but okay.
    The abalone was tough and not that appetising. I realise though at only $7.50 it may not have been the highest quality abalone. I don’t know that I’d bother with it again though. The octopus was good. That was my “safe” item that I knew I would like.
    I bought some seafood to have for dinner. There was so much to choose from but in the end I just got some fish. I looked at prawns, octopus and squid but of the ones I felt confident cooking none were Australian so I gave them a miss. There was plenty of Australian shellfish - pippies, Balmain bugs etc but with my limited confidence, ingredients and utensils I gave them a miss.
    That left fish. I bought rainbow trout, king George whiting and blue mullet. Just one fish of each, they filleted them for me and for $17 I have tea for 3-4 nights. The woman serving me looked at me with bemusement when I asked her to label each fish so I would know what I am eating. Comparing the fillets side by side they do look quite different.
    I also visited the deli and bread shop to get some lovely ingredients.

    After returning to the hotel to drop off my shopping I found the Bondi hop on hop off bus as my ticket included both routes. Apart from Bondi the route wasn’t terribly exciting. Bondi was nice, as I said it was a beautiful day today. I spent an hour there having a wander and some late lunch. The trip back went through Rozelle and Rose Bay.

    I wanted a few essentials to went to Woollies after I got off the bus. It was really weird, the store was quite small and seemed to sell junk food, itamins and toiletries. I walked around the store trying to work out how a supermarket could not have any veggies. Eventually I found the escalator, when down a floor and found the veggies.

    I had the blue mullet for tea. Very nice.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 3

    For the foodies

    October 20, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    It was a very wet day here today. After a late start I went down to Circular Quay and looked around The Rocks. I always try to have one “nice”meal out when I go somewhere new so several months ago when starting to plan my trip I was told by a couple of people at work I had to go to Quay Restaurant and have the snow egg. So I made a booking for lunch today and I wasn’t disappointed.
    Even though there was a cruis ship in that obscured the Opera House I still had a good view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

    I didn’t get a photo and of the amuse bouche of creme fraiche, fish eggs and something crunchy, I forget what. Then came a sourdough spelt roll with butter and salt. I’d never have thought to add salt to bread and butter but it was delicious.

    First course was raw smoked wagyu, fermented chilli, miso, shaved fungi, kombu, cultured cream, dory roe.
    This was delicious, not to spicy and the texture of the beef only just raw.

    Second course was uni, koshihikari rice, cured egg yolk, fish maw, day lily, ama ebi, umami broth. I’ll be honest, apart from the umami broth I had no idea what any of the ingredients were. I could decide between the options so went for the one that would have the new ingredients.
    This was my favourite course. One of those ingredients was a prawn style seafood, all the textures went so well together. The ingredients on there own weren’t all that great but all together it was sooo good.

    Third course was roasted master stock duck, house made koji paste, hatsuka radish, ice plant, orach. This was my least favourite course, there was nothing wrong with it, it just didn’t have the wow factor of the other courses.

    Final course was the snow egg. They change the flavour with the seasons and it is currently strawberry. Strawberry chantilly cream, strawberry granita, meringue ball with strawberry ice cream in the middle and hard outer shell. This too was amazing. Again all the different textures together is what made it so great.

    After that all I wanted to do was go back to the hotel and sleep! Instead I briefly considered a harbour tour but it really isn’t the weather for it so I went to the Hyde Park Barracks instead. The museum focussed a bit more on the history of the actual building that of the people who resided there but it was still interesting.
    I won’t be cooking tonight after that lunch a bath and then bed I think.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 4

    Sydney Harbour

    October 21, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    After looking out the window and seeing a blue sky I started the day out with a tour of Sydney harbour. I think I finally have the geography oriented in my head. We went around the southern part of the harbour out to South head then back around towards Taronga zoo, under the bridge and into Darling Harbour, The tour was interesting. The tour guide mentioned Manly can be really busy on a Sunday due to low ferry fares so I decided to visit today.

    The ferry ride was only 20mins. I took a quick stroll down to the beach, it was reasonably busy and not as picturesque as Bondi. I then took the bus up to North Head. I had some lunch and then wandered out to the lookouts. I may have seen a whale, or it may have been a rock, or a dark speed boat. I’m not really sure.
    The scenery was gorgeous.

    Another early night tonight. I had the King George Whiting for tea. Very nice.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 5

    Royal Botanic Gardens

    October 22, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    I needed a quieter day today so I spent it in the Botanic Gardens. I started with a guided tour and while we didn’t go very far it was very informative. It didn’t just focus on the Australian plants but other interesting ones as well. Towards the end of the tour we were discussing the drought and the guide lamented how dry that particular part of the garden looked, an English woman said it did look very dry. I thought it looked fine but as Sydney gets four times the rainfall of the area I grew up it really is all a matter of perspective.

    After some lunch I made my way over to Mrs Macquarie’s chair. I have to confess I was a bit disappointed that it is really more of a bench than a chair, I was expecting more of a throne style chair carved out of the rock.
    As I was making my way back the the Gardens it started to rain, it wasn’t too bad to start with but got heavier. I went out without an umbrella or jacket so I got pretty wet although it was still quite warm
    I made my way back to the cafe to wait out the rain. It eventually stopped, I was trying to make my way to the bus stop but managed to get myself a bit lost. I eventually made my way out of the Gardens.

    The rainbow trout for tea tonight. It was okay but I definitely preferred the mullet and whiting.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 6

    Sydney on foot

    October 23, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    I started the day out at the Sydney Tower eye. It was a lovely day so I walked there. It took me a little bit to find the entrance. The 4D movie that we saw before going to the Observation deck was fantastic. It was short but very good.
    It was a nice clear day so I could see a long way.

    I then wandered down to Hyde Park, got way to interested in a giant chess game and then onto the botanic Gardens. I visited The Calyx which I had tried to visit yesterday but the rain and getting lost prevented that. It is a fairly small area but very pretty.
    I made my way through the gardens around to the Opera House and then Circular Quay. I was a bit early so I took the ferry across the Harbour to Milton’s point, mainly because I hadn’t actually been on a Sydney Ferry. I then caught the next one back.

    I met my friend Katherine, we had rooms next to each other and shared a balcony when we were in first year at uni. We walked across the bridge and had dinner at a lovely little Italian restaurant. It was so nice to catch up with each other’s lives and chat.
    I caught the ferry back to Circular Quay and the train back to the hotel.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 7

    Three Sisters

    October 24, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    So today marks the second part of my holiday, travelling around.
    I caught the train out to Penrith and then picked up a hire car and drove to Katoomba. I had planned to check in and then go and explore but I ended up relaxing instead.
    I went out to the Three Sisters at sunset, they are truly majestic. There were a few people there but it wasn’t crowded. I took a lot of photos.
    At one point there was a single sulphur crested cockatoo was flying around. It made the experience that little bit more special. Even though I grew up in the bush, this bush has something extra, almost a little spiritual.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 8

    Lookouts and walks

    October 25, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    I started the day at Scenic World.
    Unfortunately the Skyway is undergoing renovations so I didn’t get to test whether my non fear of heights includes a glass bottomed sky rail.
    I started with the scenic rail which is the steepest rail in the world. It certainly is steep, I got such a fright at the steep ness of it when we first went down I couldn’t enjoy it.
    From the scenic rail I did the walk along the Forrest boardwalk. It was lovely but not peaceful. It is so loud, I’m not sure what the insects are but there are a lot of them!
    I made my back up the top via the cableway.

    As I hadn’t really enjoyed the scenic rail I had another go, this time I didn’t incline the seat all the way back and knew to hang on! It was much more pleasant second time around.

    I had lunch at a lovely little restaurant with a great view of the valley. I then went in search of books! I found a lovely little shop full of curios and my sort of books.
    I didn’t buy any though, two that I may have been interested in were locked behind glass doors and judging by the prices of similar books not under lock and key I didn’t bother asking to see them.

    I went out to Wentworth Falls. The walk to the falls lookout contained a lot of steps but the view was worth it. There were quite a few lyrebirds hanging around the car park.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 9

    Foggy Mountains

    October 26, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    After a beautiful day yesterday I woke up to heavy fog this morning. Shelving the sightseeing I decided to take Katherine’s suggestion of visiting Hydro Majestic. It is a beautiful old hotel and I had an eastern high tea as an early lunch. The mist cleared while I was there. I find days were I don’t have firm plans usually turn out quite well. I can stop whenever I see something that looks interesting. After a stop at a lookout I went into Blackheath to browse the book and antique shops. I didn’t buy anything but had fun looking.

    I then went to the Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens. They were beautiful and the rhododendrons were stunning.
    As I returned to Katoomba the dog was setting in and by the time I finished dinner at around 7:30 visibility would have been about 20m. Certainly a new experience for me.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasySydney October 2017
    Day 10

    Travel to Canberra

    October 27, 2017 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    It was a cloudy day today but not foggy like yesterday. Rather than head back towards Sydney and take the highway too Canberra I went west and until Goulburn stayed off the highways. The drive was pleasant. Again I was struck by the difference in the country which, superficially could be described as similar to where I grew up (but greener). This country brought Henry Lawson to mind.
    I happened to come to Taralga at lunchtime and found a gorgeous little cafe. It had various old books dotted around the cafe, I found a guide story, read the first chapter over lunch and fortunately it was for sale.
    I didn’t much enjoy the drive from Goulburn to Canberra, too many speeding drivers.    Read more

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