36. Sydney-Darling Harbor & Bondi

Our first morning after the previous night's late arrival to Sydney, I was still dozing when I heard Mike slip out the door, and thought to myself "why is he going out in the middle of the night?" A quick glance at my phone confirmed it was 10AM. Yikes! Apparently, our room darkening curtains work VERY well.

Ever the excellent travelling partner, he returned with a cup of coffee for me & we started our exploration of the city with a stroll through Darling Harbor (west side of Sydney), which offers interesting architecture, attractions like the Maritime Museum, Madame Tussaurds, restaurants & cafes, active water ferries and a huge & diverse park area for the kids, featuring a carousel, baby pool, monkey bars, & swings, all in seemingly great demand.

After grabbing a bite, we headed to Central Station to catch the light rail (a tram) north to a bus station that took us to Cogee Beach, where we started the roughly 6km coastal walk to Bondi Beach. This is a very popular walk for locals & tourists alike, made busier by the fact that it was Australian Labor Day. After freezing out butts off in parts of Tasmania, we sweated in the hot 80 degree sun on our walk. It was a pretty day and we enjoyed stretching our legs and viewing the coastline.Read more