Stunning Sydney

We flew from Phuket to Singapore, a flight of about 2 hours, with a 1.5 hour stopover in Singapore. We then caught our overnight flight to Sydney, journey time 7.5 hours. Fortunately, the flight was not full, so with plenty of vacant seats, we could stretch out and get a few hours sleep.

We landed in Sydney at about 10.30am on the 19/6, and after a short train journey to Circular Quay and a short walk (encountering steep steps on the way with our heavy luggage) we got to our hotel at midday.

We could not check in until 2pm, so we left our luggage and went to explore. We were literally minutes from the harbour and, for me, my first sight of Sydney Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge, truly they are magnificent sights. The weather was lovely and sunny with a bright blue sky, although the temperature was only about 18 degrees, somewhat cooler than Phuket, but not surprising as its mid-winter in Australia.

We walked around the harbour and decided to go up to an observation deck and to have lunch. We went to a Japanese restaurant and had a nice meal. We had left our coats and fleeces at the hotel and we got decidedly chilly, so after lunch we wandered back to our hotel and checked in; we were very happy with the room.

After relaxing for a few hours, we wandered out to find somewhere for dinner in the harbour area and also to see it at night, which was lovely. As I am still being careful with what I eat, we settled on a restaurant where I had an omelette and Dave had veal. We then went back to the hotel, after this gentle introduction to Sydney.

Next morning we went to book the Harbour Bridge climb for the following day, which we did for 11.05 am, but we realised that would leave time tight to get to the right point in the Botanical Garden to take the classic pictures of the Opera House and bridge. So after some discussion we decided to do the climb on the 20/6; back we went to the booking office and changed the climb date to that afternoon - staff were very helpful - the last daylight climb (price goes up for climbs after dusk). The climb was for 2.25pm, which left us with just about an hour to get something to eat and drink and to go back to the hotel to put our trainers on. This we managed with a few minutes to spare.

The safety precautions, which includes being breathalysered, going through a metal detector and preparation for the walk is very thorough, they take safety very seriously. You have to wear overalls and a safety harness which is attached at all times and you have radio to hear your guide. You also have to use a simulator set of ladders before you do the real thing on the bridge.

There was 11 in our group, mostly Americans, three from UK (including ourselves) and one Aussie. From ground level the climb looks pretty daunting, but is actually fairly easy and the views on the way up are pretty stunning. We were also lucky that the weather was again clear and sunny. Our young guide, Kate, was fun and very informative. She also took photos at regular intervals on the way up and down, as you are not allowed to take a camera. Reaching the top was amazing and the sun was beginning to go down, so by the time we started the descent, we were able to see a most stunning sunset, with the sun setting behind the Blue Mountains.

Total time (including safety prep) is just under four hours. You get a group photo free, others you have to buy, we got three, as you definitely need to have a record of your climb. We also each brought a tee-shirt, not cheap, but we have realised that Sydney is not a cheap place and that Australia is probably the most expensive place we have been on our travels.

We again ate in a restaurant by the harbour and were pleasantly surprised that they had gluten free options, our waitress said that a gluten free diet is very fashionable in Sydney, being a lifestyle choice rather than a medical one. I opted for a chicken Caesar salad, but we did share a gluten free chocolate meringue with ice-cream! Although I don't know for certain if I have gluten and wheat intolerance, avoiding it, along with caffeine, alcohol, seeds, etc, (as advised by my GP) seems to be helping.

We were up early the next day to go into the Botanical Gardens to get the classic picture of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge before going on a guided tour of the Opera House at 10.30am. We were later leaving the hotel than planned as we had spent some time on Skype speaking to an agent about hotels in Fiji, which seems to be nearly fully booked, probably because we are there around the 4th July, we were unsuccessful in booking a hotel in Fiji at that point, so would have to continue looking later.

Anyway, we got to the Opera House on time for the tour. It is really an amazing building and we saw a video as part of the tour which showed some of the designs which were considered, none were as iconic as the one that was chosen nor were the designs as timeless. I was surprised to learn that construction started in 1959 with completion scheduled for three years later, in fact it was not opened until 1973, some 14 times over the original budget! The theatres are amazing and if we had more time in Sydney we would have loved to have gone and seen a performance.

Our tour tickets included an offer of a $10 meal at The Studio Cafe at the Opera House, our cheapest meal by far in Sydney!

After lunch we walked round the Opera House and through the Botanical Gardens where Government House is. This is open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Unfortunately, this was Thursday, so we just walked around the outside.

We then walked into the town centre to Sydney Tower (also known as Centre Point and AMP Tower), where we went up to the observation floor which had stunning views over Sydney. It also has a revolving restaurant, and we decided to return for dinner later as it was our last night in Sydney. We opted for the buffet meal and booked for 8pm.

We went back to the hotel via Woolworths, a supermarket chain, to stock up on gluten free food.

We got a cab to Sydney Tower for dinner. You have 1.5 hours and you can eat as much as you want. They had plenty of gluten free options too, and the desserts I thought were particularly nice. We had our picture taken again (we had one taken on our earlier visit to the tower, which we did not purchase) we did buy this one. Everywhere you go there is someone taking your picture and the package is around $35. Picture taking is BIG business in Australia!

The meal at the Tower, was a lovely way to round off our time in Sydney.