My friend lives in Pyrmont, an area close to Darling Harbour so it's just walking distance to everything and the city centre. We walked a short distance to the pub to meet some of his friends and from the first greeting I received, I knew I was in for a really long night.
On Sunday, the temperature went up to 32 degree Celsius! Being on the boat was great, with the heat and the wind, it was perfect. I went from a nice olive to a super dark down on the tan scale. It was that hot plus I caught up with some snooze time on the boat hence the super tan. Got to catch up on sleep at some point if I’m going to continue to hangout with Stan and his friends.
Sydney, as a city has a lot going on, especially on the weekends. One of my favourites is the market on the Rocks during the weekends. It’s a craft market selling hand made goods from chocolates right down to bed linen. It’s a beautiful stroll to take and there is always a little stall in the corner that sells corn on the cob and it’s usually adorned by little haystacks which doubles up as seats. I love walking around this area as the shops and houses are beautiful to admire. I remember walking up these streets, looking for my way up to the observatory (which is a 10 minute walk from the Rocks area), coming across all sorts of quirky shops tucked away between houses and little alleyways.
The observatory on the other hand is worth the walk. From the viewpoint, you can see both North and South Sydney together with the Harbour Bridge. It’s really beautiful and peaceful up here. This place is definitely one of my favourite spots!
Clearly that too didn’t happen as it went after my coffee! Now that is one thing I can’t share! Anyways someone was watching and by the time they got to my table the little birdy flew away and sort of kept an eye on my still from a distance. Of all the tables it had to pick mine and no one bothered to help thinking it was my pet! Seriously? Really? My pet? Only in Australia will your food be snatched away by birds and mind you, you get stalked by them too! Everyone thinks that it picked my table because of my scarf… and it had almost all the same colours as the little parakeet!
In the city centre, those who love shopping would fancy a visit to Pitt Street or George Street to the all-famous Queen Victoria Building. Be prepared to burn a hole in your pocket as Sydney is too expensive to shop. Trust me when I say it’s cheaper for you to get a round trip ticket to England or Europe and shop there. Australia is just too expensive! But do visit the building, as it’s beautiful as well as Pitt Street as you might never know what you’ll come across on that street.
Just behind Pitt Street is Hyde Park. Its beautiful plus I was in luck, there was the Noodle market open in the evenings. It was in conjunction with the good food month in Australia. Beautiful-neatly lined white tents decked the park with people being spoilt for choice on Asian cuisine. It was fun to watch and soon I too joined the crowd of can’t-make-up-my-mind-too-much-to-choose-from crowd.
A little bit on the up scale side would be the Ivy Pool Bar, close to George Street. Beautiful roof top bar with lounge and deck chairs. The ambient lighting here is just perfect. If you fancy a dip, you can always get a towel from behind the bar plus there is a changing room just below complete with shower cubicles. Even if you’re not swimming I do suggest you visit the changing rooms down below. Trust me when I say it’s worth the visit, so just DO it!
A wonderful little bar tucked away at the Rocks is one place one should never miss on a weekend!
The café 2 door down from here on the other hand has good coffee and wonderful artwork. They managed a local street artist to paint their walls plus they have a world map on the other side of the wall filled with coins and notes pinned to it. Pretty neat place to chill and have coffee in plus the owner is really sweet!