Four Days in Sydney, Australia: Australia Series Part 3

After flying in from Brisbane to Sydney and settling into your accommodation, head over to the Museum of Sydney. It offers free admission and provides insights into Sydney’s rich history and culture. Unfortunately, it is surprisingly quite tiny and we expected there to be a bit more to learn about given this is the one history museum. However, it took us only an hour to get through (maybe even less). Afterward, you can walk over to the Royal Botanic Garden of Sydney. There are several different attractions like Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair, a historic sandstone seat offering panoramic views of Sydney Harbour, as well as the Harbour View Lawn, which provides views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

On this day, we visited some sites in north Sydney. We began our day at the Taronga Zoo, Sydney. We originally wanted to visit the Australia Zoo, which is Steve Irwin’s family zoo. It is regarded as one of — if not the - best zoos, but it’s about 10 hours south of Sydney, so not super convenient to get to. Instead, we visited Taronga so that we could see a wide variety of animals along with views of the harbor. We were able to see both exotic and native Australian species like kangaroos, koalas and platypus, while enjoying some educational sessions like one with really cute meerkats. Our favorite section was the Blue Mountains bushwalk, which features several free-roaming wallabies and unique birds we’d never seen. One of the birds sounded like a robot or internet dialtone when it squawked, and we also had a baby rock wallaby hop up to us and squat by our feet! The zoo is highly committed to conservation and education, which makes it more honorable to visit.

After the zoo, we took the ferry to Manly Beach. Manly Beach is celebrated for its expansive sandy shores and vibrant surfing culture, so you’ll find designated spots for swimming and surfing. There’s also a scenic esplanade that leads to Shelly Beach, which is an ideal spot for snorkeling and marine life viewing. We walked the ocean path to the Fairy Bower Sea Pool, which is a picturesque ocean pool popular among the locals. Only the water in Cairns was of a comfortable temperature (since it is more north). The water at any beach we visited in Sydney was frigid, so we opted to people-watch instead.

After the beach, we took the ferry back to the harbor. Make sure you’re sitting on the left side of the boat or outside as you’ll get great views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Once deboarded, we walked around the Opera House to appreciate its unique architecture up close. There is an adjacent bar called Opera Bar to enjoy the panoramic views. It’s not the best in terms of food and drinks, but it does have great vibes, so if that’s more your thing, go for it.

The next day, we got up bright and early to take our day trip to the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains National Park is a blend of natural beauty and adventure. Named for the blue haze created by eucalyptus trees, it boasts dramatic landscapes of forests, gorges, waterfalls and canyons. We took a two-hour train from Sydney and left before 7 am to arrive in Katoomba before 9 am to beat the crowds. Once in Katoomba, we picked up our Lyrebird Pass tickets that we had purchased in advance. This pass allowed us to use the Hop On, Hop Off bus as well as enter Scenic World. I had researched two options for the stops - one that had shorter bushwalks and less photo opps and one with more bushwalks and photo opps — we opted for the former.

Our tour started with a visit to Scenic World, where we rode the Scenic Skyway, the Scenic Railway, the Cableway, as well as walked the Scenic Walkway. The Scenic Railway was our favorite, as it is in the Guiness Book of World Records for the steepest passenger railway in the world with a 52° incline! From here, we hopped back onto the bus to drive past Narrow Neck Lookout toward the Cascades. There, we had our pre-packed lunch and did a 35-minute walk to the top of Bridal Veil Falls. After, we hopped back on the bus to Echo Point, where we were able to get a view of the Three Sisters. It was extremely windy, which combined with the rain and slippery surfaces made for a bit of a scary experience but worth it for the views. Our next stop was Leura Village for a coffee, snack and shopping break. We bought chocolates for souvenirs from Josophan’s Fine Chocolates and some home goods from Teddy Sinclair and Leura Whisk. The one unique memory I have of the Blue Mountains is of all the cockatoos squawking loudly throughout our time in the Blue Mountains. We saw them throughout our trip in other areas, but particularly in the Blue Mountains. They seemed to like all the tourist attention because they’d gather in the most convenient locations for pictures to be taken of them, which I found funny. After relaxing in the village, we hopped back on the bus to head back to Katoomba for our train ride back to Sydney.

On our last full day, we decided to do the Coogee to Bondi coastal walk for a picturesque journey along the eastern coastline. The trail is well-maintained and dotted with cafes, rest spots, beaches and ocean vistas, so you can make it as athletic or as chill of a walk as you want. Once at Bondi, there is the Bondi Icebergs Pool. It is the very iconic area seen all over Instagram given you can swim in a saltwater wave pool. You do have to pay to enter the pool, so we opted to just sit and relax at the beach, especially since the water was too cold for swimming anyways. We then headed on the bus back to Sydney to visit the Chinese Garden of Friendship. We continued to explore the Darling Harbour neighborhood, heading into the Queen Victoria building with its inviting cafes, fashion boutiques and jewelry stores.