We arrived in Sydney early Saturday morning having taken the red eye in from Hong Kong. 
One would think that Australia would be a short flight from here since it is so far from the USA, but that is not the case. Instead of the 24 hours it take to get there from Europe or New York, it still takes a hefty 9 hours to get down there from here. I guess that is part of the scam they have going, make it hard to get there so you only have the people who really want to put up with the long flight come to visit your beautiful country, no run of the mill vagabonds here! Tony had us set up at the Shangri-La Hotel which is in the area of town called The Rocks. We were very fortunate to be able to check into our room at 9 AM so we could have a quick nap and shower before hitting the streets. Our plan for the day was to get ourselves situated in our surroundings and check out the Rocks area where there is plenty to do and see. Our first stop 
was the Rocks Market which takes place every Saturday & Sunday and vendors sell their high end goods under canopies on the street. We bought some great stuff including these eucalyptus coasters as a special souvenir in addition to some cool jewelry and kangaroo leather. We stopped for lunch in Nurse's walk and while walking back to drop off our purchases back at the hotel, we happened upon a beer festival. All the local Aussie breweries had tents set up on two streets around this pub. Nearly everyone there was Australia, so we felt cool that we "knew" about it. For $15, you received a special beer glass as well as 10 tickets. Each ticket gets you a taste (60 ml to be exact, sometimes more if they have a heavy hand and like you) of a tasty brew. We both favored this one called James Squire - Tony liked their Amber 
Ale so much that he ordered it whenever possible for the rest of the week. After a while at the beerfest, it was time to get back to sight seeing. We walked down to the famous Sydney Opera house to pick up some tickets (another surprise - we were seeing an Opera on Friday night!) and then headed into the Royal Botanic gardens where we spent the rest of the afternoon. It was a beautiful place. We were able to see four different wedding ceremonies being performed that day. Tony fell in love with this amazing herb garden right in the middle of the park where they had everything you can imagine. I could not get him out of there!
One would think that Australia would be a short flight from here since it is so far from the USA, but that is not the case. Instead of the 24 hours it take to get there from Europe or New York, it still takes a hefty 9 hours to get down there from here. I guess that is part of the scam they have going, make it hard to get there so you only have the people who really want to put up with the long flight come to visit your beautiful country, no run of the mill vagabonds here! Tony had us set up at the Shangri-La Hotel which is in the area of town called The Rocks. We were very fortunate to be able to check into our room at 9 AM so we could have a quick nap and shower before hitting the streets. Our plan for the day was to get ourselves situated in our surroundings and check out the Rocks area where there is plenty to do and see. Our first stop 
was the Rocks Market which takes place every Saturday & Sunday and vendors sell their high end goods under canopies on the street. We bought some great stuff including these eucalyptus coasters as a special souvenir in addition to some cool jewelry and kangaroo leather. We stopped for lunch in Nurse's walk and while walking back to drop off our purchases back at the hotel, we happened upon a beer festival. All the local Aussie breweries had tents set up on two streets around this pub. Nearly everyone there was Australia, so we felt cool that we "knew" about it. For $15, you received a special beer glass as well as 10 tickets. Each ticket gets you a taste (60 ml to be exact, sometimes more if they have a heavy hand and like you) of a tasty brew. We both favored this one called James Squire - Tony liked their Amber 
Ale so much that he ordered it whenever possible for the rest of the week. After a while at the beerfest, it was time to get back to sight seeing. We walked down to the famous Sydney Opera house to pick up some tickets (another surprise - we were seeing an Opera on Friday night!) and then headed into the Royal Botanic gardens where we spent the rest of the afternoon. It was a beautiful place. We were able to see four different wedding ceremonies being performed that day. Tony fell in love with this amazing herb garden right in the middle of the park where they had everything you can imagine. I could not get him out of there! 
After another nap and shower, we headed up to watch the sunset atop of our hotel at the Blu Horizon Bar which boasts 360 degree views of the Harbor Bridge, Opera House and Circular Quay (pronounced 'key') area. The bartenders mixed up some great albeit expensive concoctions for us. My favorite was a drink called a "Show Girl" which was sort of similar to a mojito but had strawberries, limes and lychee muddled together, mixed with vodka. Delicious and nutritious! How many servings of fruit are you supposed to get each day? Well, I made it up drinking those, they were so good.
At the conclusion of cocktails and sunsets, we made our way over to our dinner locale, Cafe Sydney at the top of the Custom's House. This is one of the most famous restaurants in the city, and we were able to get a table out on the balcony with another amazing view of the harbor. The cuisine was what I would describe as 'modern seafood' and we started with our first serving of many for the week of raw oysters. They were amazing. We were also thrilled to find another favorite of ours on the menu, stuffed zucchini flowers! You have to remember it is spring time there, so all of those wonderful spring veggies were plentiful on the menu. It was a great meal and a great day to start our vacation.
We spent the next day walking around the Darling Harbor area, a short walk from our hotel. This big beautiful harbor has everything from museums and the aquarium to a shopping mall and plenty of outdoor harbor side restaurants & bars. We walked down to the Chinese Gardens and into Paddy's market for a while, but that just reminded us of our existence in Hong Kong, so we quickly turned back. We ate lunch at the famous Jordons' Seafood Restaurant in the harbor. Tony had octopus and a James Squire Amber Ale, and I had a ceaser salad with some of the best shrimp I have ever eaten. You should have seen what else was coming from the kitchen though - towers of seafood platters filled with lobster, crab, oysters, shrimp, mussels, clams, octopus, fried calamari, fish of the day...If only we were hungrier, it looked amazing!
Being the MTV junky I am, I had to seek this out...Tony nearly refused to take the picture, but I reminded him that it was my birthday trip and he had to do whatever I wanted ; ) Does anyone out there still watch the Real World? LOL. I tried to go inside, but it was locked. Probably because it is someone's home! But in any case, those hosers had a sick apartment, amazing location.
We spent the next day walking around the Darling Harbor area, a short walk from our hotel. This big beautiful harbor has everything from museums and the aquarium to a shopping mall and plenty of outdoor harbor side restaurants & bars. We walked down to the Chinese Gardens and into Paddy's market for a while, but that just reminded us of our existence in Hong Kong, so we quickly turned back. We ate lunch at the famous Jordons' Seafood Restaurant in the harbor. Tony had octopus and a James Squire Amber Ale, and I had a ceaser salad with some of the best shrimp I have ever eaten. You should have seen what else was coming from the kitchen though - towers of seafood platters filled with lobster, crab, oysters, shrimp, mussels, clams, octopus, fried calamari, fish of the day...If only we were hungrier, it looked amazing!
Being the MTV junky I am, I had to seek this out...Tony nearly refused to take the picture, but I reminded him that it was my birthday trip and he had to do whatever I wanted ; ) Does anyone out there still watch the Real World? LOL. I tried to go inside, but it was locked. Probably because it is someone's home! But in any case, those hosers had a sick apartment, amazing location.
After lunch Tony had another surprise. We were booked for the twilight tour of the Sydney Harbor bridge! This was a 2.5 hour journey, literally climbing up to the top of the bridge during the day, watching the sunset on the western arch and climbing down just as the evening lights began to light up the sky. They fitted you with special bridge climbing outfits, and good thing we only had one drink at lunch because they give you a breathalyzer before you are allowed up. The bad part is they don't let you bring up anything - no camera, nothing - because they are afraid of anything dropping below onto the 8 lanes of traffic, pedestrian walk way and two train lines which cross the bridge. It was an amazing view and a very cool experience, but it was costly - $250 per person for the twilight tour! They did take pictures of us with their own approved cameras while we were on the bridge, and I will need to scan them into the computer to post next time...I would definitely suggest anyone that goes to Sydney try this out, it was a lot of fun. After the bridge climb, we stop back to our beer fest to polish off the few remaining tickets we had left over from Saturday before we showered up and headed out to dinner. Tony had made reservations at an Italian place called "Otto" on the Wharf over in Wooloomooloo (yea, I just really wanted to type that name). It was delicious. For the main course, I had a king fish wrapped in prosciutto which I loved because the prosciutto was crispy without over cooking the fish. Tony had a veal chop that was as big as his head. It was a great meal and another great night.
The next day, we woke up early to catch the ferry over to Manly Beach. Manly is the premier 
beach area in Sydney, and about a 30 minute ferry ride from Circular Quay. The good news is, this was not the seasick kind of ferry, so I didn't die on the way there ; ) Tony was thrilled to find the boardwalk lines with shops and he was able to pick up three pairs of shoes which we had the store hold for us while we spent the day at the beach. We walked down the beach walk to Shelly Beach and had lunch at le Kiosk. It is right on the beach with views of the ocean. We got a table right inside by the open window so we could enjoy the sea air. To work off our lunch we continued on a 4 1/2 mile hike around Manly which led us through the amazing homes, the park and four other beaches before returning the the main area. We changed into our bathing suits and read on on the beach for a few hours before taking the ferry back to Sydney. It was a beautiful day and I highly recommend a day trip to Manly if you are in the area.
beach area in Sydney, and about a 30 minute ferry ride from Circular Quay. The good news is, this was not the seasick kind of ferry, so I didn't die on the way there ; ) Tony was thrilled to find the boardwalk lines with shops and he was able to pick up three pairs of shoes which we had the store hold for us while we spent the day at the beach. We walked down the beach walk to Shelly Beach and had lunch at le Kiosk. It is right on the beach with views of the ocean. We got a table right inside by the open window so we could enjoy the sea air. To work off our lunch we continued on a 4 1/2 mile hike around Manly which led us through the amazing homes, the park and four other beaches before returning the the main area. We changed into our bathing suits and read on on the beach for a few hours before taking the ferry back to Sydney. It was a beautiful day and I highly recommend a day trip to Manly if you are in the area. 
That evening we had dinner at Beppi's, another great Italian restaurant (do you see a theme here? Hey, the boy knows what he likes!) We walked there from out hotel since it allowed us to pass by the Sydney Library, Hospital, Parliament and through the beautiful Hyde Park before arriving at the restaurant. We met two American executives from a slot machine company who were sat at the table next to us. They were intrigued to understand how we knew about this place since it is not a touristy location. They travel to Australia approximately 10 times per year and they figured that it was probably their 90th meal at Beppi's. They told us a story about how one time they saw Russel Crow sitting in the back table amongst the wine cellar talking to big investors about what to do with all his new money he made from Gladiator! The food was wonderful. A notable dish was a antipasti we got of fresh artichokes. They also brew their own grappa (for Tony) and Sambuca (for me) which we had as our digestivi after our meal.
On Tuesday, we headed to another beach called Bondi. This time we opted for the subway, which was a double decker car and probably the one thing that was not nicer than in Hong Kong...dirty, old, similar to NYC except for the whole double decker thing. It was our first cloudy day so there was no swimming for us, but we opted for a long lunch at Icebergs', a well known club in the area. To become a member, you have to swim every Sunday of the year, for 5 years. Like an extreme polar bear club or something! The views over the water were great and so was the food. Our favorite from this meal was the appetizer we shared, scallops crudo which is raw thinly sliced scallops drizzled with olive oil, lemon and herbs. Freshness. To walk off another big lunch, we hit the cliff walk which winds you along the shore line between the ocean and the rock formations which have become works of art from years of erosion.
That night we went to Watson's Bay and had a more casual dinner on the beach at Doyles. Famous for their seafood, we shared a starter of mussels and then eat got the seafood platter which consisted of crab, shrimp cocktail, smoked salmon, stuff shrimp, and fish & chips. It was enough food to kill a horse! A great place for lunch as well because at that time of the day you can still take a ferry over to Watson's Bay where we had to take a taxi each way. But it was worth it!
The next day, Tony had another adventure planned. We rented a car and drove approximately 2.5 hours to the Hunter Valley region - were most of Australia's wines are made. We checked into our Bed & Breakfast, which was a gorgeous place called Peppers', and then we had a quick lunch at Ezra's (spinach salad with roasted pumpkin, avocado, prosciutto, goat & Parmesan cheeses, toasted pine nuts and a glass of pinot grigio) because we were trying to make a 1:30 PM tour of Tyrell's vineyard. 
They are one of the oldest in the area, and the second largest country they export to is the USA, so keep an eye out for a tasty bottle. We enjoyed their Semillions, especially the Vat 47 which was $50 a bottle ; ) They were very generous with their tasting size glasses so after several, we were feeling the love. We wound up purchasing two more affordable bottles of Shiraz instead. After Tyrell's we hit up another newer winery called Hope where we picked up a bottle of their Chardonnay and a very tasty Verdelho that would go great with dessert. Since we were a bit tipsy at this point we headed back to nap and shower before dinner at Roberts'. This place was very cozy, you could imagine it in the winter with a fire roaring. Tony had been craving steak which he finally was able to indulge in and for dessert he had a great drink called a "Naughty White Monk" - I really liked the name. It was frangelico, espresso, and ice cream all hot and tasty. Yum.
Oh, I bet you lost track of what day it was at this point, but I have not - MY BIRTHDAY! We woke up and had breakfast at our bed and breakfast - I got to eat one of my favorite rare breakfasts of French Toast and yogurt with honey, plus all the usual breakfast hoopla the serve (fruit, cereals, etc.) We then hopped in the car and began what was a beautiful ride through the mountains and vineyards up to the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately, the day turned out to be not so nice, it drizzled most of the way there, and when we got to the top there was so much fog we could hardly see anything! We started at Echo's Point, and made our way down to this famous rock formation called "The Three Sisters" in Katoomba. Their name comes from an old Aboriginal tale about three beautiful young ladies who had fallen in love with three brothers from the another tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry. The brothers got pissed off about the law so they tried to forcibly capture the sisters and it turned into a big tribal battle. Since their lives became greatly endangered, a witchdoctor turned the three sisters into stone to protect them from harm. Then, he goes and gets himself killed in the battle, so the sisters are stuck as 3 big rocks for eternity. Well, thanks to the fog, we were only able to see one of the sisters (I didn't catch her name), but I assume the other two were behind her. Prudes!n It was some very pretty hiking around there, if only the weather had been better, but we still did some venturing along the footpaths. We then headed back to Sydney to check back into the Shangri-la to get ready for my big birthday dinner!
They are one of the oldest in the area, and the second largest country they export to is the USA, so keep an eye out for a tasty bottle. We enjoyed their Semillions, especially the Vat 47 which was $50 a bottle ; ) They were very generous with their tasting size glasses so after several, we were feeling the love. We wound up purchasing two more affordable bottles of Shiraz instead. After Tyrell's we hit up another newer winery called Hope where we picked up a bottle of their Chardonnay and a very tasty Verdelho that would go great with dessert. Since we were a bit tipsy at this point we headed back to nap and shower before dinner at Roberts'. This place was very cozy, you could imagine it in the winter with a fire roaring. Tony had been craving steak which he finally was able to indulge in and for dessert he had a great drink called a "Naughty White Monk" - I really liked the name. It was frangelico, espresso, and ice cream all hot and tasty. Yum.
Oh, I bet you lost track of what day it was at this point, but I have not - MY BIRTHDAY! We woke up and had breakfast at our bed and breakfast - I got to eat one of my favorite rare breakfasts of French Toast and yogurt with honey, plus all the usual breakfast hoopla the serve (fruit, cereals, etc.) We then hopped in the car and began what was a beautiful ride through the mountains and vineyards up to the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately, the day turned out to be not so nice, it drizzled most of the way there, and when we got to the top there was so much fog we could hardly see anything! We started at Echo's Point, and made our way down to this famous rock formation called "The Three Sisters" in Katoomba. Their name comes from an old Aboriginal tale about three beautiful young ladies who had fallen in love with three brothers from the another tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry. The brothers got pissed off about the law so they tried to forcibly capture the sisters and it turned into a big tribal battle. Since their lives became greatly endangered, a witchdoctor turned the three sisters into stone to protect them from harm. Then, he goes and gets himself killed in the battle, so the sisters are stuck as 3 big rocks for eternity. Well, thanks to the fog, we were only able to see one of the sisters (I didn't catch her name), but I assume the other two were behind her. Prudes!n It was some very pretty hiking around there, if only the weather had been better, but we still did some venturing along the footpaths. We then headed back to Sydney to check back into the Shangri-la to get ready for my big birthday dinner! I thought that this trip was my present, but Tony was insistant on getting me something else to remember our trip by. Opals are the national gemstone of Australia, as well as my birth stone, and it was also October, prime time for Opals, so we decided that should be it. At first I wasn't that thrilled with the idea, thinking I did not really like the opals I have come across in my life, murky white glittery things with no clarity or color. Boring! I have always envied the other birthstones...rubies! emeralds! diamonds! oh my! In any case, we went to the jewelry store and low and behold, I found black opals...unfortunately for Tony's wallet, they are one of the most rare and coveted color of opal. In any case, we picked out together some beautiful opal earings. I love them! 
For my birthday dinner, Tony made reservations at Coast which is a new restaurant in Darling Harbor's Cove Wharf which specializes in seafood with an Italian flare. We opted for extravagance (hey, you only turn 30 once ; ) and went with the chef's selection tasting menu pared with wine. It was a spectacular feast. We started with raw oysters which the sommenlier pared with a sherry wine - it sounds gross but it went so well, I think I will serve sherry with oysters forever more! The next course was guincale (pork jowl) which was simply served with gardinera (spicy pickled Italian veggies). We had a antipasti of poached prawns served with caponta and for primi, we had ravioli stuffed with green peas in a mushroom ragu. For our main course, we shared a whole fish. Everything was more delicious than the previous course. Then they were very cute and made me a pretty birthday "cake" which was a crespelle with 
strawberry rhubarb compote and vanilla gelato. After dinner we headed out for drinks at Cargo Bar where we met another man who was a fellow birthday reveler and his friends from his company who had just busted out of a corporate function to have some real fun.
strawberry rhubarb compote and vanilla gelato. After dinner we headed out for drinks at Cargo Bar where we met another man who was a fellow birthday reveler and his friends from his company who had just busted out of a corporate function to have some real fun.As Simon and Garfunkel said "Someone told me it's all happening at the (Taronga) Zoo." Just a 
12 minute ferry ride from the Circular Quay lies a beautiful zoo filled with tons of exotic animals. Compare to other zoos, I thought that the animals areas seemed smaller, which is probably worse for the animals, but it puts them up a lot closer to you so you can actually get a good look at them, rather then squint at the small form in the back of the cage. My dream came true to meet to Koala bears. They were so snuggly and cute, I took a million pictures of them but here are a few of my favs.
12 minute ferry ride from the Circular Quay lies a beautiful zoo filled with tons of exotic animals. Compare to other zoos, I thought that the animals areas seemed smaller, which is probably worse for the animals, but it puts them up a lot closer to you so you can actually get a good look at them, rather then squint at the small form in the back of the cage. My dream came true to meet to Koala bears. They were so snuggly and cute, I took a million pictures of them but here are a few of my favs.
We saw kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, a great performance at the seal water show, and then the typical fare or giraffes, lions, tigers, and bears (oh my). I do believe it, I do believe it's true.
By this point, we had done everything else possible during our adventure filler days in Australia, there was only one big thing left - the Opera. The Sydney Opera House had been in our line of sight all week, and we finally got to go in and enjoy her splendors. Tony got us great tickets to see "The Gondoliers" which is an operatic comedy by Gilbert & Sullivan. It was wonderful! Dancing, singing...but thank goodness for the surtitles (like subtitles, electronically displayed above the stage as the name would indicate) so that we could translate the already English crazy opera singing into words we understood! It was fun and fancy and a 'half-time' we drank champagne.
Saturday morning was our final full day in Sydney. We did some shopping in the Rocks again in the morning and were invited over to lunch at our coworkers house where he and his wife live about 25 mins outside of the city. We spent a wonderful day there relaxing in their beautiful home, playing with their Whippet, Diva, and emptying their wine cellar. It was so nice to be in a big house bbqing in the back yard for a change.
Sunday we flew back but now without a final brunch complete with bloody mary's (homemade from real stewed tomatoes, served with a celery stalk and a grape tomato garnish) at the Harbor Park Hotel and Bar, right underneath the bridge for one final time. This is our "We don't want to go back to Hong Kong" self portrait...we had a blast in Sydney and cannot wait to go back.
Thank you to my wonderful husband for planning an amazing birthday trip. You are out of the dog house for at least a little while ; )
I know, I am a spoiled brat! Till next time I LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!
P.S. Want to see all the pics? Go here!
P.S. Want to see all the pics? Go here!
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