Sydney, New South Wales

The next series of posts will be about my recent trip to Australia.

 

Hmmm… Where should I begin…

 

I left Dallas on the 29th of December and after a 14 hour flight from San Francisco I arrived in Sydney on the 31st (NYE). The US dollar at the time of my trip was weaker than the Aussie dollar so I lost about $300 with the currency exchange before even leaving the airport. Australia is quite expensive and it let’s you know right away. At one point during my trip I spent nearly $10 AUD on a bag of chips and a bottle of water…

 

Many including myself would assume that Sydney is the capital of Australia but it’s actually a city called Canberra which is about 270 kilometers (<-- See what I did there) southwest of Sydney. I could bore you to death with details of what I did in Sydney but I'm not going to do that. Instead I'll just run thru a few quick basics if you're traveling to Australia.

 

1. First of all, you don't have to leave a tip. Anywhere.
2. "Chips" are French fries.
3. You can half flush or full flush the toilet.
4. No one drinks Fosters. In fact when I asked a bartender for it she didn't know what I was talking about. (I did see an Outback Steakhouse though. Aussies take pride in their steaks.)
5. Kangaroo is quite tasty. Crocodile, not so much. Tastes like super chewy chicken.
6. A "queue" is a line. To "queue up" means to line up.
7. Aussies have an odd sense of humor. They'd get shot in America.
8. The best way to get around the city is on bicycle. Sydney is pretty bike friendly. Shout out to Dallas native Mark at Bonza Bikes for hooking us up.
9. If you go to the beach you're bound to see topless chicks. Try not to stare.
10.The cost of living is very expensive. The average house right outside of Sydney is about $1.2 million and we're talking 3 bed 2 bath.

 

That's enough yapping from me. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.

 

 

If you look closely at the picture below you can see thousands of spectators gathering outside of the Opera House to see the NYE fireworks display later that night.

 

 

 

The Harbour Bridge is quite impressive in size when you see it in person. I would definitely have to rank it within the top 5 on my list of favorite bridges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We visited several beaches while in Sydney including Coogee Beach and Bondi Beach but my favorite had to be Manly Beach and believe me there was nothing manly about it.