Weekend Escape to Sydney, NSW

 Well once again, time has got the best of me and I am now finally posting this over a month later... I am sorry to whoever reads this!  This year has gone crazy fast, I just can't keep up!

But, Sydney was amazing!  I would totally live there and absolutely loved it!

I had been searching the 'Grab a Seat' deals from Air NZ each day hoping that someday an unbeatable deal to Aussie would come up.  And then it happened!  $250 round trip per person, from Wellington, non stop, on dates that worked for us!  I was so excited!!  So less than 2 weeks later, we were off to Sydney!

We arrived EARLY Friday morning into Sydney international airport (not the best airport) finally made it through customs and hopped on the train into town.  We quickly checked into our hostel and then headed into the sights.  First up; Westfield Sydney.  Its huge!  Its so nice! the food was delicious!  I had a delicious veggie dog and Colin a hotdog, but this isn't ordinary food court food, its easily a few steps above.  Westfield Sydney also has luxury restaurants on the 6th floor and a crazy yummy chocolate bar (which we went to!)

After filling up on a super early lunch we headed towards the New South Wales Art Museum.  Admission is free to most attractions which is really nice.  There were some great exhbits and beautiful art!  We passed an amazing cathedral along the way...

Next stop was the botanical gardens which linked up to the water front and the..... iconic Sydney landmark... the Opera House!

The views were stunning!  I was surprised to see upclose that the Opera house was looking quite dated.  Its more of a yellowish colour, but it was still so cool to see in person, I just wanted to keep staring at it!
Below is a video of the Ionic Opera House!

We spent the rest of the day walking around the city as much as possible.  We came across a cool little market that served delicious foods and ice cream and then went to a pub for dinner (which colin and scouted out).  By the end of the day we were exhausted, headed back to our hostel and fell fast asleep.

Day 2:
We got up early once again (had to make the most of our 3 days!) and hit the streets to find markets and other wonders Sydney had to offer.  In Darling Harbour we found the 2000 Olympics monument which was pretty cool to see.  Darling Harbour in general was super cute, right on the water with the CBD of the city in the background. 

Next we headed back to Westfield Sydney (always seemed to stop there) for a quick look at the shops.  They had a Gap which was so exciting! But stuff was still more expensive than at home, and we looked and we ohhh'd and ahhh'd but didn't buy anything.  Our goal for the day was to get over to Manly Beach, achievable by ferry.
The ferry offered amazing views of the harbour and was a quick ride across.  Manly had some great beaches and a great ale house (Colin found of course).  We also did a great walk throughout the island and managed to catch the ferry right as it started to pour down rain!

Even though there was rain, the harbour didn't fail to impress!

The rest of the day we did some walking through the major department stores (super overwhelming!) took a slight nap and then headed back to Westfield Sydney for some burritos!  (they don't have ANY in New Zealand, so this was a treat!)  and treated ourselves to some amazing sunde's at a chocolate shop in the centre.  Once again, it was fast to sleep and early rise for our last day in Sydney.

Day 3:
Our last day in Sydney was spent out at Bondi Beach, its a pretty famous beach (Colin and I watch Bondi beach rescue on tv)  It was beautiful! We found this fun market with all sorts of trinkets and then had a delicious lunch and went to soak up the sun!

 The funny lifeguard outfits

Last stop before the end of the day was a fun walk around the peninsula and then a stop at Westfield Bondi Junction - they had a target!!! I spent a long time in there (obviously wanting to buy everything) and then finally settled on my purchases.  Target in Australia isn't as good as Target at home, but it was great to be in one!

Our last night was spent having a yummy dinner and watching the Rugby games and making our last walk back to the hostel before jumping on a plane first thing in the morning and then heading back to work.

Sydney was amazing!  and if this year living in NZ has taught me anything, its that traveling is super easy and you can just buy a ticket and go!  I can't wait to continue this around the US/other places in the world that are on our lists! :)