Sydney
First of all an update on the bank situation: after a lot of head scratching, grief and a couple of tears the whole situation resolved itself on Thursday night. My mum’s bank man (and also my bank man when it comes to my loans), who works at a local bank office independent from Swedbank but still within the same business group, contacted my Swedbank office and got them to approve that my bank accounts in their bank gets connected to a bank device issued by the local bank. Complicated I know but he basically certified that I was I and then handed my mum a new device. So I will get access to my money after all. Puh! What does everything around me has to be so complicated?!
We landed in Sydney after a smooth one hour and a half flight and took a taxi to Nettan and Gareth’s place out in Russel Lea (a suburb west of CBD). A drink and a chat later we went to bed. Started the Friday rather early and took the bus into the city. We spent the day walking around in the city looking at sights and managed squeeze in the Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building, the Rocks and Harbour Bridge as well as the Circular Quay with the Opera House and the Botanical Gardens in our schedule. The weather was a wonderful 25-27 degrees and the sun shined on us the whole day. That was the first warm day I’ve had since I arrived in Australia and it was the first day I could walk around in just a short sleeved shirt and a skirt. So this is what the Australian spring and summer is all about, once again I realised I was sent to this wonderful country at the totally wrong season.
A lot of walking (and photographing) later we returned back to Nettan & Gareth’s for a little rest before we headed out to dinner together at Chopsticks, a Thai restaurant located in Balmain. Wonderful food and the first time I experienced the Australian phenomenon: BYO – Bring Your Own...very handy idea :P
Slept in a little on Saturday morning and started the day with a bacon and egg breakfast. Yum! Took the bus into the city again but this time we started the sightseeing in Darling Harbour. Walked around, enjoyed the sun (around 29 degrees both Saturday and Sunday) and the sights before we cold down at the Aquarium for an hour or so. A place well worth a visit by the way. After that we headed to Circular Quay again to catch a ferry to Manly. Got a beautiful view of the city from the ferry. Enjoyed a lunch and then headed to Manly beach. Lovely place, reminded me of Spain or something. Lots of people at the beach and a couple of brave souls in the water as well. Time flies when you’re having a good time and after the visit to the beach we decided to go back “home” to have a little rest before heading back to the city for dinner.
The evening was hard for Simon who wasn’t able to watch the footy game between Adelaide and Collingwood (especially since it being the semi-final and all). He was pretty preoccupied during dinner getting text updates about the score every minute though (I realise that he made a big sacrifice giving up the footy for me so I can’t really be upset...lol). Sadly Adelaide lost (Collingwood scoring the decisive goal with only one minute left of the game) and to cheer up a grumpy Simon we went to the Opera bar for a drink. Nice to see the views of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House at night, truly beautiful! A lot of “skanky dressed” girls though :P Felt tired after being out in the sun walking around sightseeing for two days so we had a pretty early night.
We felt like we’ve done pretty much all the touristy things we wanted to do so we packed our stuff and brought our luggage with us into the city. Strolled around the Sunday Market in the Rocks for a bit before we camped out at the Australian Heritage Hotel. We had lunch and a couple of drinks before we had to head to the airport to return to Melbourne. Arrived in a cold Melbourne around 7 pm, 13 degrees, windy and cold...brr!
Sydney truly is a wonderful city! Melbourne as well as Sydney is located by the water but the way the city is built up is totally different. I guess the wonderful weather did play a big part in the fact that I fell in love with Sydney. But I still love Melbourne too, just in a different way, and it is nice to be back home again :P
A big thank you to Nettan & Gareth for letting us stay at your place and to Simon for spending the weekend with me and making it a special memory to treasure when I’m back in Sweden again. Our first trip together (and hopefully there will be many more to come) :)
Over 300 photos taken over the weekend, a selection of the best ones can be found in the newly created Picasa album not so suprisingly namned Sydney. Enjoy!
Sydney Opera House
We landed in Sydney after a smooth one hour and a half flight and took a taxi to Nettan and Gareth’s place out in Russel Lea (a suburb west of CBD). A drink and a chat later we went to bed. Started the Friday rather early and took the bus into the city. We spent the day walking around in the city looking at sights and managed squeeze in the Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building, the Rocks and Harbour Bridge as well as the Circular Quay with the Opera House and the Botanical Gardens in our schedule. The weather was a wonderful 25-27 degrees and the sun shined on us the whole day. That was the first warm day I’ve had since I arrived in Australia and it was the first day I could walk around in just a short sleeved shirt and a skirt. So this is what the Australian spring and summer is all about, once again I realised I was sent to this wonderful country at the totally wrong season.
Sydney Town Hall
Enjoying the sun
Harbour Bridge
Harbour Bridge
Circular Quay & CBD as seen from the Pylon Lookout at Harbour Bridge
A lot of walking (and photographing) later we returned back to Nettan & Gareth’s for a little rest before we headed out to dinner together at Chopsticks, a Thai restaurant located in Balmain. Wonderful food and the first time I experienced the Australian phenomenon: BYO – Bring Your Own...very handy idea :P
Slept in a little on Saturday morning and started the day with a bacon and egg breakfast. Yum! Took the bus into the city again but this time we started the sightseeing in Darling Harbour. Walked around, enjoyed the sun (around 29 degrees both Saturday and Sunday) and the sights before we cold down at the Aquarium for an hour or so. A place well worth a visit by the way. After that we headed to Circular Quay again to catch a ferry to Manly. Got a beautiful view of the city from the ferry. Enjoyed a lunch and then headed to Manly beach. Lovely place, reminded me of Spain or something. Lots of people at the beach and a couple of brave souls in the water as well. Time flies when you’re having a good time and after the visit to the beach we decided to go back “home” to have a little rest before heading back to the city for dinner.
Cute, huh?!
Simon at the Aquarium
The evening was hard for Simon who wasn’t able to watch the footy game between Adelaide and Collingwood (especially since it being the semi-final and all). He was pretty preoccupied during dinner getting text updates about the score every minute though (I realise that he made a big sacrifice giving up the footy for me so I can’t really be upset...lol). Sadly Adelaide lost (Collingwood scoring the decisive goal with only one minute left of the game) and to cheer up a grumpy Simon we went to the Opera bar for a drink. Nice to see the views of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House at night, truly beautiful! A lot of “skanky dressed” girls though :P Felt tired after being out in the sun walking around sightseeing for two days so we had a pretty early night.
We felt like we’ve done pretty much all the touristy things we wanted to do so we packed our stuff and brought our luggage with us into the city. Strolled around the Sunday Market in the Rocks for a bit before we camped out at the Australian Heritage Hotel. We had lunch and a couple of drinks before we had to head to the airport to return to Melbourne. Arrived in a cold Melbourne around 7 pm, 13 degrees, windy and cold...brr!
Sydney truly is a wonderful city! Melbourne as well as Sydney is located by the water but the way the city is built up is totally different. I guess the wonderful weather did play a big part in the fact that I fell in love with Sydney. But I still love Melbourne too, just in a different way, and it is nice to be back home again :P
A big thank you to Nettan & Gareth for letting us stay at your place and to Simon for spending the weekend with me and making it a special memory to treasure when I’m back in Sweden again. Our first trip together (and hopefully there will be many more to come) :)
Over 300 photos taken over the weekend, a selection of the best ones can be found in the newly created Picasa album not so suprisingly namned Sydney. Enjoy!
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| Sydney (2009-09-10 to 2009-09-13) |
