Sydney 2013 - What We Did ....

We had 5 full days in Sydney and about 2 half days (on the day we arrived and departed) so it was pretty good time to do things leisurely and take in as much sights.  But our daughter can't nap outside in her pram which meant that we had to be back in the apartment for at least a few hours every afternoon.  It also gave us some time to rest for a few hours each day - well I mean that's what holidays should be right - relaxing.  

By the time we landed and got our phones connected to the rest of the world and checked in, it was close to 2.30pm.  The rooms were suppose to be ready by 2pm and since they weren't, they gave us a late check-out as part of service recovery.  We spent the rest of the afternoon settling into the apartment while Jules caught up on her sleep so nothing was very much done that day except a nice dinner by the Sydney Harbour. 

We got up on Day 2 refreshed and recharged.  While waiting for Jules to get up, the hubs and dad went to pick up our car.  Jules slept in till 830am just like she does back home despite the 3 hours time difference. We headed for brunch at Bondi beach and spent the rest of the afternoon running away from the fierce waves and getting a sun-burn!! I grab one of those sandpit toys from the nearby convenience store so that Jules could spend some time on the beautiful beach.  Nothing like sand from Aussie beaches!! She had so much fun and it took some cajoling before she reluctantly agreed to leave the beach.  

The next day - Thursday - was the most exciting day for Yiyi Sam!! She was going to meet the love of her life!! Giraffes!!! Taronga Zoo is the city zoo of Sydney and winner of numerous NSW Tourism awards.  It came highly recommended by many - even my doctor told us to bring Jules when we took her we were heading to Sydney.  For the past month, Jules has been telling everyone who would listen to her that she was "going holiday, see kank-ger-roo and koala bear".  I've convinced she must have thought her parents were just big fat liars cos one month later, she still never got to see the elusive kangaroo   So today was a big day for her!  We filled up on a hearty breakfast and prepared some sandwiches. My mum cooked Jules lunch of porridge which we brought along cos we were warned that food at the zoo was expensive and bad.  And because the zoo was highly accessible by bus and then ferry, we left the car behind that day, took the free city shuttle bus to Circular Quay where we boarded the ferry that brought us to the zoo in just 12 minutes!! Along the way, we took in the sights of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House and even spotted a pirate ship!!! 

Our tickets to the zoo came with the ferry and cable car ride which took us from the pier of zoo to it entrance.  First stop - the Aussie kangaroo !! And what sight to see it hopping!! I don't think I've ever seen a kangaroo actually hopping.  It's really adorable.  The Taronga Zoo is a lot more open with the enclosures housed further apart from each other, unlike our Zoo here (or what I can remember of it since the last I visited our local zoo 10 years ago).  We got up close with Mr Koala and we made sure we stayed on long enough for the little sis to feed the giraffes during the giraffe encounter.  They have a backyard bush area - where the farm animals are housed together with some water features and a playground where Jules made some friends - one of them, a little Aussie girl who lost an eye to cancer.  Jules was really sweet, cos she not only offered her her apple, she also held her hand down the slide.  So the that afternoon was to try to be first in line for the Giraffe Encounter at 1.45pm and make a dash for the cable car ride back to the ferry terminal to catch the 2.05pm ferry back to the city so that we could get back to the apartment for Jules' nap.  The next ferry was 3.15pm which means she would have gotten cranky by the time we got home.  It was that or we gave the giraffe encounter a miss - which would have made the little sis very very sad.  In the end, Jules decided to take things into her own hands by miraculously falling asleep in her stroller after her hearty lunch of Por Por's porridge!! I was using the nursing room when the hubs texted me to say she had fallen asleep! Jules never falls asleep outside or in her pram! I guess she knew how badly her Yiyi Sam wanted to feed those giraffes and figured that there was no way we could have done that and made the 2.05pm ferry.  So to solve the problem, she decided going to nap would have made everyone happy!!  How thoughtful!  She put in a good 1.5hr nap while we continued strolling around the park.  The cool Aussie weather also made all the difference.  Yiyi Sam got to strike off an item on her bucket-list and everyone was a happy camper!! We picked up some souvenirs from the gift shop and called it a day! 

After a eventful day out at the zoo, we took the next day easy, slept in, had a late breakfast at Bills, made a pit stop at the awesome Bourke Street Bakery (oh olive bread, how I miss you) before we headed for the Sydney Fish Market.  The market was packed with tourists – mainly PRCs who weren’t treating the premises very nicely.  Not a very pretty sight.  I didn’t recall it being so touristy when we visited 10 years ago.  The Melbourne Queen Victoria Market is so much nicer, though to be fair, it’s also a market of a different kind.  We didn’t spend very long there, Dad satisfied his greediness with a plate of oysters and we left after picking up our lunch of a 1kg Tasmanian lobster and some cooked tiger prawns.  We headed back to the apartment where we dig into our seafood indulgence in complete comfort!  We did the same thing in Melbourne last year No worries about using our hands and eating unglamorously.  Mum whipped up some fried udon which went perfectly well with our shell fishes!  That afternoon, while Jules napped, I sneaked out with the little sis for some shopping at Queen Victoria Building and the nearby Westfield mall.  Well nothing that we can’t get back home so I just picked up some clothes for Jules from Country Road and my stash of eucalyptus oil and lucus papaw cream from the pharmacy.  

We saved the best of Aussie shopping to the weekends when we visited the various markets.  Spent Saturday morning at the Eveleigh Farmer’s Market where we saw Kylie Kwong in action cooking up her steam wantons!  The vendors sold mainly organic vegetable produce with a couple of stores selling free-range poultry and organic beef.  I was very tempted to buy some free-range chicken to cook Jules’ remaining meals but we still had a few hours out so I had a problem with keeping them chilled.  I did leave with some organic baby carrots though – with its roots all intact.  I think it made the difference cos the stocks I made with those carrots turned out extremely sweet!! 

Watching a children's school band performance

With some time to kill before lunch, the hubs googled for a nearby flea market that we could go to.  That brought us to the Glebe Saturday Market (a mix of handmade and second-hand items, some new, some vintage).  Jules also had her face painted at this market – it was quite a hilarious episode.  They needed Jules to close her eyes so that they could pain on her face, but our daughter didn’t know how to close her eyes without putting her hands over the face!  The fairies manning the store ended up having to draw little fairies on her cheeks instead.  

Showing off the glitter on her face

They were really sweet about it though and even charged us less as they said they usually drew on the entire face! Here’s a little clip of the face painting drama ….

That night, we visited the Darling Harbour precinct.  The plan was to take Jules on her first carousel ride but we got there late and they had closed for the day.  What a bump.  We did spend good time at the playground nearby though which made her a very happy girl.  We were also treated to a wonderful fireworks display by the harbor.  It was a first for Jules and I think she was a little scared in the beginning.  But by the end of the show, she was asking to see it all over again.   

We spent our last full day in the city visiting the Rocks market.  I’m thoroughly impressed by the quality of the handmade goods the vendors sold.  We picked up some lovely charms and colourful tees and a vintage dress for Jules.  We were also blessed with a lovely weather that day after a morning shower which brought temperatures down to a cool 20degC and made the walk around the Rocks area so pleasant.  Oh and if you’re ever there, don’t forget to check out that sweet corn on the cob and lemonade stand! Best corn ever!! We had sprinkled simply with salt and Jules devoured the entire corn (almost)!

Pretending to be cultured 

As you can see, we didn’t pack our days endless must-dos.  Pretty much took it easy with a sight or two a day.  But we got a fair bit covered and also had time to just relax and chill in the apartment.  Everyone had something for them in the itinerary – markets for the sister and mum and playground and open spaces for Jules!! Everyone was a happy camper!!

Sydney – What We Ate, coming right up!!

For More Information
Bondi Beach
Taronga Zoo
Eveleigh Market
Glebe Market
Darling Harbour
The Rocks