Honeymoon Stop 5--Sydney, Australia

Sydney Opera House

Our weather curse followed us into Sydney! We were hoping for sun and blue skies Down Under, but were greeted by clouds and intermittent downpours during the five days we spent in Sydney. Despite the precipitation, the weather was warm enough to spend time outside and explore the city and its hip neighborhoods. We saw the botanical gardens, took a quick trip across the Sydney Harbour to visit Manly and the world-famous surfing beach on its shores, and spent some time in the southern suburbs with our friends Reed and Lisa. By the end of the trip, we had fallen in love with city and could see ourselves living there, if it weren't so expensive and far from everyone we love.

On the Fast Ferry to Manly

Surfers riding the waves in Manly

Z from the highest point we hiked to in Manly

Sydney skyline from the Sydney Botanical Gardens

A quaint touch--birdcages hanging over an alley near our hotel

In front of St. Mary's Church

Sydney is known for its Asian food, which Z and I love and eat at least a couple of times per week. We wasted no time finding a sushi lunch. As you can see from the photo below, in many restaurants it's common for the individual sushi plates to come by on a track. You select the plates you want and pay by the plate at the end of the meal. The sushi quality was mediocre at best, but our lunch experience was fun.

Sushi lunch

Sushi plates on tracks in the background

Z checking out the black rice sushi

The next day, we stopped by a fast food sushi spot that offered rolls with black rice. We did a little research and it turns out black rice is more nutritious than brown rice, rich in antioxidants and protein.  In addition, black rice (turns purple when cooked) tastes much better than brown rice - win/win. We'll look for it when we get back to the U.S.

Like many big cities, Sydney is also known for its fine dining. We enjoyed a delicious meal at Cafe Sydney overlooking the Sydney Harbour thanks to our friends Mike and Kirsten, who treated us for our wedding. We dined on delicacies including "bugs", goose liver and duck fat.

Celebrating in Sydney

First course of our meal at Cafe Sydney

Our centrally-located hotel, The Westin Sydney, meant we could easily walk to many sites we wanted to visit. One of the first things we did when we arrived in Sydney was visit and take a tour of the Sydney Opera House. The iconic design of the Opera House makes the Sydney skyline easily identifiable from other world-class cities. We learned on our tour that this innovative building almost wasn't constructed. Other judges for the opera house design competition had discarded Jorn Utzon's design, but an American judge reviewed the submissions and rescued Utzon's drawings from the discard pile.

Unfortunately for us, performances at the opera house were in a bit of a lull while we were in Sydney. I wasn't blown away by the tour and for the cost ($35 Australian per person), I can't say that I'd do it again. At least the tour was an opportunity to experience the site.

Outside of the Sydney Opera House

Inside the concert hall at the Sydney Opera House

Opera House at night

In an earlier post I mentioned that this is a trip of new experiences. That includes positive and not-so-positive experiences. Whale watching was a positive experience. Seeing whales less than 10 feet from our boat (we caught it a little late in the pic) was humbling and amazing and almost worth the seasickness that came from being on the boat. About an hour into our three-hour boat trip, we were ready to turn back and be back on dry land.

Look closely and you can see a whale!

Despite the suffering, our whale watching boat trip was good training for the next stop on our trip--scuba certification at the Great Barrier Reef!