Our family holiday to Australia - Part 2: Sydney

...So, after two weeks in Victoria, we travelled to New South Wales with Virgin Australia.

I can only imagine how beautiful the bays of Sydney and the surrounding area must have been for James Cook to have (re)named it after Wales. There are very few similarities now, unless you head out of the city. The botanic gardens and beaches are beautiful and the Sydney opera house and bridge make stunning landmarks, but it's not until you travel for over an hour outside the city, that you get any idea of what Australia might have one looked like.

During our stay in Oz, we've learned about the indigenous aboriginal people, culture, art and traditions ...something the British history books and classes seem to miss out. We've seen some amazing indigenous art in the Art Gallery of NSW and an interesting exhibition on aboriginal culture in the Australian Museum. It was uncomfortable at times to read the stories of stolen land and children taken from their families, but something I feel I must mention.

Anyway, back to the review...we stayed in the suburb of Rozelle; around a 20 minute bus-ride from the centre, and within easy reach of a selection of bars, cafes and restaurants, in neighbouring Balmain. Getting around Sydney was easy enough on the buses and ferries. Like Melbourne, you need to buy a travel pass, called an Opal (based on London's Oyster Card apparently). Of course, we had to visit the harbour bridge and opera house, which are in the heart of the city, near the beautiful botanic gardens. I was surprised to find they were so close together, as they don't appear that way on TV. I had hoped to be in awe of these fantastic structures, as so many of my friends and family have been, but alas, they looked like a pointy building and a big, metal bridge to me!

Food-wise, Sydney was pretty similar to Melbourne, except there seemed to be more European/Middle-Eastern influences and slightly less Asian. Vegetarian and vegan food was plentiful in both restaurants and shops, so we had no shortage of good food to eat. Lunches in cafes and restaurants were full-on meals with ubiquitous avocados and salad, not light snacks and sandwiches, so we often look a picnic out with us, which saved money too. We found that Greek and Middle-Eastern restaurants were the best bet for a vegetarian light lunch or dinner, but these were out in the suburbs, not in the city .

On an Aussie Masterchef theme again, we ate at the trendy Wilhemina's restaurant (fronted by last years' forth-placed contestant Jamie Fleming) and tried some delicious cake and pastries from guest chef, Adriano Zumbo's patisserie.
Towards the end of our holiday, we were craving a good (British-Indian) curry and luckily both the Indian Palace and Manjits in Balmain delivered on taste and price. The only thing lacking was a good naan (maybe they don't have tandoor ovens in Australia), as the naans in both places were small, round, pale affairs, not the big, puffy pillows of bread we get in the UK! They also had puny pappadoms...no idea why that is!

As a city, we found Sydney to be big, brash and busy, so a highlight for us all was the tranquil, and small but perfectly formed, Chinese Garden of Friendship in China Town. You really wouldn't believe you were in the city centre, unless you looked up to see the skyscrapers surrounding it. Another must-do was the stunning coastal walk from Coogee beach to Bondi, which took us around and hour and a half with plenty of photo opportunities. Unfortunately, there were no Bondi Rescue life guards on duty when we got there! Talking of beaches, we also took the ferry from Circular Quay to visit Manly and Watson's Bay. Even in the winter, it was warm enough to have a paddle and a picnic on the beach, which was lovely. It was also well worth travelling out to the vast Blue Mountains to get a taste of real, rural Australia.

After four busy weeks down-under, it was time for another mammoth flight back to the UK with Cathay Pacific. I don't know when or if we''ll ever travel back to Oz, but this was a holiday we'll never forgot.