The post that has taken me a long time to write as I wanted to be able to curl up with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and reminisce over each and every moment. Many times people will ask me where I could see myself living from my travels…. Sydney. Sydney. Sydney. I still have honest moments of withdrawal missing this fascinating city and sitting below the Oprah House soaking it all in.
Sydney, Australia has an amazing history as being a city built by convicts. The aim was not to build an amazing city but to establish a prison settlement for British convicts. When they served their time, they were given a bit of land and put to work to make a life for themselves. An area of the harbor known as The Rocks shows where convicts made a life as best they could building rough little homes, and the streets are still crooked and look as if they were built piece by piece. Pretty soon other free settlers arrived, and as more convicts earned freedom- schools, churches, stores, theaters and a library appeared. The economy was driven by industries and transportation of convicts from Britain ended in 1840.
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As you can see from the photo, the Sydney Oprah house and bridge are landmarks to see the beautiful Sydney Harbor, with ferries transporting workers and tourists to other islands to work or play, and a smaller, darling harbor on the other side. You can spend hours just strolling the edges of this magnificent place, learning more of the history. Or, you can get lucky and have an angel of an NPAworldwide member (Roxayne) pick you up and take you to tour the other areas/neighborhoods of Sydney. Forever grateful ❤
Favorite spot in the Rocks: On my first day of touring about downtown Sydney/The Rocks I found The Glenmore Hotel rooftop where I sat for an hour with some chardonney and edamame with views of the Oprah House.
Our first stop in the car after touring through some fantastic unique neighborhoods was the infamous Bondi Beach at the Icebergs Club pool, which is an amazing site in itself. Bondi Beach is home to many surfers, and the Icebergs Club you can access as a guest to have a meal (and more wine) up in their restaurant that overlooks the pool with water flooding in over the edges from the ocean. In June it was their fall/winter so with 60 degree weather I did not take a dip in either, but there were those that definitely did not hold back.
Next we strolled the infamous Bondi beach to Coogee beach pacific trail, only a small part of it as we did not want to run out of daylight, but this amazing trail along the cliffs of the pacific ocean is one you do not want to miss. October-November they do an amazing “Sculpture by the Sea” art competition where the entire trail is covered in various art pieces.
We then headed into Watson’s Bay with a stop at Gap Park, “The Gap” which is the opening of the south pacific ocean into Sydney Harbour is a stunning cliff walk and sadly infamous for the suicides that occur there. After a walk on these cliff’s we found a lovely spot to share a bottle of wine at Doyle’s in Watson’s bay. The next day we took the manly ferry over to the amazing beach town of Manly, which is a fantastic option as way to tour the beach town and spend time on the sandy shore.
The hotel: As this was for our work conference in Sydney, I stayed at the stunning Radisson Blu in downtown Sydney, that well, made me feel like a princess, and had an amazing location to all you needed to walk to in Sydney to play tourist.
The second day instead of the famous Taronga zoo where many rave about the neat air car ride over, I wanted to snuggle some marsupials so we traveled out to Featherdale Zoo which is a bit of a hike, but well worth it to be able to feed and touch the kangaroos and koalas (for me at least). This is a bit smaller of a park, so those wanting to stay in the city and have the bigger experience plan on Taronga.
Restaurant favorites:
Mr. Wong : Favorite restaurant by far. Mr. Wong pays homage to classic Chinese influences in a contemporary style. The Cantonese-style menu features over 60 dishes as well as an unrivalled dim sum selection.
Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel: The oldest pub in Australia, we held a large group small event here and really enjoyed the atmosphere and ability to watch the match on TV.
Cruise Bar Sydney: We held our final conference event here on their rooftop with amazing passed appetizers and an open bar overlooking the Sydney Harbor. Amazing, and also fantastic for night life/dancing on the weekends.
Pontoon Bar: We rented the upstairs room for a dinner event, and had the most amazing rooftop view of the Darling Harbour fireworks. This also transfers to a really fun nightclub/dance club on the weekends.
Outside of those favorites, I would say any grab and go food option underneath the Oprah House was my all time favorite. The ability to get some amazing asian inspired food and wine and look up at the Oprah House was stunning.
Probably the most spectacular part of my trip was the fact I visited during Vivid- an incredible light show that occurs once a year in Sydney where the entire city and harbors and building are lit up in lights, and the oprah house puts on a graphics show each night featuring moving aboriginal art work.
While I was only able to soak in a few days and stolen moments through our work conference, I plan to take my husband back soon and add on a trip to New Zealand as well. The overall vibe and history has made me a lifetime fan.
-Sarah
Freiburger on the Fly 