On our short trip to Australia we visited Melbourne then did a 3-day itinerary in Sydney and from there a day trip to Blue Mountain, known as the Australian Chapada.
The journey to Oceania is a long one, almost 24 hours to get there from the other side of the world, so we took the opportunity to visit not only Australia, but also a 9-day itinerary in New Zealanda beautiful country.
From Auckland in New Zealandwe flew to Melbourne and from there to Sydney, our final destination, where we stayed for 4 nights. Remember that we were travelling with two children, one 1 year old and the other almost 4 years old, so the pace was a little slower.
3-day itinerary in Sydney
Sydney itinerary - day 1
Our flight arrived in Sydney at 9.30am and we immediately took a van to our hotel, the Regents Courts Sydney which was close to King Cross Station. Aside from Regents Courts, Sydney offers a range of comfortable and luxurious accommodations to suit every traveler's needs. Discover a variety of options at New South Wales Hotels at http://www.newsouthwaleshotels.net/en/sydney-hotels-30285/.
We left everything there and started our 3-day itinerary in Sydney around 11am. We did everything on foot, but depending on where you're staying, you'll have to take the metro, for example, to St James Station, which is inside Hyde Park.
We started our visit at St Mary's Cathedral and Hyde Park, as they are opposite each other.
Close by is the Sydney Tower and the Queen Victory Building. For those who want to do a bit of shopping, next door is Pitt Street, which is worth a look.
Following the street from the Queen Victory Building you'll reach Darling Harbour, which is home to several attractions such as Sea Life, Wild Life Zoo and the Maritime Museum.
We ended our first day in Sydney at the Hard Rock Cafe in Darling Harbour, where we were served by a very friendly Brazilian waitress.
Here's a map to give you an idea of the routes and how close the places are to each other.
Sydney itinerary - day 2
As our hotel was close to one of the entrances to the Royal Botanic Gardens, that's where we started our tour. The aim was to reach a part of the gardens called Macquaries Point, from where you can get one of the best angles to take the classic photo of the bridge + Sydney Opera House.
We walked around Circular Quay, had lunch and then went for a walk around The Rocks, Sydney's oldest neighbourhood. But everything I'm talking about is within walking distance of each other. There, if you like, is the excellent Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
Our idea in the afternoon was to take the ferry to Manley Beach (departs from Pier 3 at Circular Quay) or visit Taronga Zoo, which is huge and also on the other side of Sydney Bay, but we gave up as we were going to visit many beaches the next day and had booked the Featherdale Wildlife Park tour.
In the end, we just enjoyed the beautiful area and did a bit of shopping.
Itinerary in Sydney - day 3
Our third day in the city was entirely dedicated to visiting Sydney's beautiful beaches!
We took the metro to Bondi Junction, one of the main stations, and from there we caught a bus to Coogee Beach, such as the 313, 314 and 353.
Our option - a daring one, given that we had children, lol - was to walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach, the most famous of all.
There is a path, the Bondi Coogee Coastal Walkwhich runs along almost the entire coastline and the distance between the two beaches is more or less 5 kilometres. In theory, it would take you two hours to walk this route, but if you want to stop and enjoy it and, of course, take lots of photos, it will take longer. Why rush?
Between them we passed Gordons Bay, the charming little Clovelly Beach, Bronte Beach, Tamarama Beach, Mackenzies Point and, finally, Bondi Beach. Along the way, we even passed a cemetery overlooking the sea.
We spent the rest of the day at Bondi Beach, which has lots of restaurants, bars, a Ferris wheel, a swimming pool...
But here's a personal opinion: although it's the most famous, I didn't find it the prettiest. The others we passed along the way were much prettier, but of course, that's super personal.
Extra day: round trip to Blue Mountain and Featherdale Wildlife Park
I think Sydney deserves at least 3 full days just for it, and if you can dedicate an extra 2 days, that would be perfect!
However, if you make Sydney your base city, you can do several day trips back and forth. We only had time to do one, which was to take the kids to feed kangaroos at Featherdale Wildlife Park and then to Blue Mountain, all on the same day.
We left early and went straight to Olimpic Park. We drove around and just stopped for photos in front of the stadium.
Olympic Stadium
Then we headed to Featherdale Wildlife Park, which is well worth a visit for those with children. It's a mini zoo with animals that are generally typical of Australia and that are mostly loose, so children can feed them, as is the case with the kangaroos. My daughters loved it, and so did I, I confess! ????
There are koalas, of course, and the option (for a fee) to take a photo with one of them. The stop there is just over an hour, but it's enough.
Then we headed to the Blue Mountain region, known to many as the Australian Plateau. We stop at some viewpoints for photos, go to Scenic World Park, have lunch in the small town and on the way back we take a boat that comes through some canals and arrives right next to the Sydney Opera House, which guarantees a beautiful view of it and the bridge.
Coming back from the boat trip we were treated to this view
Once there, we took the opportunity to take a thousand night shots of the Opera House, which is a highly photogenic building.
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