When I chose to fly into Sydney, my intention wasn’t to see the sights but rather I came for a potential job opportunity. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out so I spent my time seeing Sydney before moving onto Melbourne. Now, I do plan on coming back to Sydney to do the walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, however I plan on doing so when I have more money after working for a bit. So here are the places I visited for free…
Royal Botanic Gardens & Art Gallery of NSW
It seems everywhere has a botanic gardens nowadays, except maybe Canada! My journey began in Hyde Park where unfortunately I witnessed a homeless lady & man shooting up – I would later see her again begging for money. As I walked through Hyde Park another lady jumped out and started shouting some words at me, but frankly I couldn’t understand her Aussie accent so I just kept looking forward and walking. Once out of Hyde Park I entered into the gardens. In an effort to escape the heat, I came across the Art Gallery of NSW where I perused many paintings in the air conditioned building. After resting a bit, I collected myself and ventured around the gardens. Australia is known for it’s vast array of birds, so I have quite a few pictures of the various birds.
Sydney Opera House
On my way back from the Botanic Gardens I stopped by the iconic Sydney Opera House to snap some pictures of the harbour and to see what all of the fuss was about over the Opera House. I wasn’t able to go in as there was an event taking place.
Paddy’s Market
Having stumbled across this marketplace while aimlessly walking, I noted the cheap deals of clothing, makeup and various items for sale in the market. Also, the marketplace has an area for selling fresh produce where I purchased the largest banana I’ve ever seen! I placed the banana on my leg as a reference to just how large it was.
Network Ten
Much like in Canada, often times there are live tapings of shows so I submitted a a request to be in the audience for a few of them. My favourite taping was the Studio Ten morning show as we received breakfast, lollies, and a gift for being in the audience. Also the audience manager was extremely nice and wanted everyone to have a good time. I attended the taping twice, first by myself and the second time with a hostel friend, Rieke. I attended The Project taping as well, but found that it was mostly pre-recorded and not as fun. I was surprised at how many “regulars” they had attending the tapings.
Potts Point
Running out of places to walk to, I decided to head to Potts Point to see the naval base. First, I headed through Kings Cross area, as I heard great things about that area. Afterwards, I took the trail down and around the naval base area, and saw the massive naval ships that I’ve only ever seen on t.v.
Bondi Beach
Jumping on the bus, I made my way to Bondi Beach to meet up with my friend Laura. This was technically the second beach that I visited while in Sydney, but the first one I actually was in a bathing suit for. Apparently, Bondi Beach lifeguards are filmed for a t.v. show here in Australia and some taping was taking place while we were there. I always find it surprising that there are so many people at the beach during the work day, but then again it’s Australia, so I am surprised that they are even in bathing suits in February!
Total Cost = $12.40 AUD
- Banana $1 AUD
- Bus to and from Bondi $6.40 AUD
- Gelato $5 AUD
