Sydney - Simply Amazing

I know, I know, the first thing that comes to mind is the Opera House, and we were actually staying quite close to the distinguished landmark, but Sydney is a lot more than that one building but here are the gratuitous photos (it is beige not white and does look like clam shell)

Click to enlarge and see the tiles that make up the roof

Harbour Bridge only $600 to climb it!

It's also expensive - a hamburger cost anywhere for $20 - 25 at the pub, this usually doesn't include the side of chips/fries. If you want a real meal, you could be looking at $40+ per main course. Be that as it may, we enjoyed the city greatly. Their transit system is easy to use and the CBD (Central Business District, as they call their city centres) is very walkable. It helped that we lucked out with the weather. We enjoyed 25 degree days at a time when the thermometer usually dips down to low double digits.

We did a lot of the touristy things like visiting Bondi (that's Bond-eye) beach and marveling at the opera house, enjoying the soaring view of the Harbour Bridge and strolling the Botanical Gardens. We got out for a nice walk along the seashore starting at Spit Bridge and ending at Manly Beach. (We did enjoy watching the "Manly" ferry cruising on the harbour...it seemed to make us giggle every time we saw it.)

Bondi Beach

Pool on the beach

Long shot of Bondi

View on the Walk from Spit Bridge to Manly Beach

We visited Chinatown and did some serious window shopping in the lovely arcades and, of course, enjoyed the food. Pub food, Italian, dumpling houses, seafood restaurants - you name it, they pretty well have it. Trying to reign in the budget we also ate quite frequently at our home exchange. What surprised us is the lack of passion for smokies and gourmet hotdogs, considering the Aussie penchant for barbecue. The other thing that amazed us was the amount of smokers. Australia has huge "sun smart" campaigns that are trying to cut down on the incidence of skin cancer, but smoking seems to be alive and well. This was also true in Melbourne, a bit less so in Brisbane.

Middle Eastern deliciousness

Meat on a sword...that's Manly!

We finished off our stay with the quite amazing Vivid Sydney. We only got to experience the first night, but it was quite the wrap up.

It was hard to believe that our adventure was nearing its conclusion. That our epic journey was coming to a close and we'd soon find ourselves back in South America, dealing with the aftermath of our excess (both financially and physically). We only have one more stop and then the trip is done, so next time, on to Phuket, Thailand, with a new suitcase (RIP old one) and a new laptop in hand.