May 2017
Our trip to Sydney marked a new chapter in the Rikaya story. This was the first trip where we had both been to a country separately and now we were exploring it together. Between our independent trips we had already climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, witnessed the beauty of the Blue Mountains, scuba dived and snorkeled with turtles in Cairns, and climbed the famous Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). We agree that Australia cannot be done in 4 days…but Sydney can!
96 Hours Left…
The flight into SYD is magical – you pass directly over the Sydney Harbour and get to see a birds eye view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We landed close to 7am on a Friday and rushed to pick up our rental car. Rikun did all of the driving for the weekend which was quite impressive given they drive on the opposite side of the road from the US. We checked into our quaint Airbnb in Redfern and stopped for a quick coffee at St. Jude’s – a boutique coffee shop right across the street from our flat. After our first sip of their chai latte, St. Jude’s became our go-to spot for our morning cuppa.
We quickly unloaded our things and then headed out to The Rocks – a neighborhood of open air food stalls at the base of the Harbour Bridge. We walked along the cobblestone streets and enjoyed the sounds of a brass band playing up and down the lanes. We stopped for some skewers of crocodile and kangaroo and a bowl of perfectly al dente pasta cooked in a parmesan wheel and coated in cheesy goodness. We walked over to the bridge to enjoy our meal and begin soaking in the sights and sounds of Sydney.
We walked along the harbour and toward the Opera House where we settled into a table along the rocky coast at the Opera Bar. After sipping on some white peach sangria and witnessing the chaos of pigeons nose-diving at every plate of food that was served, we wandered over to Motown Coffee Brewers for some espresso.
We had dinner reservations later that night at a hip asian-fusion restaurant, so we went back to our Airbnb to get ready for the evening festivities. We took an Uber over to Mrs. G’s in Potts Point where we ordered 2 local beers (Boags and Coopers), cheeseburger spring rolls, mini chicken katsu bahn mi, and the spicy Chiang Mai pork dumplings.
As luck would have it, we arrived in Sydney on the first day of the annual Vivid Sydney festival. This is a month long, city-wide event when local artists display art installations all over the city. The city truly comes to life with vibrant colors making you feel lost in a kaleidoscopic rainbow.
After dinner, we walked around Sydney Harbour and across the way to Darling Harbour where we found an open-air bar called Blackbird to have a few drinks during the sound and light show – a fantastic array of fountains lit up with lasers and lights moving in unison to a story of music and narration.
Around 9:30pm, we went down the street to Home the Venue where a few DJs we loved were spinning including Mat Zo. And by 12am, we called it a night to catch up on some much needed sleep!
72 Hours Left…
The next morning we woke up so incredibly hungry. We quickly got ready and then enjoyed an amazing brunch at Local Mbassy – a boutique brunch spot that pays homage to the 1920s Australian Prohibition era. We loved the piping hot matcha latte, red velvet waffles with nutella and caramelized bananas, and the grilled shrimp and avocado toast with perfectly poached eggs and microgreens.
Next, we wanted to see Darling Harbour for all its beauty during the daytime, so we strolled through the Saturday farmer’s market right by the water and tried some fresh honey and homemade pastries.
After that we walked to CBD (Central Business District) to see the street performers and get some ice cream at Aqua S which is known to have really unique flavors on the menu. They didn’t disappoint as we got the rose and sea salt swirled ice cream and devoured it so quickly that we wished we had ordered a bigger size!
We were re-energized and were up for a long walk, so we entered the Royal Botanic Gardens from the Morshead Fountain and admired the amazing variety of plants, flowers, and trees growing around us. The vast gardens are a perfect oasis in the middle of the bustling city.
If you walk to the Northwest corner of the gardens, there is a path that leads right to the Opera House. So, we sat down for a refreshing hard cider at the Opera Bar while we people-watched and avoided the pesky pigeons.
Ready for dinner, we made reservations at Mr. Wong’s, a Cantonese-contemporary restaurant in the heart of CBD serving up some of the best cocktails and dim sum we have ever had. We started with 2 cocktails – Donghu Lake (lychee sorbet, gin, lemon juice, blue curaçao, rose water, and a rose petal) and Kyoto Protocol (kiwifruit and cucumber, sake, Polish vodka, green apple liqueur, and lime juice).
Then we ordered the pork xiao long bao, hargow, Wagyu & truffle puff, spicy wok fried beef noodles, and steamed fish with ginger and leek.
48 Hours Left…
We were ready to hit the road bright and early and explore Royal National Park which is only a 30min ride from the city. As the sun was rising, we stopped for a breakfast consisting of 2 lattes and a ham & cheese croissant at La Vittoria.
Next stop was Royal National Park where we parked at Watamolla Falls, caught a glimpse of some beautiful whales making their way north for the winter, and then walked 4 miles along the coastal track to the Curracurrang Falls. The scenes along the cliffs were so picturesque and reminded us of the perfect hiding spot for a Bond villain to make a flashy getaway on a speedboat.
After our hike, we were looking to feast on some delicious food, so we went to The Grounds of Alexandria. The Grounds took over and transformed an empty parking lot and warehouse district into a veritable culinary wonderland. Around every corner of their property, there is a surprise in store, including a massive Macaw parrot, a greenhouse, 5 restaurants and coffee bars, live music, a fresh lemonade cart, and a stall frying up piping hot doughnuts filled with Nutella and raspberry jam and covered in sugar.
The food coma set in after indulging in a fresh watermelon smoothie, massive and juicy burger, and ahi tuna tacos. We made our way back to our Airbnb to get ready for our next adventure.
Around mid-afternoon, we drove to the famous Bondi Beach where we parked and roamed around the lively town. We walked down to the shore and popped into The Bucket List for a few beers beachside.
After laying on the sand and soaking up the sun, we walked to the Iceberg Pools where we watched the waves crash into the olympic size pool built right on the edge of the ocean. Sydney-siders are serious about their swimming – even in freezing cold temperatures!
We watched the sunset over beautiful Bondi Beach. The sky transitioned through bright oranges to pinks and lavenders while the ocean’s glimmer turned from turquoise to navy.
We walked along the boardwalk and sat down outside at Raw Bar. Although it was dark now, we could still hear the waves and the sounds of parties starting up in the beachside neighborhoods. The cocktails at Raw Bar were amazing – we ordered a bloody sake-mary and a lychee martini. We also had some briney raw oysters, juicy pork potstickers, a bowl of delicious beef and vegetable udon, and a crispy salmon sushi roll.
We made our way back to the city and decided to explore some nearby neighborhoods around Redfern. We had heard great things about Surry Hills, so we found our way into Trinity Bar for a couple pints of Guinness and then Clock Hotel for a final nightcap.
24 Hours Left…
We were ready for our final day in Sydney – and we had a great plan for the day. As you may have noticed from our trip to the French Riviera, we are die-hard fans of a great picnic. So we started the day early with a phenomenal coconut coffee at Saltie where we were amazed by the unique combination and then got to work on our epic picnic basket. The first stop was Woolworths in CBD where we picked up some fresh baked bread, charcuterie, marinated olives, and cheese.
Next stop was Handpicked Cellar Door where we chatted it up with the staff and tasted their wine selection sourced from the finest regions of New South Wales. We picked up a bottle of the 2016 Pinot Noir and then made our way to the Royal Botanic Gardens to find the perfect picnic spot.
We set up a blanket on the garden overlooking the Sydney skyline, Harbour Bridge, and Opera House. It was the most relaxing afternoon we had ever spent together. We were mesmerized by the breathtaking view and we couldn’t believe that at this time the next day we would be back in California. We spent the entire afternoon eating, drinking, goofing around a bit, and making friends with birds wandering by.
We walked through the gardens to Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair, a famous sunset vantage point. We were in awe of the beauty and didn’t feel like ever leaving this stunning city.
A few of our close friends were based in Sydney, so we met up with Bridges & Caroline (who were newly engaged – woo!!!) and Natalie for some celebratory drinks at Opera Bar as the lights of Vivid Sydney Day #4 came alive.
Then we gazed at the assortment of art and light installations in the Vivid Gardens while sipping on mulled wine before heading back to our Airbnb.
4 Hours Left…
We jumped out of bed at 7am, returned our rental car, and were ready to catch our 10:30am flight back to SFO. As our plane passed over the harbour, we looked down upon the city that treated us so well for the weekend and we couldn’t wait to come back and explore a new part of Australia. We landed at 7am well rested (thanks for the upgrade, United Airlines!) and ready to share our 4 day adventure to the land down under with the world.
