Siblings Take Sydney

​After several weeks on the move, we finally got to stay in one place for 6 consecutive nights. We stayed in the popular beach destination of Bondi, one of the outer suburbs of Sydney. Our AirBNB was relatively new, meaning it had fewer reviews when Vincent booked it, but it ended up being a great choice. It had an antique charm, with a brick archway at the entrance of the kitchen and a backsplash with blue and white tiles. Layered on were some modern touches, including numerous houseplants, board games, and beach accessories, like a cooler, boogie boards, and a wall photo of the Bondi Icebergs swimming pool. As with any place, there were a few drawbacks, including street noise. The location was right on busy Bondi Road, which was convenient for catching buses but made the apartment feel more public. We also had to close the windows at night to avoid uninvited guests like moths, spiders, and cockroaches.

​The first day was a chill day. I walked to the Woolworth’s for groceries, spilling half a tub of blueberries in the self-checkout area in the process. I was craving Mexican food, so I made burritos for dinner. The store had some Bondi brand mango seltzer that felt extremely appropriate for the occasion.

The second and third days were choose-your-own-adventure days. Rachel got to catch up with her mentor, complete some errands, and sample a few acai bowls. Vince made tons of progress on his travel planning. And I enjoyed two nice days of exploring, one in Bondi and one in downtown Sydney.
​
The walk I did in Bondi was a coastal trail from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach, one of the signature Sydney hikes. It was an overcast day, so the beaches weren’t as vibrant, but it was better conditions for walking the 7-mile loop. The trail connected a whole series of beaches, largely similar in terrain but each with their own personality. The path was paved, with staircases and ramps that dipped down into each cove. Lots of people were out enjoying the day, including surfers, dog-walkers, volleyball players, and runners. The crowds (and people-watching potential) thinned out as trail got father from Bondi.

​Several beaches had swimming pools built into the rocks adjacent to the sand beach, the most famous being the Bondi Icebergs. The pools were a unique feature of the human landscape, and a reminder that swimming at Australian beaches is dangerous enough to merit a safer alternative. For the swimmers who braved the ocean water, it was required to swim between the red and yellow flags. It was a bit strange to see the swimmers concentrated in a narrow sliver of water on an otherwise spacious beach. On the other hand, the rebellious surfers were usually spread out well beyond the flags, chasing the best waves. The lifeguards used megaphones and attempted to corral everyone towards the flags, with modest success.

​On the way back, I took a shortcut through the neighborhood, and spotted some beautiful rainbow parrots. We had a light salad for dinner, perfect for the summer weather.

​I started my jam-packed Sydney outing with a walk to the nearest metro station, and caught a train to Martin Place. It was near the Sydney Hospital, a beautiful brick building with a fountain and a famous statue of a pig that was popular with the tourists.

​The giant spider sculpture at the entrance of the Art Gallery of New South Wales was already a familiar landmark, as the queue for New Year’s Eve had gone underneath it. This time I got to stop and enjoy the artwork, including an entire wing featuring Aboriginal artists. The gallery had a wonderful selection, including paintings with traditional abstract designs featuring rows of dots and waves, as well as other media like weavings, photographs, sculptures, and a neon sign. My favorite was an enormous canvas with an optical illusion of repeated waves that seemed alive and moving.

​Worth a brief stop was the Hyde Barracks, an old stone building where convicts lived in close quarters and worked in grueling labor gangs. The museum had an unusual multimedia approach, with a headset that provided information based on location proximity to the exhibits. A great concept, but it frequently cut off the narration when I wandered just a step too far.

​I meandered past the St. James church into the bustling CBD. An international breakdancing group had a large crowd on a main pedestrian street, right below the Sydney Tower. By chance, I found the Sydney Lego store, which had a special Australian display: a giant gum tree filled with cute animals like a koala, cockatoo, kookaburra, and bat. They also had a wall-sized Lego mosaic of the Opera House.

​On my way to the Darling Harbor, I cut through the Strand, an elegant Victorian shopping arcade with fine wares like watches and chocolates.

I stopped for lunch at a seafood restaurant along the King Street Wharf and was lucky to get a seat with a view of the water. I chowed down on a grilled tuna burger from the budget menu, served in a black bun, and watched the flow of pedestrians.

​When I rejoined this flow, I crossed to the other side of the Darling Harbor and headed to the Maritime Museum. It had some modest indoor exhibits, but the real draw was the fleet of ship replicas floating on the water. I got a closer look at the HMB Endeavor, Captain Cook’s ship, that I had been eyeing from my lunch spot. I learned that this was no ordinary replica – it was fully functional, and had sailed around the world several times!

The parade of hits just kept on coming. I strolled through some amazing pedestrian and family friendly areas, including public fountains with lots of kids splashing around, a beautiful convention center, and a Chinese Friendship garden with colorful koi. An old rail line had been converted into a pedestrian pathway, and it passed by a Frank Geary building nicknamed the crumpled paper bag.
​
Half fruit market and half flea market, the Paddy’s Market was an indoor labyrinth of stalls that were packed from floor to ceiling with quality produce and tacky souvenirs. It was a bombardment of beach towels, t-shirts, and distinctly Australian goods like leather fedoras and crocodile claw backscratchers. 

Upon exiting the maze, I found myself in Chinatown on a tree-lined walkway where the Friday night market was just setting up. I had the chance to try dragon beard candy, a bird’s nest of chewy cornstarch fibers filled with peanuts and sesame. Since I was their first customer, I got to see the whole process of making the candy. It started with a thick loop, which was repeatedly stretched and looped over itself, creating thinner and thinner fibers.

After this amazing day, I finally headed back to the metro station. Overall, the ambience in Sydney was relaxed with accessible and interesting things to do. All three museums that I visited were free of charge, and there was lots of public park space for everyone to enjoy. It was just so fun walking around, with an unexpected delight around each corner.
​
While I was out exploring Sydney, Rachel and Vince were greeting Val at the airport with a hilarious handmade sign, “WELCOME TO AUS VAL,” decorated with stickers of Australian animals. We all rendezvoused at the place in Bondi, excited to start the long-awaited siblings trip. We started with a short walk down to Bondi, to the classic view overlooking the beach and the Icebergs pool. Later, we had a curry dinner and caught up with Val at the place.

​The next day, the four of us strolled through the Bondi area again, starting with a Saturday farmer’s market. There was a cute dog parking area, and we sampled some excellent gazpacho and harissa. We hiked a portion of the coastal trail to Bronte Beach, where an attempt to get in the water was thwarted by the conditions. The lifeguards said that four people had been stung by jellyfish in the last 30 minutes. We returned to the main part of Bondi for acai bowls and relaxing on the sand. For dinner, we made chickpeas, couscous, and a Greek salad.

For breakfast, Val treated us to chickpea flour omelets, a hearty and healthy meal that was an instant fan favorite. The Chickpea King (Vince) was over the moon.

​Now that we had initiated Val into vacation mode with our Bondi day, we headed to downtown Sydney for a day of classic sightseeing. We started at the Rocks Market, full of beautiful crafts. We particularly liked the prints from a photographer named Matt Pearson, and visited his gallery down the street. Of course, there were lots of food options, and we ate underneath the Harbor Bridge with a view of a prosecco cart and the Opera House. I had some Asian inspired pastries from a bakery called Tenacious, including a kimchi roll and a ham croissant. It was super windy, and the flakes of the croissant ended up everywhere, including in my iced latte and on Rachel. The rest of the crew had some tasty dumplings and vegan gelato.

​From underneath the bridge, we backtracked through the Rocks neighborhood and eventually made it on top of the bridge. At the corners of the bridge are four towers called pylons, which are mainly decorative in purpose. One had a viewing platform that you can climb for a small admission, and it was totally worth it. The harbor was alive with whizzing ferries, showy jetboats, pointy sailboats, and a stray historical replica. On their way into the Circular Quay, the boats disappeared behind an imposing Carnival cruise ship, which set sail later in the afternoon. Tour groups laden with safety gear climbed the catwalks on the bridge, while a steady stream of cars, buses, and trains passed below. It was a beautiful view on a beautiful day.

​We had tickets to a 5:00pm performance at the Sydney Opera House, a short but satisfying sampler of famous arias from classic operas. It was in the Joan Sutherland theater, a modern and comfortable venue with four tiers of opera boxes. The hilarious piano accompanist acted as the MC and framed each aria with a perfect dose of comedy and context. We recognized a few tunes from Carmen. The show ended on a high note with a cheerful song from La Traviata, including some audience participation. As good as the performance was, the highlight for me was walking around the inside of the building. The stylish lobbies had amazing natural light from the tall windows, with radiating arches that formed the shape of the iconic sails. The front lobby even had a view of the Sydney skyline.

After the show, we took the bus back to Bondi and could see dozens of bats flying above. We got back on the later side, but we had a nice pesto pasta dinner.

To explore outside of the city center, we took a day trip to the Manly Beach area on the north side of the Sydney harbor. After crossing the bridge by bus, we started a hike that followed the coastline from the Spit into the town of Manly. The trail traversed jungles, beaches, and bluffs with good views of the water. 

Numerous lizards called water dragons were hiding along the way. They had interesting strips and could move quickly when running away. A curious one approached our lunch spot, so we relocated. It proceeded to nibble on tidbits of chickpeas that had fallen on the ground. We also saw some bush turkeys, which had both red and yellow colors on their necks. A few people we met on the trail volunteered some basic info about the water dragons and bush turkeys, which was unexpected and helpful. A little rain didn’t deter us, and it was warm enough that the drops were refreshing.

​We made it to Manly and stopped at an info site for details on the return ferries. It turned out they actually ran very regularly. The lady went above and beyond, giving us ideas on things to do in the area while effortlessly dishing out jokes and taking a jab at San Francisco.

​We wandered for a bit, peeking at restaurants, and settled on a spot where we could get a poke bowl for my lunch and acai bowls for everyone else. The rain subsided a bit, so we ventured onto Manly Beach. Unfortunately, it was closed to swimmers and not very inviting on a stormy day. A downpour started and we scurried to the safety of the covered shopping area.

​The convenient ferry didn’t require a ticket, just a tap of the credit card. It took us back to the Circular Quay where we caught the 333 bus back to Bondi Beach. Val adapted her chickpea omelets into an evening meal, which was a nice way to use up ingredients before checking out the next morning. The first leg of the siblings trip was ending, but more "Great" places were in store!