Sydney, Australia

Originally, we were meant to be travelling the east coast of Australia for a month but after some discussions, we decided to use most of this time to visit even more countries over this end of the world (Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong).

Because of this, we ended up only having a few days in Sydney but made the most of our time there. It was particularly great to see and spend time with Chris' cousin and his wife while we were visiting. Shortly after we arrived, we headed out for drinks at a bar which offered an amazing view of the city (great to have locals to show us the hidden gems). After this, we headed to a seafood restaurant to have dinner which was delicious! 

On our first full day, we explored the city and visited Toronga Zoo. To get to the zoo, we took the ferry from Circular Quay. This was a nice experience in itself as it had sepctacular views of the city, especially the Opera House. 

The zoo was really nicely set out and had lots of Australian animals, some of which we had never seen before. We saw wombats, kangaroos, koala bears, big snakes and a lot of spiders (some not so cute). 

It was a strange experience when we came across loads of these lizards everywhere (just cruising around). This was a little different to Colchester Zoo where the most exotic animal you see not in an inclosure is probably a robin. 

We made our way back downtown to see the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Royal Botanical Gardens and Darling Harbour. It was a busy day but great to see so much of the city. In the evening, we enjoyed a delicious meal cooked by Richard and Keinton before having an early night.

The next day, Richard had taken the day off to show us around the coastal area. We caught the train to Redfern to have a look at the area and then headed to a gallery to see an exhibition. 

After this, Coogee beach for a dip and some lunch.  The waves were so strong and so my time in the water amounted to about 2 minutes before I jumped out, showered and then read my book. Afterwards, we walked the coastal track from Coogee to Bondi, passing some beautiful beaches on the way such as Bronte and Tamarama. We ended the day with fish and chips in a nice restaurant which had another lovely view of the city.

The next day we packed our bags and headed to the airport for our flight to Singapore. I loved our time in Sydney (even if it was very brief) and can't wait to return in the future!