We drove down after work on Friday evening to make the most of a weekend in Sydney. The journey started off wet and foggy but as soon as we hit the mountains the skies cleared and the stars were fantastic. The good weather even held for us over the weekend!
For Saturday breakfast we went to Kazzi Beach Greek, situated along the front. – the French Toast is particularly good and always well presented too.
Afterwards, we took a relaxed stroll down Manly beach to the Corso where they had a little market to wander around. We picked up some fantastic Portuguese tarts from a stall there, along with some fresh rolls for lunch. We also discovered Butter Boy Bakes hidden behind some renovations, a cookie shop where you can buy ready-baked cookies and/or frozen cookie dough to bake at home – Delicious!
We headed to Ironbark Woodfired Pizza Restaurant for an early(ish) dinner before taking the ferry across to Sydney. We were one of the last ones on the ferry, so had no choice but to sit outside in the cold and took the full hit of the sea spray in the choppy waters crossing the heads! But at least we had a good view as we rounded the corner to see the colours of Taronga Zoo, then the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
We also had a great view of the crowds! I couldn’t believe how many people were there – it was as if Covid had never happened. Still, we somehow managed to get a good viewpoint of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, and generally people were great at taking pictures and then moving out of the way to let the next person or group take a turn.
After stopping for a quick hot chocolate at the Guylian Café to warm up, we managed to get some great pictures and videos of the Love Letter to Sydney that was being projected onto the Customs House. Next we found Temple – three screens showcasing footage of native cockatoo playing in water, and the whole thing was also reflected in actual water.
We then followed the crowds the wrong way, and somehow lost the trail, but started again at Central Station and worked our way around to Darling Harbour. We queued for about 30 minutes to see Convergence – a light show in a disused railway tunnel, which was worth the effort.
By the time we reached Darling Harbour, we were feeling pretty done for the night and the temperature was dropping quickly, so we headed back on the ferry to Circular Quay and then over to Manly. We decided to cheat and get an Uber back to where we staying, which certainly proved an interesting experience as the driver decided to overtake someone in a 30 zone and promptly got pulled over by the police!
For Sunday breakfast we went to Rollers Bakehouse in Manly – Definitely the BEST pastries I have had in Australia (so far) – and then enjoyed a second coffee sitting on the sea front and people watching for a few hours!
In the early evening it was back over to Vivid Sydney – this time we queued for the ferry almost from the entrance to the wharf, and the crowds were much worse! I was glad we had seen the Custom’s House and the Opera House the previous evening as we wouldn’t have been able to get as close.
We were swept along in a tide of people, heading around towards the Rocks this time. We picked up a delicious ‘Catch of the Day’ meal at one of the many food stands, before making our way around the trail in the opposite direction, aiming to finish once again at Darling Harbour.
We took the ferry back under the lights of the bridge and past the Opera House once again, and headed to bed ready for the drive home the next morning.
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