Sydney: Love at first sight

We've only been in Sydney for two days and already I love this city. It's near the water, the weather is gorgeous (it's a good bit warmer here than it was in NZ so it's been nice to finally peel off some layers!), the city is easy to get around by trolley, bus, metro (double-decker metro cars!) and even water taxi, and the food has been great. We ate in Chinatown for lunch yesterday and then had tapas in Little Spain for dinner (we've totally fallen off the eating budget but we'll get back to that soon...). On our first day here we walked all around downtown (our hotel is a little south of the city center, right next to Hyde Park), saw the awesome Opera House, and walked across the Harbour Bridge and through the Rocks (cute area with cobblestone streets, little pubs and shops).

Today we took a bus out to Bondi Beach and did the 5 km walk down to Coogee Beach recommended by Lonely Planet. The pedestrian path takes you along the rocky coastline past breaking waves and surfers alternating with quiet inlets perfect for a swim. The water is crystal clear and blue-green, you can see straight to the rocks at the bottom. We saw lots of wildlife along the way and walked through an eerie but cool cemetery on a sun-drenched cliff. The little beachtowns themselves are great too - lots of cute restaurants and shops. We got our lunch to go and ate it in a grassy park right on the beach. Just lovely. Looking forward to one more day in Sydney tomorrow before we head up the coast!

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Part of trip: Summer Travels 2006

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