Blogs from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania

Monday 21st May 2012 – Left Canberra yesterday afternoon – seems like days ago! Caught a 5:00 pm flight to Sydney, then boarded the Emirates A380-800 with hundreds of others all going to Dubai. After leaving Sydney, we flew south of Broken Hill, to just south of Whyalla (across the top of Spencer Gulf) before starting to track a more northerly course after overflying Ceduna. By 23:35 Eastern Standard Time, we were 1,053 km from Sydney, travelling at 916 kph (Mach 0.84). We travelled east of Meekathara, south of Uluru, south of Port Headland. At 07:10 Eastern Standard Time, we were flying over Colombo. At 11:10 Eastern Standard time on Monday 21/5/2012, we arrived in Dubai, after flying 5,542 miles (about 9,000 km). The flight was very long and tiring. As I write... read more

We have both been to Sydney on various occasions – My mother, having grown up in Sydney, and myself, on holidays with family and friends. I was to be flying to Sydney for a commitment on Friday, and decided to stay the weekend. So I called my Mum to join me… To Stay: Four Points by Sheraton – located in Sussex Street, very close to Darling Harbour. Fantastic accommodation! Great service, comfortable rooms, prime location within walking distance to the main attractions, and a grand buffet breakfast worth spending the morning to enjoy! To Do: · Wander around Darling Harbour and check out some of the cafés in the area · Walk up to Market City, which is home to the famous Paddy’s Markets on the ground floor, and retail and outlet stores above · Walk ... read more

Less than a week to go until we set off on our adventure. Looking forward to the warm weather ,fun times and a well earned rest. Hope you enjoy the posts.... read more

Samedi matin on rend la chambre, snif snif, on commence par prendre le bus pour récupérer notre van, garé dans la rue, puis aller chez Jean pour récupérer notre linge, qui après 3 jours est plus que sec ! On reste 1h à papoter et à prendre le thé, puis on file, il est déjà plus de midi. Direction Coogee, l’une des 30 plages que compte Sydney, pour faire la Coastal Walk, marche côtière qui relie Bondi à Coogee. Nous le faisons dans l’autre sens car il paraît que c’est difficile de se garer à Bondi, plage la célèbre de Sydney. Le temps n’est pas trop indiqué pour faire une balade, il y a un vent de folie et le ciel est très nuageux, mais bon on y va ! Nico commence à fatiguer, mais j’insiste ... read more

Thanks for the memories, Australia. Hi everyone! Just two nights left in Sydney now and then I'm jetting off to Auckland! I've had an amazing time in Australia, covered most of the East coast and met some brilliant people. The tour with TopDeck was awesome, I'd recommend it to anyone (2 week 'Island Suntanner' tour in reverse Cairns-Sydney). Highlights from my month in Australia include: My first night on South Molle island (5 bottles of 'champagne' and an impromptu swing dancing lesson)... Snorkelling for the first time ever on the Great Barrier Reef... Incredible sushi in Brisbane with Marie and Alan... Lunch on the beach at Surfer's Paradise with Deano... ANZAC Day in Sydney... and lastly, being reunited with Sara and getting so blind drunk that I actually participated in kareoke! I regret not organising a ... read more

Our first day in Sydney was spent meandering around the city. Highlights from the day were walking through the botanical gardens and seeing the birds (parrots, cockatoo, cockateils were all in abundance) and other wildlife (i.e., bats). We then went to Sydney's two most famous landmarks, the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. We spent our second day outside the city hiking the Blue Mountain National Park. The mountains are named after the blue hue from the vast forrests of eucalyptus trees in the valley. The hike was amazing but brutal, needless to say we were happy to be done (we thusly celebrated with ice cream and potato chips for lunch). Also within the valley are the 3 sister peaks. The story goes that three aboriginal sisters were doing things they weren't suppose to (these things ... read more