Last View of Sydney...For Now

I’ve put off this post for a long time because it’s probably the last one I’ll do about Sydney. I’ve been busy back at school and trying my hand at sports reporting for the Columbia Missourian. I am still looking for my next opportunity to go back to Oz. Until then, one final reflection:


I actually cried for the city.

The plane had just taken off and I began to recognize the landmarks below. I could point out Randwick Racetrack, Centennial Park and the Sydney Football Stadium first. Then it was easy to spot the gothic buildings and green ovals of Sydney Uni. I could see Hyde Park and the beaches beyond it. Then we reached the harbour. Wouldn’t you know it, the plane started to turn just then, dipping the wing so I could get a full view of the bridge, Opera House and skyline one more time.


That’s when the tears came.

I’d been sad earlier that week when my all my friends left before me. I cried a little after they were gone and at a few points during the next two lonely days. But when I choked up on the plane, I wasn’t thinking about the people I’d miss or how fast the semester had gone. I honestly cried because the city looked gorgeous and I knew I’d miss living it.


The harbour was unbelievably blue as always, freckled with white sails. The Opera House and bridge were perfectly centered in my window. I didn’t have a camera, but I won’t ever forget that image. I can’t emphasize enough how blue it was. The harbour, the ocean, the sky. This was a view of Sydney begging me to return.


The plane continue to turn and I got a head-on look at Darling Harbour, Circular Quay and the Botanical Gardens. I loved that I could spot everything so easily. I’d been all around the city and looked at maps more times than you’ll ever know. I could see the Anzac Bridge, Luna Park, Balls Head Reserve. I got one last view of Manly Beach and the North Head, and then it was ocean for the next 13 hours.


As much as I wanted to stay, I am completely satisfied with my trip. I set out to explore and I did. There’s always more to see and do, but I think I got to know the city better than most. Hopefully the posts here will encourage travelers, and even residents, to get out and see new parts of Sydney. Or any city. Just explore.

Sydney Weddings

One of our hobbies in Sydney was taking photos of people taking wedding photos. Sydney is one of the most scenic cities I’ve seen, and there are just so many great spots to serve as your matrimonial backdrop. Argyle Park in the Rocks is a common spot.




So are the Botanical Gardens.


And just outside the Domain.




Balmoral is lovely.




As were these spots near the beach in Terrigal.




Of course, there’s nothing wrong with iconic either.


(The last shot, probably my favorite, was taken by my partner in crime, Becca.)

The Long Way to Watsons Bay

Watsons Bay is a great spot in Sydney. Though I’d say it’s a Level 3 tourist zone (beyond Centerpoint Tower and the Opera House, but still in the guide book), it’s relatively peaceful and had a cozy feel to it, at least on the day we went. Imagine a lazy Sunday in the park and by the water. You can take a really quick ferry from Circular Quay, or you could do the almost 8km scenic route.

My mom, two housemates and I train-and-bussed it over to Rose Bay. I had a vague idea of where we needed to go and figured the walk would be self-explanatory from there. We randomly hopped off the bus at the above spot on New South Head Road. We walked through residential streets until we came to the historic Strickland House. Wandering the public grounds lead us to the water and the Hermitage Foreshore path. Perfect.


There we walked across the rocks and collected colorful bits of beach glass, admiring the gorgeous day that developed out of a drizzly morning. The trail followed the shore, but turned out to be more of a bushwalk than I’d expected. Nothing too strenuous, just more dirt and vegetation than the Bondi-Coogee walk.


Soon we reached Nielsen Park, a stunning family beach with crystal clear water, a lush park and rainbow lorikeets in the trees. It was nearly June, but we wanted to dive in. Instead we sat on the concrete steps for ages, watching the little girls at a birthday party splash about.


After Nielsen Park, our walk moved back to the residential streets, which was fine because we loved seeing the beautiful homes in Vaucluse. We weren’t sure if this was the route we were supposed to take, but we kept winding back to the coast, so I suppose it was right. We crossed the bridge over Parsley Bay, then shared a bench for another extended period of time.


Eventually we reached Watsons Bay. We had no idea what would be there — I hadn’t done any research — but we were pleasantly surprised. There was a big open park, restaurants along the wharf, and a trail up to The Gap, which offers extraordinary views south to the city skyline and north to Manly, not to mention the sparklingly cobalt Tasman Sea.


Back at the wharf, we ordered takeaway fish and chips from a place called Doyle’s. We had to finish the meal on the ferry back to Circular Quay, but it was delicious. I later learned Doyle’s is something of an institution at Watsons Bay, and for good reason. Those were the best fish and chips I’ve ever had. My friend Becky later declared it the best meal she had in Sydney, but to be fair, we had just walked nearly five miles and my mom paid for it. Still, I’d say it’s worth the trip...by ferry or by foot.

Another Sunset in Manly

When my mom came to visit me, I tried to put together the best 10-day itinerary, which would hit the essential sights without being over touristy and would let her see the many sides of Sydney. I had a great plan for most of the week, but the hardest part was figuring out what to do the first day when I figured she’d be pretty exhausted.

Then came the New York Times to the rescue. (Has it ever done me wrong?) I found an old article I’d bookmarked, “Fighting Jet Lag in Manly.” I remembered the first time I went to Manly, I sat next to two Americans who were also fresh off the double-digit flight.


It was perfect. We caught the ferry at Circular Quay, which offers up-close views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. The ride is a leisurely half hour and you can sit inside or out.


Once in Manly, you can stroll in and out of shops on the Corso, eat kebabs by the beach and get attacked by seagulls, take a dip in the rock pool, walk to neighboring Shelly Beach or take a bushwalk up the North Head.


Stay for sunset.

Final word about the Coogee-Bondi Walk

Another highlight of the 6km walk between the two beaches is Waverly Cemetery. The first burial there was in 1877, and most of the graves along the coastal edge are pretty old, but people can still be buried there today. I read they have some 50,000 gravesites and memorials on more than 40 acres. We just saw the very outskirts overlooking the water, but it seems like if you’re going to stay somewhere for Ever, then Waverly wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Summer, I Miss You

Our Coogee-to-Bondi walk made me long for a warm beach day again, but at this point, the only way to get in the water is in a wetsuit, like the surfers we watched at Bronte Beach.

Though I’m not ready for my semester abroad to come to an end, as it will in less than three weeks, at least I have summer back home to look forward to.


Side note: Bronte has the nicest looking rock pool of all the beaches I’ve seen here.

A Perfect Kite-Flying Day

Sydney has been going through another rainy spell, but Saturday offered some sunny respite. We took advantage by finally doing the popular walk from Coogee Beach along the coast to Bondi Beach. On the bus ride over, we drove past a hilly park I thought would be perfect for flying kites. I don’t remember ever flying a kite in my life so I don’t know much about it, but I imagined that would be a good location.


Coincidentally, on our walk later we spotted a few wind gliders and a kite in the sky near Bronte Beach. I’d wanted to ask the kite-flyer if I could take a turn, but then I saw it was just a little boy, and kids that age aren’t great sharers so I didn’t bother. I’ll just have to get my own kite and head to the park sometime.

Day and Night

Here are two shots from the ferry heading to and from Manly Wharf.


I hadn’t intended to do such similar day and night views of the shore. I only realized it after I uploaded the photos. Actually, I hadn’t even intended on being in Manly till dark, but Sarah and I wandered awhile and had some hitches with transport. Oh well, the sunset was beautiful.

The Best Spot I’ve Ever Had a Matzo Sandwich

The best spot I ever had a sandwich was a remote ledge on the Barrenjoey Head in Palm Beach. But this overlook in Manly was pretty spectacular as well. Here’s to the last day of Passover and the return of bread, rice and legumes to our residential college kitchen!


Sydney finally saw some sun this weekend after two solid weeks of rain. My friend Sarah and I took advantage of this by taking a ferry to Manly, which is probably Sydney’s most famous beach after Bondi.

We only stopped briefly at the beach because we were headed on a coastal walk around the peninsula. The walk took us to Shelly Beach before leading us uphill to said fantastic sandwich spot.

Then it was more of a bushwalk until we reached North Head Scenic Dr.


This point of Sydney Harbour National Park near the North Fort Artillery Museum has an incredible view of the whole city. But where haven’t I gone with a good view? Sydney just has too many. Sarah and I kept turning to each other, smiling and saying, “We live here.”


And after beautiful days like this one, it gets harder to consider living anywhere else.

The Balmoral Lifestyle

I’ve made it a mission to explore areas of Sydney outside the tourist/uni student bubble. I have a list of neighborhoods still to check out. But with autumn rain clouds hanging overhead for more than a week, not to mention a few thousand words worth of research papers due, it’s been harder to get out these days. Finally on Sunday, I set aside a few rainless hours to visit Balmoral, an area of North Sydney brought to my attention by Not Quite Nigella.


I noticed a few things about Balmoral (pronounced BAL-moral, not bal-MORALE, as I originally wanted to call it). First, everyone smells like coconut. Second, everyone has kids under age five or is pregnant. The area is beautiful and so are the people, their modern houses and snazzily dressed kids.


I wandered through the hilly residential streets with my friend Becca, admiring the homes and thinking of Malibu. We eventually found our way to The Esplanade on Hunter’s Bay. As per Not Quite Nigella’s recommendation, we stopped at the Bather’s Pavilion Kiosk to grab a snack, which we ate on the small headland park, surrounded by young couples and their kids.


Ah, the Balmoral lifestyle.


In town we saw several children’s clothing and maternity wear shops. Becca and I stopped in a few home stores to look at kitchen gadgets and gourmet non-perishables.

I decided Balmoral would be a fantastic place to get married, buy a house (like this one) and then make tarts and babies for the next few years. Of course, I’d have to find that coconut scent everyone was wearing.

Belated Spring Break Post

I had one final adventure over the school holiday, which I never got around to sharing. Our Aussie friend Paul took three American friends and I to his family home in Tascott about 50 miles from Sydney Uni. He was a great tour guide. I happened to mention that I swam in waterfalls once in Los Angeles so we made a short detour to check out Somersby Falls in Brisbane Water National Park.


He drove us by the popular Avoca Beach before taking us to his preferred Copacabana Beach. That’s right, Copacabana isn’t just for Rio anymore. We could have used the Brazilian sun though because it was a bit too cool for swimming.


Paul then took us a little further north to Terrigal, where we climbed this massive hill for a great lookout before a break at a local beer garden.


It was a nice town on the water with some great looking houses in the hills.


After our long day, we cooked up some beef and chicken fajitas, whose leftovers I added to scrambled eggs the next morning and quesadillas for lunch.



School resumed the next day, and I've been wishing for break again ever since.