Visiting Sydney, Australia is an experience everyone should have. The temperature in Sydney is very similar to San Francisco and I find the terrain is strangely similar as well. I stayed at the Marriott Hotel overlooking Hyde Park. I’ve attached a picture of the sunrise from my room. My trip took place in September of 2009 and I stayed in Australia for 2 weeks moving from Sydney to Brisbane to Cairns and back to Sydney.

Let’s list a few places I went to see and think you should see as well. Hyde Park is very similar to Central Park in New York City, from there I believe you should walk down to the famous Opera House. Many joggers do that run daily and go through the Royal Botanic Gardens on their way. Once you get to the Opera House take a walk over the Circular Quay where all the ferries leave from and then over to The Rocks where there’s a great deal of shopping.

One final thing is not to miss the Blue Mountains. It’s about an hour and a half by rail from Central Station. I would compare the terrain to a green lush grand canyon. Please make sure you set a whole day aside for this. If you don’t want to miss anything, I suggest you plan to arrive by 10am. When you’re done with all the tours and sightseeing, make sure not to miss the IMAX experience on the Blue Mountains located 2 blocks from the local station. Please make a note to bring warm clothes with you depending on the season. The difference in temperature between Sydney and the Blue Mountains could be anywhere from 5 – 15 degrees Fahrenheit. If you happen to forget, there is a Kmart in town where you can find cheap clothing and appropriate shoes for the trek.

When it came to dining in Sydney, I really didn’t go crazy. Food there is not too crazy, but I feel it’s comparable to New York City. The most important thing was that the VB (Victoria Bitter) was very cheap at many bars and clubs. If you plan to budget yourself when it comes to dining, I can only suggest the few places I found. For breakfast, I would suggest the YMCA located near the south east corner of Hyde Park. The breakfast there was very reasonable and internet was cheap. Great place to relax in the morning and check email if you prefer not to pay the hotels $20/night. For lunch, I would grab something on the go, a meat pie or if I was close to the hotel, drop by the supermarket underneath Woolworth’s on George St. across from Town Hall. Do yourself a favour and don’t be cheap with dinner. You can splurge a little with all the money you saved from breakfast and lunch. Head over to Darling Harbour or Chinatown for a sample of Sydney’s fresh seafood and Asian cuisine.

Do not miss the chance for a pint of VB (Victoria Bitter). If you want to read more, you can wait for my story on Brisbane. Also, take time to look through my photo galleries and enjoy some pictures I’ve taken while there.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 8:57 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.