Sydney With The Grandparents

At first I was going to write a full-on post about our trip down to Sydney but with a house full of sick people, my mom leaving in a week a couple days tomorrow and me trying to get back into the swing of things before she leaves, I just don't have the time. So here's the Coles Notes version.

Day 1:
We all got up at 5am so we could take the train to the airport for our 8am flight. We survived the flight down to Sydney, just barely. Nathan sat with my dad and Caleb was with my mom and I. Little guy got super bored very quickly but finally fell asleep towards the end of the flight - just like his brother used to!


At the Sydney airport, we grabbed our luggage and bought some MyMulti Day Passes*. We took the train to our accommodations in Double Bay to drop off our luggage and we were off to explore.


Nathan was so tired from getting up early, he conked out on the bus, on our way to Bondi Beach.


My parents had to carry him on and off the buses and he slept in the stroller that he's completely outgrown.


We bypassed the beach and went to Watson's Bay just in time to watch the sun set.


Then we headed home, grabbed some groceries at Coles and my dad cooked us a steak dinner at home.


*Multi Day Passes were a great idea because we could hop on bus, train or ferry and get anywhere we wanted without having to worry about fares or reloading our cards during our stay. These passes last 7 days - more than we needed for our 3 day stay.


Day 2:
First thing on our list was the Sydney Fish Market. I'm not a big seafood fanatic by any means but my parents definitely are. So we hopped on the ferry which, we discovered, went right by the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge so we got a couple really good shots without having to head out to Lady Macquarie's Chair (dubbed one of the best vantage points in Sydney) or take a ferry boat tour*.




After a long walk, we finally arrived at the Fish Markets, feeling hot, a little tired and hungry.


It was packed with people from tour buses so we quickly got in line to get some food. My parents got their oysters and prawns, Nathan had prawn cutlets and I had a really crappy fish and chips.


At first we sat inside but we quickly moved outside for a bit more space and fresh air.


Then, we got on a tram to go back towards Paddy's Market where we spent a good chunk of time wandering the aisles. It reminded me a little of the markets in Hong Kong. Lots of stuff packed into tiny stalls.


We strolled across the street to Chinatown, then we slowly made our way back to Circular Quay, through Darling Quarters and Cockle Bay to meet up with Andrew's parents and their friends for dinner.



*Awesome news if you're tight on time and want to save a bit of money!


Day 3:
We spent a little bit of time walking around the outside of the Opera House, taking in the scenery.




We had morning tea on a bench beside the water, then slowly made our way towards the Sydney Aquarium.


We stopped for a nice relaxing lunch on a park bench at The Rocks and enjoyed the light breeze. Caleb had a little something to munch on as well.


Then my parents treated me and the boys to a trip to the Sydney Aquarium. We ran into Andrew's parents at the entrance so we all went together. Except that we got separated from my parents half way through and unfortunately didn't meet up with them again until the end.


Before this trip to Sydney, I had been researching places to take the boys in case the chance for me, Andrew and the boys to go down ever came up. The aquarium was highly recommended and the fact that Lego was somehow involved, it became an even bigger attraction. Also, they have these really neat tunnels you can walk through and it's like you're in the middle of the tank with all the fish, sharks and other creatures swimming around you.




We ended the day at Marigold (a restaurant highly recommended by many of our friends for their dim sum) for dinner with my parents' friends they haven't seen in 20 years.



Day 4:
Our last day was a re-do of our first day.

We bused to Bondi Beach where my parents found yet another market to check out. Doesn't matter where they are - they always manage to find some sort of farmer's market or something of that nature to walk through.


Then we actually spent a little time on the beach, though Nathan would argue we didn't spend nearly enough time. We caught a bus to Watson's Bay, or rather, we caught two buses because my mom and Nathan were on the first bus when the driver told my dad and I to get off and wait for the next "wheelchair accessible bus" because the stroller was open. Then, a wheelchair bus came but they didn't go to Watson's Bay. So we waited for another bus and same story as the first bus, except I got annoyed and told the guy we had already waited for 20 minutes and couldn't get on the last two buses so he waited for us to fold up the stroller.


Finally, we met up with my mom and Nathan at Watson's Bay, had a quick lunch at Doyle's and Nathan played on the little beach while we waited for our ferry back to Circular Quay.


There, we wandered through The Rocks Markets for a little while before getting on the train to go to the airport. That's where my mom's Finding Nemo story happened but I'll have to save that for another day.


We met up with Andrew's parents at the airport and headed for home, where Andrew was waiting for us and had been doing housework and studying diligently the entire time.



Wow, this post turned out way longer and picture-heavy than I had anticipated! If you made it to the end, thank you so much for sticking around. You're a real trooper!