Sunny in Sydney

Our weekend started nicely with a trip to Cooper’s Alehouse in Adelaide for schnitzels on Friday night! Schnitzels are pretty big over here and you can get yours (beef or chicken) with just about anything on it. The Alehouse, as you can imagine has all the Cooper’s beers available on tap and a variety of other beers. Ellyn started with a Cooper’s and John with a Vale Ale (see previous post for our obsession with this beer…so good!). Ellyn then switched to a Vale Ale for her second beer – it is that good that we’d be in one beer company’s alehouse but drinking another beer! We turned in for an early night as our flight to Sydney left at 6am the next morning.

We managed to catch the bus on time this Saturday and made it to the airport in plenty of time to catch our flight. We caught a bit of sleep on the flight over so we would be sure to have plenty of energy once we got to Sydney. Once landed, we caught the train into the city and walked to our accommodation which was quite close to the train stop (thought not as close as it should have been as John wouldn’t listen to Ellyn’s directions!). Our room was ready for us, which was awesome, so we checked in and went to the room to freshen up. We were staying in The Rocks and our hotel was built on top of what is known now as “The Big Dig”. It is an archaeological site that is still being surveyed. The hotel was built on stilts above this and the center of the building is completely open and looks down into the site. There are artifacts and interesting findings throughout. It was really quite fascinating. As we walked in to our room, Ellyn went straight to the window – talk about a room with a view! Our window overlooked the Sydney Harbor, Circular Quay, the Sydney Opera House and The Rocks. Simply amazing. But enough looking – let’s go check it all out!

A bit hungry as we’d had no breakfast, we head to The Rocks Market (vendors set up in the streets of The Rocks, the oldest area in Sydney, which is the oldest city in Australia). We grabbed a coffee and muffin and walked around the streets to take in the little shops. There were artists, jewellery, food, clothes, etc for sale. We ducked into a few alleys and read some of the historical markers to get a feel for where we were. It was then time to head to Hyde Park to grab our packet for the main reason we were in Sydney – the Sydney Harbor Bridge Run! We walked through downtown and Circular Quay for two reasons. Obviously, to take in the sights but, possibly more important, to get our “weekend gear”. If you remember from the Melbourne post, John came up with the brilliant idea to get something different to wear for the weekend. Ellyn thinks this is a great idea as each picture from this trip we’ll be able to easily identify our location by what we’re wearing! For Sydney, John’s idea was screen printed t-shirts with various sayings on them. Ellyn was not a huge fan of this for two reasons – a) screened printed t-shirts make her think of a fair and b) we are supposed to wear the item the entire weekend…a t-shirt two days in a row? That’s just gross. But, she was willing to go along with it if we were able to find a vendor for screen-printed t-shirts (she knew this would be close to impossible). So John’s backup plan was funky “wayfarer” sunglasses. Not sure if what we found could be classified as wayfarers, but they most definitely could be described as funky.

We continued on from Circular Quay by the Opera House and through the Botanical Gardens, which were huge and quite beautiful. We were to meet 3 people from work (Sally, Keith and Johann) and Johann’s flatmate, Paul, at the check in area, which was at the base of St. James’ Cathedral, an enormous, lovely church. We all got our bags of gear and then decided to head to Darling Harbour! But not before John and Johann peaked into the cathedral – while a wedding was going on…oops! (We ended up getting a deal on 3 pairs of the shades so we bought 3 thinking we’d be able to find someone else in our group to wear the other pair…we were successful - Keith sported his all weekend too!)

On the way to Darling Harbour, Sally wanted to stop off at Pitt Street Cupcakes – a tiny little shop specializing in yummy cupcakes. Now that’s an idea Ellyn likes! John picked out a tiramisu one while Ellyn went for a traditional Aussie treat – Lamingtons! (Sponge cake dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut.) We wandered the streets of Sydney’s CBD on the way to Darling Harbour, a huge harbour with plenty of boat slips (mostly for mega ships/yachts) and lined with restaurants, bars and hotels. We decided on James Squire Brewhouse for lunch and were able to grab a huge picnic table outside overlooking the Harbour to enjoy the gorgeous weather. We stuck around there for a while just taking in the scenery, nice weather and company. We then decided to head to Circular Quay and just under the Harbour Bridge, looking over at the Opera House for a traditional British drink (we were with 2 Brits and 2 South Africans), Pimms. It is served chilled with lemonade and fruit garnishes. (John and Ellyn decided it was Britain’s version of Sweet Tea Vodka!)

We then decided we’d walk back through the Botanical Gardens as everyone walked through them that morning, but in a hurried state. Although they were really pretty and we saw a family of ducks waddling around, neither John nor Ellyn are “plant people” so our descriptions would definitely be lacking. Therefore, we’ll leave it at they were beautiful! (And a bit weird...)

John and Ellyn decided to head back to the room to shower and get dressed for our big night! We were meeting everyone for dinner at Blackbird Café for pasta (aka carb loading for the race the next day) but, more importantly, John had surprised Ellyn with tickets to the Opera House! (It wasn’t actually a surprise that day; it was a surprise a few weeks before so she could have some say so in the show selection…smart man!) We’d decided on the opera Riggaleto. Neither of us had ever seen an opera and we figured what better place to see our first opera than the iconic Sydney Opera House!?

So, after a yummy dinner, we hop in a cab and are dropped off right at the foot of the Sydney Opera House steps (by the way, at this point, Ellyn is so excited she’s just giggling!). We head to our seats so we are sure to be seated in time. We have box seats on the side just about 5 rows back. (Ellyn was feeling a bit like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman…hehe!) We read the program so we could get an idea of the storyline and when the curtain went up, we were both on the edge of our seats. (We did have a crazy man sitting right in front of Ellyn. Right before the show was to start, he turned around and said “Can you please stop kicking the back of my chair? I’m trying to sit down low so you can see and I really need you to stop kicking me.” Random…John just had his legs crossed and OCCASIONALLY tapped the back of his seat. At one random part of the opera that wasn’t even that funny, he started dying laughing. Then, at the end of the performance, he started clapping rapidly for a random sister in the opera and the maestro. That was it! The only people he clapped for!!!) But the opera was absolutely WONDERFUL! The storyline was great – a bit of rivalry, romance and comedy. There were only a few spots where we weren’t exactly sure what was going on! During each of the intermissions, you could go out on the decks of the Opera House and look out on the Harbour or back on the city all lit up. Champagne toast to a wonderful opera in an amazing venue? Yes, please! (Here's a clip of one of our intermissions; its pretty dark but you can see a great view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpSrif7pQaI)

After the Opera, we headed back to get to bed. John’s race started at 6:20 the next morning and Ellyn’s at 8 am. John was running in a ½ marathon with Keith, Johann and Paul. Ellyn intended to do the 9km but given it didn’t start until 9:20 and she’s not the fastest runner, she didn’t want to give up a day in Sydney to do the run but she did want the experience of running over the bridge and through the city. She opted for the 4km instead!

Here's where the race ended:

John got up Sunday morning, met Keith at the train station and took the train to the North Sydney side of the Harbour Bridge. Their race started at 6:20 and they were fully ready to take on the ½ marathon…both had been training for weeks and their adrenaline was pumping! Ellyn walked over the bridge (our hotel was at the base on opposite side of the bridge from the start) and she considered it a warm up! Her race started at 8. She had been “training” just with normal workouts and just wanted to run the entire thing without stopping to walk! Both completed the race – one a bit happier than the other! Ellyn finished her race without having to walk any. John was not as pleased with himself as he ran out of energy and did not realize he needed more sugar in his system. Once he put two and two together, he grabbed some jelly beans at a water station and was good to go – he practically sprinted the rest of the race!

We walked around the “recovery area” to cool down and grab some water and free goodies (hats, flip flops, etc.)! Then headed back to the hotel to take a shower before meeting up with everyone and heading to Bondi Beach for a late lunch! (We stopped for a coffee and toast on the way back to the hotel to hold us over!)

We all met back up and hopped on a bus to Bondi. It should be noted at this point that John is still wearing his medal from the race. He did not take it off for the rest of the day and his response when we all asked why was, "When else will I be able to wear it?!" Touche. The traffic in Sydney was ridiculous, presumably from the race road closures. Keith, who lived in Sydney for a few months before moving to Adelaide, suggested we get out and walk to a suburb on the outskirt of the CBD where traffic should be less. We figured it was a good way to see more of the city and we’d get to the beach sooner! So we walked to Kings Cross and through Paddington and enjoyed looking at the little shops and cafes (unfortunately just looking, not eating!). We got to the street Keith had in mind and waited for the next bus. As the doors to the bus open, guess what we see? The SAME DRIVER as the one we got out of the bus in the city! We just walked close to an hour to get out of traffic and really, we could have just stayed on the bus the entire time! At least we got to see more of the city, right?!

When we get to Bondi, we walked around the main street overlooking the beach and looked for a good place for lunch. We found a restaurant with floor to ceiling windows that were open and we decided it looked great! After lunch, we did a little shopping and then walked out onto the beach. There was actually a fair amount of people on the beach, though not in the water! Ellyn and John went to put their feet in the water and quickly realized why there weren’t many people in!

After Bondi, the group decided to go our separate ways. We headed back to the city to explore more of the CBD. We went into the Queen Victoria Building, an absolutely gorgeous shopping mall/arcade built in the 1890’s. Even John was impressed and for a building full of shops, that’s saying a lot! We walked into a few little shops in the CBD and then headed back to our hotel. We had a bottle of wine and wonderful rooftop terrace overlooking the Harbour that we wanted to be on for the sunset! We got there in time to enjoy the sunset and take in the city skyline. Luckily, many other people were not using the terrace so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. (Check out John's awesome documentary skills...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5UV1slIwbE) After hanging out for a while up there, we decided it was time for dinner!

We went next door to The Australian Heritage Hotel. We’d heard about their Australian pizzas (and Ellyn remembered it was where she and her mom had been on their trip to Sydney!). We went in and were delighted to see they had Vale Ale on tap! We settled into a little table right by the floor to ceiling doors that opened onto the street side seating (Ellyn thought it was a bit chilly to sit outside) and checked out the menu. We couldn’t decide between prawns, kangaroo or emu pizza. So Ellyn told John to decide or to ask the bartender his favourite. When John came back from ordering, he had a huge smirk on his face…why choose just one?! We had the kangaroo and emu and they were both DELICIOUS! (We decided we’re heading back there on our next trip to Sydney, right before we fly home!)

We had early morning flights on Monday to get back to Adelaide in time for work. Ellyn was still at her main client over here, doing wrap up work to finalize the annual report. John was off the zoo (no more koalas sitting on the girl next to him shoulders…for real!) and onto a new client. Again, nothing too exciting going on during the week – we are giving whole new meaning to the phrase “living for the weekend”!