Sydney- Love at second sight, but love <3

When I first drove through Sydney, I thought, well, it's not that great, too loud, too dirty and too many construction sites. But I quickly became convinced that Sydney is really great!

Even on the first day when I walked along Darling Harbour, I felt comfortable and decided that it would be my jogging route for the next few days, although I never actually went jogging :D It was wonderful to stroll along the water and enjoy the occasional sunshine. Considering how big Sydney is, I found my way relatively quickly, even though at first every street looked the same to me. My hostel, Base Sydney, was very centrally located and it was only a few minutes' walk to Darling Harbour and Pitt Street (shopping street).

On the second day, I checked off the typical tourist spots, unfortunately I can't provide a picture of the Opera House in sunshine, as the weather was rather overcast. But it was still a great feeling to stand in front of the landmark. I also crossed the Harbour Bridge and enjoyed the view. You can even do a Bridge Climb and climb the steel bridge, but with my little fear of heights and cliffs, I preferred not to do it, also because it's not a cheap activity, but surely a unique experience! Then I continued to Millers Point, which has a great view! I particularly liked The Rocks neighborhood, where there was a street market with stalls and somehow there was a relaxed and special atmosphere! Some of the stalls had handmade items and I had to buy some special cards from one of the stalls. That day, I also visited Hyde Park. Unfortunately, the days passed way too quickly, partly because I had to fit in a lot of organizational things regarding my onward journey to Noosa.

On that day, I also probably met my travel partner for the East Coast. She is also traveling Australia with the same organization as me, and that's how we found each other. She works in Sydney and I will work in Noosa, and then we will meet and continue traveling north together. I hope it works out and I'm already looking forward to it!

On Saturday, I went to Bondi Beach, a place I really wanted to see. And that's absolutely right! Bondi Beach is a must-see, truly breathtaking! And of course, I also went into the water in the heat, those were some waves, I can't complain about that. I'm particularly proud that I didn't get sunburned, like most people do when they go to the beach for the first time... except for the part on my back that doesn't get sunscreen when I apply it myself ;) I would have loved to stroll through Bondi, but unfortunately I didn't have much time for that.

In the evening, I actually wanted to watch the fireworks in Darling Harbour with an English girl from my room, which takes place every Saturday. But it wasn't meant to be, it was canceled on that particular Saturday, what a stroke of luck. However, Darling Harbour was also worth seeing in the dark and we strolled along the promenade.

For my last day in Sydney, I had booked a tour to the Blue Mountains National Park. While we were waiting for the bus, I met Nina from Vienna. We got along very well and it was nice to experience the trip together, even though there were many nice people in our group, including many Germans, with whom you could exchange ideas.

The tour started with a visit to the Wildlife Park, where you could see the Australian animals. That's where the pictures with the kangaroo and the koala were taken. Then we continued to Eco Point, where you have a great view of the rainforest and the Three Sisters. After that, we had lunch, a really delicious chicken salad roll, all freshly prepared. After the meal, we went on a hike through the rainforest and you could take more beautiful pictures of the Three Sisters from up close. It took about an hour and a half, first going down the stairs leisurely, but then about 800 stairs back up, which almost pushed us all to our limits in the heat. But we all made it! Even the oldest member of our group, who was proud 63 years old!

Afterwards, we went to Lincoln Rock, my actual highlight! The pictures speak for themselves! The view was simply amazing and somehow relaxing to look into the rainforest! After the stop, we headed back to Sydney.

The pictures unfortunately don't speak for themselves because the internet here in the hostel is so terrible that I can't upload pictures, but I hope they will come someday! A post without pictures isn't much fun, but I wanted to tell you about my time in Sydney :)