P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way SYDNEY

We luckily missed the second hottest day since weather records began. The day after, on Monday, 08.01., we arrived safely in Sydney with only 35 degrees. (Better than 47 degrees for sure:)

A nice hotel in The Rocks district was our home for the last two nights. (Mario, thanks for the recommendation!) A great location, considering that we lived right by Darling Harbour, from where we could reach Circular Quay on foot in about 13.72 minutes. Here you can find the most famous attractions in Sydney: the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Impressive! 🔨 Just sitting there, enjoying the view of the Opera House and the Bridge, having a beer in the sun and watching the activities on and around the water. We really enjoyed it... exploring the city, visiting other viewpoints on extensive walks, and also taking the classic tourist hop-on hop-off bus. A great city with many buildings protected as landmarks, so alongside the new modern buildings, you can also find many with old architectural styles. In addition, there are many green areas/parks and lots of water... it's really impressive! 👍

The pre-booked catamaran tour, on which we wanted to experience Sydney, especially the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, from the water, was at risk due to heavy rain in the afternoon. Flo, being a hobby meteorologist, was confident that it would be dry in the evening, and the captain, who wanted to confirm by phone if we really wanted to take part, was also optimistic that it would work without rain, even though the number of registered participants was not that high up to this point. We set off on time at 7 p.m., and on the catamaran, which can accommodate up to 30 passengers, we were just the three of us, including the skipper! A private boat tour just for us, with good (dry) weather... it couldn't have been better! Unforgettable tour with a great view of Sydney from the water, and we also received interesting information about the city. World! 🌏

The dinner afterwards and strolling through the city in the dark was another experience. The Opera House is impressively illuminated at night, as is the Harbour Bridge... Sydney is really cool!! Florian took about 197 pictures of the Harbour Bridge. 🙈

On the second day, we took the bus through the city again and checked out Bondi Beach. It was a relaxed atmosphere there. Initially, it was raining a bit, but we were well prepared with an umbrella. However, Nadia, being Nadia, conveniently left it on the bus when she had the second-best opportunity. 🙄 It should be mentioned that in the morning she mentioned that she must not leave it anywhere. It worked out well. Less baggage to carry. Think positively and so on! ;-)

The walk along to Coogee Beach was great, watching surfers and bodyboarders riding the waves, playing around in the water ourselves, shopping, strolling... later, we visited an exhibition at the State Library with a view of the Harbour Bridge, had dinner, and had a cocktail at Darling Harbour (after we couldn't get into the O-Bar with a view of the entire city wearing boardshorts and Havaianas... complete incomprehension at this point by the way!;)

Conclusion: Sydney was a highlight on the East Coast. Other highlights were definitely the tour of the Whitsundays, the evening with Jane's parents and their private brewery, the day at the water park, and then Byron Bay. Low points: especially the campsites were hugely overpriced, which probably had to do with the holiday season and our last-minute booking. But that's no good for us penny-pinchers. 😉 As a result, it was often very crowded. This was sometimes a bit exhausting. Otherwise, the West Coast and East Coast cannot be compared as they are completely different travel destinations.

... and now we are already in New Zealand... we will spend today and tomorrow in Christchurch due to the rain. The day after tomorrow, we will pick up our next and also our last camper, drive towards good weather, and look forward to all the experiences and adventures here in New Zealand. ((-: We have planned whale watching in Kaikoura, meeting dolphins and seals, exploring Queenstown, enjoying Milford Sound, visiting Abel Tasman National Park, and much more.. 😃