So, I ended my last post, click here if you missed it, talking about going on a Whale Watching Tour with a friend. In this post, I want to talk all about my first stop: Sydney. I should mention that before I flew out to Australia, I booked a few different tours. The first one I booked was an Intro to Australia Tour for my first nine days in Australia. This tour included accommodation, activities, and multiple meals. I spent the first day and night with my friend then the next nine days were spent on this tour.

Day 1, Meeting the tour group

On the first day, I left my friend’s place and headed to the hostel where I would be staying during the tour. There were no activities planned for this day, so a lot of the group scheduled a meet up near the Opera House to get to know each other. Later that evening, we had dinner provided at the bar/restaurant next to the hostel: The Scary Canary. We then stayed at the bar for Trivia Night, and some people spent the night partying while others went to bed.

Day 2, Jet Boating

The second day had way more activities. The start of the day was less exciting as we spent some time setting up our bank accounts. The afternoon was more impressive. Once we finished at the bank, we took a walk through part of the Royal Botanical Gardens to Mrs. Macquaries Point to get some photos of the Opera House with the Harbour Bridge. Later in the afternoon, we did some jet boating in the Sydney Harbour. Jet boating was a fun activity, but I must say that the water is frigid in late September! The night was another party night in the city. I think we went out to the Kings Cross area for some drinks.

Day 3, Sydney Harbour Cruise

On the third day, we went on a cruise around Sydney Harbour. We had lunch and drinks on board. The few that were brave enough to jump into the cold water also had some swimming time. I jumped in the water but did not stay in very long. The evening was available to do whatever we wanted. Some people just relaxed but most joined in for the hostel games and then some time at the bar next door.

Day 4, Bondi Beach and BBQ

We spent the fourth day at Bondi Beach. We started at the beach before taking a walk to Clovelly Beach. Once we made it to Clovelly Beach, we enjoyed an Aussie BBQ and a couple of beers. At the BBQ, they also cooked up some kangaroo for us to try. I did not know what to expect before my first taste of kangaroo, but I will say I am glad that I tried it. We spent the night however we wanted, but most of us headed to bed early since we were scheduled to leave early in the morning.

Day 5, Surfing, Kangaroos and Sunsets

On the morning of the fifth day, we had an early start so that we could head up to Port Stephens for a night. The first stop on our way to Port Stephens was Umina Beach for a surf lesson. I had never tried surfing before this, so it was a bit of a struggle for me. Catching a wave was possible, but I was not able to stand on the board. I ended up just riding the wave in while lying on the board. Our next stop was Morisset Park, where we met some kangaroos. The kangaroos at this location are familiar with humans, so it is easy to get up close and personal with them.

We still had two more stops after the kangaroos before arriving at our final destination for the night. We stopped at Wonganella Estate Winery for a little wine and beer tasting. I ended up also buying some beers from there to enjoy that night. The last stop was at Anna Bay so that we could watch the sunset. It was not the best sunset I have ever seen, but the spot is beautiful, and given the right night, it could be an incredible sunset. I still managed to take some fantastic photos! After sunset, we headed to our home for the night, Melaleuca Surfside Backpackers. This hostel is absolutely beautiful to stay at, and I wanted to go back before leaving the Sydney area, but I never managed to make it happen. We had dinner at this location and then spent some time relaxing with drinks and games.

Day 6, Sandboard and Tomaree Mountain

The next morning, we had a sandboarding trip reserved! I was nervous about this experience because I thought we would have to stand on the boards to go down. Thank goodness I was wrong! They do not allow standing with this company, so instead, you sit on it like a sled. The hill was still super steep and very intimidating, even sitting. But after a couple of tries, it became way more enjoyable! We spent probably an hour sandboarding before heading to the beach to do some pipis racing. Pipis are a type of clam that lives in the sand on some beaches. They can bury themselves in the sand quickly. So, for the “race,” we would dig a bunch up and then put them on the sand. The first one to disappear in the sand was the winner!

After the sandboarding trip, we went back to the hostel to gather all of our belongings so we could start to trip back to Sydney. Before going all the way to Sydney, we made a stop for a hike up Tomaree Mountain. The trail is a bit of a steep hike but well worth the view. From the top, you can see all of Port Stephens. The view is incredible and worth taking a lot of photos. We then hiked back down so that we could go on a dolphin cruise around Port Stephens. After the cruise, we made the bus ride back down to Sydney.

Day 7, Relax and Travel Planning Day

On the seventh day, we started to make plans for our future time in Australia. The big trip most backpackers make in Australia is the Australia East Coast, so most of the discussion was about this. We had an overview of all of the popular places to go in Australia. While going over everything, we had some sheets so that we could make notes about any must-do activities. These sheets would later be used during a meeting to book any activities. That night we also had a movie and pizza night. The film everyone voted on was The Inbetweeners movie since it takes place in Australia.

Day 8, Free Time and Farewell Dinner

We spent the final full day of the tour booking any activities throughout Australia. We scheduled a meeting during the day to discuss what we would like to do. I did not book much at this time because I planned to stay in Sydney for a time. Later that evening, we had our final dinner together. Dinner was at the top of the Westfield Tower in Sydney.

Day 9, Goodbyes

On the final morning, many people from the group started to head up to Cairns and work their way south along the east coast. A few of us decided to stay in Sydney, and we stayed at the same hostel for quite some time. I eventually got to a point where I felt like I needed somewhere else to stay, so I switched hostels in late October for one in Newtown, Sydney. I swapped back to the original hostel for two weeks over Christmas and New Year’s but then moved back to the Newtown location before starting my east coast trip.

The next 2 months, Exploring Sydney

I did quite a few activities in the Sydney area before heading north. Some of these activities included: a trip to Olympic Park, Manly Beach, Bondi Beach, Sculpture by the sea Bondi 2018, Newtown Festival, Sydney Harbour Cruise for Christmas Eve, Beach on Christmas Day, Sydney Harbour New Year’s Fireworks, and a hike around Ku-Ring-Ring Chase near Palm Beach. Most of these other activities are easy for anyone to do as a simple day trip. The Sydney Fireworks can be much harder to work out, so maybe I will write another post about that experience later.

This concludes this post, but I will have another one soon. The next post will begin with my trip heading north up the Australia East Coast.