We started our 30-day backpacking trip through Oceania by visiting Sydney and the famous Blue Mountains. Read about the summary of this trip in this post.

On our way to Oceania

Heading to the other side of the world – Australia and New Zealand!!! Our flight to Sydney left Guarulhos on Saturday, May 19, 2012. We left Rio on Friday, straight from work, with two huge backpacks and lots of excitement for a 30-day trip together after only dating for a few months. We got off at Guarulhos and waited for the transfer of Hotel Ipe Guaru, which was the cheapest in town.

The room and bathroom were quite tidy, but the noise in the hallway disturbed our sleep a little. The breakfast was excellent, to make up for the early morning: lots of cakes, juice, bread, cereals and more. We ate well and took the transfer to the airport, which left punctually at the time scheduled by the hotel.

At the airport, we checked in our backpacks, waited in the boarding lounge and at the scheduled time, we boarded the TAM plane bound for Santiago. Our SP – Santiago – Sydney ticket was purchased on the LAN website, but we ended up flying with TAM and QANTAS (excellent by the way!).

We slept on the 3-hour flight to Santiago and when we arrived there, we took the opportunity to browse the shops in the departure lounge and then sat down to hang out at the bar. The Last Pisco Sour. We drank pisco and beer and ate a sandwich until our boarding time was announced, which was very punctual by the way. We boarded the plane around 1:30pm on Saturday and only arrived in Sydney at 6pm on Sunday. Almost an entire weekend on the flight!!! Just kidding… because of the 1pm time difference, the flight only lasted 16 hours.

But I can't complain. The Qantas flight was great! Comfortable seats (and I was in economy), delicious food and snacks, all kinds of drinks (wine, beer, blood orange, etc.) and excellent, very current movies. I even thought it went by quickly... lol

Day 1 – Sunday (20/05/2012)

We arrived in Sydney and when we went through immigration, we had to present the visa approval (printed email), proof of yellow fever vaccination, return tickets and we even had to explain our entire itinerary in English. Tense moment! lol

Update: This trip was in 2012, I have no idea what it's like now!

Once everything was approved, we went ahead and when we arrived at the main airport hall, which was beautiful by the way, we immediately bought the chip cheapest we found, with a few gigabytes of Internet, from Optus. We also bought Australian dollars at Travelex, which had a better rate than in Brazil, but was definitely more expensive than the exchange offices in the city. Then we went to the train station, which is inside the airport, and bought the tickets to the station closest to our Formule 1 hotel – current ibis budget Sydney East – , in Kings Cross.

We were very tired and disoriented due to the time difference. We found our hotel very easily. Formula 1, which was cheaper than private rooms in hostels. We bought water at a little shop near the hotel and had our first financial setback => AUS$ 5, that is, R$11 for a 500ml bottle. It's going to be expensive like that, huh... later we discovered that the tap water was drinkable, but it was too late...lol. We arrived at the hotel and passed out on the bed.

Day 2 – Monday (05/21/2012)

We woke up at 5am ready to go sightseeing. We walked around the city, still in the dark, with the streets completely deserted. Although they had said that Kings Cross was a bit rough because it was the red light district from Sydney, I didn't feel any fear.

Saint Mary's Cathedral

We walked towards the center, passing by Saint Mary's Cathedral, Hyde Park and by the base of the Sydney Tower, which was still closed.

We walked through the streets of the city center, practically alone, since there were not many cars or people on the streets. These streets in the city center are full of shops, restaurants and galleries inside modern and old buildings, which, when mixed, give the neighborhood a delightful atmosphere.

Strand Arcade

We entered the city's most famous (and most beautiful, in my opinion) Victorian-style gallery, the Strand Arcade, which had just been opened for cleaning staff. We managed to get in to take pictures, but all the shops were closed.

Queen Victoria Building

Then we enter the Queen Victoria Building, which is a traditional shopping mall in the city, with very chic shops and bistros. Since we were starving, we bought some snacks (quite expensive, by the way!) at a coffee stand and continued walking.

We stopped to rest near the Town Hall, in a square that gave access to Saint Andrew's Cathedral, full of birds with black, crooked beaks, quite strange indeed.

We kept walking and arrived at the Tumbalong Park, where the Chinese Gardens of Friendship is. It was closed when we passed by and would only open at 9am. We continued walking around and decided to walk around Chinatown and surroundings. We passed in front of the Paddy's Market, which also had its stores closed, but we managed to go in and take some photos.

We spent hours walking around the streets until we decided to have breakfast and as everything was very expensive, we looked for the nearest supermarket (Coles) and we bought bread, cheese, ham and drinks. Despite the very expensive prices (a pack of sliced bread costs AUS$ 4, or R$9), we had fun at the supermarket looking for the cheapest things and especially when it was time to pay, when we ourselves played the role of the person at the supermarket checkout, passing the products and paying for them. How much trust in customers, right? We sat down in the mall's food court and made our sandwiches for the whole day. They were delicious!

Chinese Gardens of Friendship

We ate well and when it was almost 9am, we went back to the Chinese Garden. What a beautiful place…a peaceful corner in the middle of the city, with greenery and impeccable organization, for a very affordable price. (AUS$6)

Harbourside

We left there feeling very relaxed and continued walking until we reached one of our favorite places in the entire city: Harbourside. A complex with restaurants and shops right on the edge of the bay, with lots of birds and happy people walking around. The view from this point of the city is simply beautiful, with all the modern buildings in the center and the reflection of the bay with super clear water. We sat on a bench to eat more sandwiches and cookies and took the opportunity to interact with the birds that are beautiful, very different from the gray pigeons we have in Brazil. It's worth the visit!

Australian National Maritime Museum

We kept walking and arrived at Australian National Maritime Museum. Guess what: the replica James Cook ship had just docked, sailing along the coast of Australia, retracing the entire journey of this sailor who left his mark on the country's history. It was a very popular event, with lots of food and drinks, speeches, and excitement, and we happened to be there by coincidence.

From there, we followed the bridge to the area where the Sydney Zoo, the Sydney Aquarium and the Madame Tussauds Museum. We bought a package to visit the three places (not necessarily on the same day) and also the Sydney Tower, where you can see the entire city from above. A much more affordable price than if we bought the four separately.

Sydney Aquarium

We started at the aquarium and loved it! There are so many different species that only exist in Australia…we were quite impressed. The coolest part was being in a tunnel where sharks, rays and other large animals swam around us, with zoo staff feeding them up close. It was a bit scary to be there, but we enjoyed it.

We left there very tired (I think the time difference started to kick in) and decided to walk to Opera House, before heading back to the hotel. We ended up taking a path that wasn't very busy, right on the edge of the bay. The view was really nice, but it was under construction, so it felt a bit strange.

Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House

We passed under the bridge Sydney Harbour Bridge, we took some pictures and kept walking until finally…

Tchan rannn… we got to see it, all majestic! The Opera House is really beautiful and fits perfectly into the city, in its position. We stood on the other side of the bay, just admiring it, while we had our first beers at the restaurant. Peter Doyle (about AUS$ 11 each 500ml bottle, approximately). A stab with a great view!

We walked back to the hotel and slept like logs. What a time zone…

Day 3 – Tuesday (05/22/2012)

We woke up at 5am with all the energy in the world. We decided to go to Blue Mountains, which is 2 hours from Sydney and has beautiful nature.

A day trip to the Blue Mountains

To go and return on the same day, we had to leave very early, so it fit perfectly for us! When we left the hotel, we stopped at a supermarket and bought the ingredients for our breakfast, which we would prepare and eat on the train. We took the subway with the bags in our hands and got off at the Central station, from where we caught a train to the city of Katoomba. We had our delicious breakfast on the train (sandwich and chocolate milk) and took the opportunity to enjoy the landscape, which was practically made up of small towns with lots of vegetation. How peaceful!

We arrived in Katoomba and soon saw the company store that offered the tour to the most important tourist attractions in the region in a special bus, of the type Hop on & Hop off  (you get on and off wherever you want). We even thought about buying this one tour, but for the price, we thought it would be better to try another way, with a regular bus, walking and maps in hand. It was actually quite easy, because everything is well explained at the bus stops and the people are very friendly when explaining things. While we were waiting for our bus, we stopped at a restaurant/very cute cafe called The Paragon and we bought some hot chocolate, which went down really well as it warmed us up from the cold weather.

We took the bus and got off at Echo Point, where is the best view of the park's main attraction, the 3 sisters. What a magical place! The view is simply incredible and the mild weather only made the trip even better. We spent some time enjoying the view, taking photos and then we continued along the recommended trails.

We started to do the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, but soon we came across a blockage on the trail, caused by a fire. They redirected the trail and we continued walking, passing by beautiful waterfalls, seen from different angles. The vegetation was also nice and the mild weather made the hours of hiking much easier (I think it was 3 hours).

We even passed a station where it was possible to catch a kind of cable car, but we thought it best to keep walking. We reached the point where the Scenic World and we took the opportunity to take the “elevator car”, which took us to the top of the trail, saving us from a huge climb. What a cool experience! It’s a bit like a roller coaster, with the trail passing between rocks and the car moving at a very high speed, with you facing away. It was worth it!

After there, we decided to go to Wentworth Falls, another city, where I read that it had the Trail that Darwin made in 1800, Very well rated. The problem was getting there: a seemingly endless walk through the deserted city until we reached the start of the trail. No cars or citizens were in our way... impressive. We walked for approximately 1 hour, following a small map that wasn't even very detailed. I'm glad it worked out in the end.

We arrived at the start of the trail and even saw some parked cars, but far fewer than at Echo Point. We started the trail in much colder weather and were incredibly tired…but it was worth it! The view is wonderful and the place is even more peaceful than at Echo Point, because there are almost no visitors. Just thinking about walking back made us feel discouraged, but we managed to get over it by talking a lot and making plans for the next day.

We took a bus to the train station, where we had a snack and rested. We took the train back to Sydney and when we arrived in the neighborhood of our hotel, Kings Cross, we decided to eat at the Japanese restaurant Wasabi Bistro, very good by the way. Everything we ordered was divine and went down perfectly. We returned to the hotel very happy with our day. =D

Day 4 – Wednesday (05/23/2012)

We woke up at 6am and went for a walk, this time around Woolloomooloo. We saw the first beggars in town and were even politely approached by one. We passed by Domain Park, for the Art Galley NSW and then we finally entered the Botanical garden. 

Sydney Botanic Gardens

A well-organized, beautiful place with a very cool infrastructure. We stopped at the restaurant/coffee to have breakfast and we continued walking through the garden. 

We arrived at a place in the garden with a beautiful view of the Opera House. I recommend it!! Check it out:

The atmosphere of the place is very cool, with many people exercising, doing picnic, walking or simply sitting on the grass, sunbathing. We walked a lot and arrived at Macquarie's Chair, which has a beautiful view of the bay + Opera House + Neutral Bay. We spent a good amount of time there, taking pictures, sunbathing and enjoying ourselves, until we decided to go to the Opera House to see it up close.

Opera House up close

We continued walking through the botanical garden until we reached our desired destination. Since it was low season, some construction work was underway. We were able to see it up close and even went inside, thinking about doing the same. tour for their rooms, but after seeing the price, we thought it wasn't worth it. We really wanted to buy one ballet or musical, but there was nothing playing, which was a little frustrating. We'll have to go back to get to know it better!

We continued walking and stopped for a snack at Circular Quay Station, in a restaurant fast food of seafood. We ate crab legs and fried fish, simply delicious! We continued towards the Zoo and Museum, stopping along the way to buy more snacks.

Sydney Zoo

We arrived at Zoo and we saw kangaroos and koalas for the first time! It was so exciting...the koala is the most beautiful animal I have ever seen in my life! So graceful, chubby, calm, standing still among the branches of the eucalyptus tree, sleeping most of the time (it sleeps 18 hours a day). It was incredible to see them up close.

The kangaroos, I confess, didn't impress me that much, especially because the space was small and they didn't jump around like I was expecting. There were other cool animals too, but I only wanted to see the koalas... lol

We watched the koala show, where a zoo employee explained their habits (they only eat eucalyptus leaves, nothing else, and they don't even drink water!) and their history, and we were even more enchanted by them. We left there super happy and wanting to hold the little animal, but NSW laws do not allow touching the animal.

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum

We went to the Madame Tussauds and we really liked it. The wax figures are very perfect and really look like the famous people they represent. We saw Obama, Lady Gaga, Leo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and many others. We loved it!

Visiting Sydney's oldest pub

After some funny photos, we left there and headed to the pub and the oldest brewery in the city, the Lord Nelson. Very good! There was a game going on rugby  and the place was packed with people super excited about the game. I thought it was a terrible sport because it was so violent, to be honest. After a few beers, we decided to treat ourselves to a taxi back to the hotel. =D

Day 5 – Thursday (05/24/2012)

We woke up at 8am and packed our things to do the checkout. We left our backpacks at lockers from the hotel and we went out with just our backpacks to go for a walk. We stopped for breakfast very close to our hotel, in a very nice place called Detour espresso bar.

Sydney Tower

We kept walking until the Sydney Tower to use the tickets already purchased. The view of the city from the top of the tower was really cool. It was worth it!

A hop in Bondi

We decided to take a bus and go to Bondi, a place highly recommended in the guides. The beach is really beautiful, but since the weather was cloudy, the view was not as stunning as in the photos we had seen in the guides and blogs. We stopped at a fast food to eat Fish & Chips (the most common dish in the country, consisting of fried fish and chips) and then to a bar to drink good beers and kill time until we got back to our hotel. The problem is that we lost track of time a little…lol.

We took the subway to the hotel, grabbed our backpacks, took the subway to the airport and phew!, we did it! check-in for our flight at the last minute. It was just the right time to have dinner one pizza in the boarding lounge and catch our flight from JetStar 4 hours to New Zealand.

Despite being very excited about our destination, we slept like logs on the plane. =)

All articles from this trip

• Summary of 30 days in Australia and New Zealand
• Itinerary – Sydney and Blue Mountains (5 days)
• Itinerary – Auckland, Waitomo and Rotorua (3 and a half days)
• Itinerary – Christchurch, Arthur's Pass, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier (4 days)
• Itinerary – Queenstown and Milford Sound (4 days)
• Itinerary – Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Philip Island and Yarra Valley (7 days)
• Itinerary – Brisbane, Surfers Paradise and Gold Coast (5 days)
• Itinerary – Alice Springs (Australian outback) (5 days)

See some tours in Sydney