Back to the City

Our country escape was beautiful, but we were ready to get to the city for many of the conveniences and good food options that we had been missing! After breakfast and coffee in The Hunter we made another spectacular drive along the coast on the way back to Sydney. This drive didn't offer the wildlife that the outback did, but the scenery was breathtaking.

We dropped our rental car off at the airport and took a cab to our Holiday Inn. Will gets great rewards through them and we got four nights for virtually free! And look, we even had a pretty good view of the Harbor Bridge and Opera House from our room!

We settled in a bit but didn't waste too much time before we started exploring. The hotel was right at Kings Cross, right around the corner from William Street.

Here's a pretty cute map of Sydney to help you understand where we were.

We walked from Kings Cross to The Rocks area by way of the East side of the Central Business District (CBD) through the Botanical Gardens.

More ibis! I think he was collecting material for his nest.

As we went through The Rocks we saw this milk crate Santa!

We were on a mission to go to the Glenmore Hotel's rooftop, but when we got there is was really busy and not quite the scene we were looking for, so we kept walking and found what seemed like a little hidden secret right along the Harbor Bridge. I sadly don't even remember the name of it, but it was a perfect place to start taking in the city. We had a couple appetizers and drinks and sat back and relaxed.

From there we stopped here and there, exploring some of the oldest establishments in Sydney. We sipped a beer at the Mercantile Hotel (in Australia they usually refer to a pub as a hotel). It is the longest running Irish pub in Australia.

Then we cut over to the Harbor Area. It was so windy! It reminded me a lot of the San Francisco Bay.

While we were walking around Will had spotted a place he really wanted to go to. It turned out to be one of the first pubs in Sydney! He got a Guinness with a little heart on top!

In the pub was this map showing how Europe fits into Australia. Australia is such a large continent!

We stopped in the Circular Quay for a glass of wine and share a bowl of delicious prawn pasta with a red sauce. Next to pizza, prawns are a very popular dish!

Our view from dinner.

We walked along the Quay to the Opera House. It is so beautiful all lit up at night!

And you couldn't forget that it was almost NYE! The city was really getting ready!

We made one last stop in a cute little lounge near the Opera House. Once we got inside we realized it was another one of the Stamford Hotels. They were so nice and even gave Will a couple truffles for us when he asked if they had a dessert menu. So sweet!