Jul 11

Jul 11 Anniversary Blog 14 - Sydney, Australia Part 1

Destinations, Travel, Travel Agent Life, Anniversary Blogs

Sydney, Australia is a relatively short jump west from Auckland, New Zealand. We drove back to Auckland and in the morning flew into Sydney Airport. We dropped our bags at the Travel Lodge in downtown Sydney (now ibis Styles Sydney Central) and headed out to explore.

We had heard that Sydney was a great place for Asian food, and we were craving it. Luckily we were only a 10 minute walk West to Chinatown. We grabbed some delicious Ramen at Ramen Zundo. I grabbed some Chicken Katsu ramen while Anne opted for seasame noodles. Some grilled dumplings rounded out the great first meal.

On our walk it was funny realizing how similar to some of the cities in the US Australia was. We didn’t get to explore Auckland to make a comparison, but this was definitely much more “Western” than any of the cities in Argentina had been. We passed the Capitol Theatre and noticed that Aladdin the Broadway Musical was there so we made a split second decision to try to grab some tickets to the sold out show. (Travel Tip: some theaters hold tickets in reserve for shows and people cancel their seats, check and see if they have rush tickets available)

Aladdin tickets from Capitol Theatre in Sydney

The show was great. We like catching Broadway shows in other places of the world. We’ve checked out everything from Wicked to Beauty and the Beast and Lion King. Aladdin was a top tier production with some great actors and even the carpet flew around when they did “A Whole New World”. The genie stole the show, and you can’t tell me that Will Smith hadn’t seen that performer and borrowed some of his mojo for the movie.

Tim and Anne on a Ferry in Sydney Harbour with the Opera House in the background

The next day we jumped the train again (it’s great) and headed to Sydney Harbour and jumped a ferry over to Taronga Zoo. I love this zoo, not only are there a lot of animals that we’re not as used to seeing in North America like Tasmanian Devils and Komodo Dragons, but the zoo itself is situated on a hill, and you can either give yourself a nice workout and walk your way up, or you can take the nice trolly up and walk your way down. Anne finally got to see her koalas and kangaroos, so she was very excited. The lemurs were a treat. Shout out to Laura and Paul, who were two great keepers that made this a special experience.

Extatosoma tiaratum, an Australian stick insect at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney

Anne was so excited about the koala encounter, she even found herself a little friend! He even got to explore the rest of Australia with us.

When we got back off the ferry we hung out around the Sydney Opera House (UNESCO World Heritage Site), and just did some good “people watching.” It was a Thursday afternoon, so we weren’t expecting to see a lot of people, but when it got around 5 we saw a lot of people getting off work and hanging out at the wharf enjoying the nice breeze coming off the water. There’s a lot of shops and food options to explore if you just want a relaxing evening. The Opera House is a stunning architectural wonder and if you look close enough you can see people walking up to the top of the Sydney Bridge.

Tim and Anne have beers near the Sydney Opera House

That night we headed back over to Chinatown and checked out Din Tai Fung. It’s a dumpling (xia lover’s paradise), but it also has a full menu of other Asian favorites. We tried so much food. Steak fried rice, vegetable dumplings in a chili sauce, honey beef, soup dumplings, bao buns and more.

A favorite was the Rainbow Dumplings. Each soup dumpling (or xiaolongbao) in the steamer was a different color and the coloring came from natural sources. Green was colored with spinach, orange with carrots, purple with cabbage and so on.

But it wasn’t just the outside that was different. Each dumpling had a unique filling that helped to enhance the experience. Pork and garlic, crab, truffle, veggie, szechuan spices and so on. Each dumpling was a delicious bite of soup and filling that took you on a journey. If you visit Sydney and they have these available, you have to get them.

We wound down the night with some drinks at Sydney Cidery. A nice chill spot that offers food and live music, but we were already stuffed.

Tim and Anne in front of Sydney Harbour Bridge

Our Sydney adventure wasn’t over, so we went to bed pretty early because the next day we were heading out to the UNESCO World Heritage recognized Blue Mountains!