Tutto il mondo è paese

With only eight days in Australia, we had our crash course experience in the country. We could only tip the surface of this gorgeous island and we decided to focus on Sydney and the Grand Pacific Drive. In so little time we saw a very diverse scenery and got a peak look at the animals that call Australia their home.

Sydney

In line with its cosmopolitan feel, Sydney promises lots of things to do and see. Already in the city you can observe how nature and city life have a different symbiosis than what we’re used to in Europe. Animals of all sorts (mostly birds) walk freely and are not shy to go after your lunch.

If you’ve read one of our other posts, it won’t come as a surprise when I say that we used a free walking tour as our intro into the city. There’s a 2.5 hour walk that takes you from the town hall and ends up at the harbour overseeing the Sydney opera.

You can check out performances playing at the opera, we went to a very modern representation of Julius Cesar (perhaps too modern).

We did another evening tour that shows you the Rocks area and tells the story of the first settlers into Sydney and the roughly 160 thousand convicts that were sent to Australia from the UK. The first fleet with convicts arrived in 1788 after an eight month journey. However, they didn’t lock them up but hoped their old habits would have died out during the trip. Well they didn’t. For the spicy stories, check out the Rocks tour.

Sydney itself has a US / UK feel to it with many familiar names on the streets, parks or neighborhoods (Hyde park, Liverpool, Victoria park) but somehow it seemed to us that people tend to smile a bit more here 🙂

On a beautiful sunny luckily weekday we visited the Tangaroo zoo. We hesitated which of the several zoo’s to choose and we were definitely happy with our choice. Their Australian selection was the real attraction for us and we got real close to an emu and saw the cutest sleeping koala.

The trip to the zoo is also an experience in itself as the most convenient way is to take a ferry from Circular Quay. Ferries are a real part of the public transport with multiple people using them as they gateway to the center every day for work. They can also be your mode of transportation to for example Manly beach.

A good day trip is to the Blue Mountains and that’s exactly what we did.

As you can see, we were not so lucky with the weather but we googled afterwards what’s normally behind these clouds and fog.

South of Sydney | Grand Pacific Drive

As we didn’t have a lot of time outside Sydney, we chose for a four day road trip south from the city taking the Grand Pacific Drive. It has this name for a reason – the views were simply breathtaking.

Starting off in Sydney, we made our way through the Royal National Park. Some of the best walks were closed due to the not so good weather.

Then the best route south without a doubt is taking the Grand Pacific Drive with a first stop in Stanwell Tops where you can enjoy breathtaking Pacific ocean views in the company of red-blue parrots as well as views of many paragliders (it looked dangerous to be honest).

The next drive through city is Wollongong. If you feel like a break, check out Diggies cafe right on the beach or if you want some good chicken, you can have some to go at North Beach Charcoal Chicken.

Kiama, the next must-stop sight on the GPD, is a lovely town with an impressive ‘blowhole’ – a wonderful experience awaits here. Seawater flows in through cave underneath and when a bigger wave passes through the water suddenly shoots through the gaps in the rocks making for a unique view.

The seven miles beach offers just that – gorgeous views of a very long beach where you can sit and people-watch at the surfers. Spoiler alert: they seem to be more skilled than the ones we have in Europe.

Often-referred-to-as the crown jewel of the trip is Jervis bay and Hyams beach with some beautiful white beaches. Just a shame weather wasn’t great when we rocked up. We would love to revisit when there are blue sunny skies and some of the reported whales and dolphins.

At some point there was some proper heavy rain but we managed to hide at the Hyams beach store & cafe, definitely a good spot for breakfast or brunch.

We ventured further south all the way to Moruya. Where possible, always take the road closest to the ocean or follow the brown signs. Then you end up unexpectedly at beautiful spots such as the Mosquito Bay (we’re sure this name doesn’t lead to higher house prices in the area)

or the Austinmer Ocean Pools (or for that matter at some other ocean pool, you definitely should try at least one)

or take the Sea Cliff Bridge on the way

or just walk in the Bush at one of the many beautiful forests along the way

Our personal highlight was Pebbly beach as we made some new friends along the way.

We had kangaroos just steps away from us. Some people were more adventurous and got a kangaroo walking right up to them, smelling one of their shoes. I am not sure how safe that is given how strong a kangaroo is (I recall the kangaroo boxing cartoon).

In line with our new love for kangaroos we ventured into Kangaroo valley on the way back just to find out that this is probably the only place outside Sydney where we’ve been without kangaroos. Actually even Sydney had a kangaroo visit last year. Luckily the gorgeous views of the Southern Highlands and the lookout spots in the hills more than compensated for that. At Cambewarra mountain lookout we saw more than 100km away into the mountains to the south as well as many kilometers into the endless ocean. If you’re already in the area, don’t miss the Fitzroy Falls or driving through the Jamberoo road.

Food

Most of the food is very Western. Everywhere we saw plenty of burgers, McDonalds, fish & chips, hipster cafes (we of course had an avocado toast with poached eggs). Pies here have a bit of a different twist to them, reminding us of the UK – definitely try them; our favourite was a chunky pie with some good meat at Hayden’s pies.

Definitely a local treat are kangaroo and meats (just like the Australian coat of arms). You can even buy kangaroo meat in the supermarket and make it yourself or head to the Australian Hotel in the Rocks in Sydney and try their pizza’s. I found it strange to eat the meat and I am not sure I fully enjoyed it but unless you’re a vegetarian, I guess it’s sort of a-must.

As a reference, here’s the Coat of Arms

Another local ‘delight’ is vegemite. This is definitely an acquired taste and is a sort of jam/peanut butter food but saltier and with rather strong taste.  It’s made of leftover brewers’ yeast extract, need I say more. 

Some nicer local treats are the ‘golden gaytime’ ice cream covered with chocolate and biscuits (you read the name correctly) or the famous TimTams to be eaten with coffee or tea (or actually the coffee should be drunk through it). For the coconut lovers among us, try also the lambogton cake which was a bit more difficult to find (I found mine at Baker’s Oven Cafe close to Circular Quay).