Travel log of Eli and Anna Bendersky

Hi All,

Since our last post we’ve been spending time in Sydney and its surroundings. Sydney is a very big city (population around 5 mln) and has several distinct areas, which is quite nice as it seems that you’re in a completely different place each time. It is also extremely crowded around this time of the year - not only it is the holidays season, there is also an ongoing cricket match with England (cricket matches last several weeks !) which means that there are tens of thousands of Brits all around the place, which makes the shortage of accommodation only worse.

For the first two nights we had a place to stay in Igor’s apartment, but then as his flat-mate came back to town we had to find another place to live in. Which was extremely difficult (even without cricket, looking for accommodation in Sydney on January 1st is crazy) - and we failed. So, having no place to stay in Sydney (except for a stellar price) we rented a car and headed to the Blue Mountains - a hilly area (the Australian call 1 km high hills mountains ) just west of Sydney. There we booked a motel for two nights and explored the area a bit. Although the “mountains” are low, they are very beautiful because they are completely covered by a thick forest. We did a short trek in Wentworth Falls:

And then drove to Jenolan Caves - quite big and interesting caves that were discovered a long time ago and had been a tourist attraction for over 150 years. The drive there is almost 2 hours long, but we had a prize close to the end - a real wild kangaroo on the side of the road, patiently waiting for people to feed him and take photos.

We managed to book a place in Sydney for the next couple of days - but only in a suburb far from the center (Coogee), and in a dorm room. It was a peculiar experience to sleep in a dorm - with 6 other people in a room smaller than the bedroom at our place. There was simply no choice though - Sydney was booked solid.

Next, we moved into the city center - as January progresses, it becomes easier to find places to stay, and we booked online a few days in advance.

We went for a guided tour in the opera house, visited the Sydney aquarium - where you go in a glass tunnel with huge sharks swimming around and above you, ascended the Sydney tower to see the city from above, went to the famous Bondi beach, walked across the Sydney harbour bridge to the other side of the bay, and took a ferry to Manly - a northern suburb known for its wild beaches that are a paradise for surfers:

On Saturday night we met Simon Reeves and his wife Andrea for dinner and beers at the Australian Hotel - a pub near the harbour bridge, famous for its gourmet pizzas topped with the best of Australia’s wildlife. The conclusion: crocodile indeed tastes like chicken, and the meat looks very much like chicken breast, although it is a bit more chewy. Pretty good.

All in all we liked Sydney - it’s a big city with a lot of diversity - a busy business center with skyscrapers, and at the same time full with tourist attractions - especially the stunning beaches, the harbour, and an innumerable amount of beautiful parks. But spending 10 days here is a bit too much, and we can’t wait for New Zealand - where we fly tomorrow.

Hugs and kisses
Anna and Eli