We both were pretty tired the following day after getting maybe 3-4 hours of sleep. But we were certainly going to wake up during our morning activities. Since we were in NZ, we felt like we had to enjoy some thrilling activity, as I refused to bungee jump. Falling headfirst toward the ground and trusting in the equipment around your feet doesn’t sound appealing. And a little background for those that don’t know the history of bungee jumping is that they consider Queenstown as the birthplace of bungee jumping (although the first ones to do it were in Britain). AJ Hackett became one of the well-known jumpers after he jumped off the Eiffel Tower and then started his site in New Zealand.

So, of course, we had to go to his site in Queenstown. After grabbing some coffee and pastries, we headed to the AJ Hackett Center to check in for our Nevis swing and catapult. It was a 45-minute drive from the city to the site of the tallest bungee jump in NZ. On one side was the place to bungee, while the other section was for the gorge swing and the catapult. They loaded us up in our harnesses, and it was time to hit the ropes. I was more relaxed about the swing since we had done something similar in Victoria Falls. This time, though, we decided to do it backward. The guides had us hold our arms out before they dropped us, but as soon as we fell, I pulled it back in to grab onto the ropes. I don’t know if it was the pants I was wearing or the momentum of the swing, but thankfully there were multiple checkpoints to hold me secure as I slid off the seat during the free fall. Once we were finished, we saw numerous couples try the swing while we waited to get set for the catapult. Most went facing forward, but one pair did the “honeymoon swing,” where one person was in front of the other.

I decided to go first for the catapult, so I didn’t watch what would happen with Grant and chicken out. They put you in a full-body harness with a neck brace for support. (I didn’t realize this until just recently when we showed people the video, but knowing what happens, it definitely makes sense.) After securing all the safety harnesses, they pull you up to where you hang in the air in a “Superman” pose before the countdown. The catapult shoots you across the canyon at 60 mph for about 5 seconds before you’re just suspended by the bungee, bouncing up and down and taking in the views around you before you get pulled back to the top.

After we both enjoyed our thrills for the day, we headed back on the bus to the city. While researching where to eat in Queenstown, we found that everyone suggested Fergburger, so we decided to try it since it was our last day in the city before we headed out to our following location. The burger joint is a super popular tourist attraction, and even celebrities have sought it out during their stays in Queenstown. And the burgers definitely lived up to the hype! I tried the Southern Swine, while Grant went with the classic Fergburger Deluxe. Feeling full, we returned to the room to nap before heading to the Skyline Gondola.

We had the perfect timing for our trip to Queenstown as the Skyline Gondola was getting ready to shut down for a few months to complete renovations. Adding to our list of “mosts” on this trip, we added riding the steepest gondola in the Southern Hemisphere to the list. At the top of the gondola, they have a luge circuit for which you could purchase tickets to enjoy. I wasn’t sure how much I would actually enjoy it, so we only bought the 3-ride session, but after completing them, we both wished we had the option to do more. And, of course, the price of adding on additional rides was not worth it.

You take a ski lift to the top of the circuit, get in your go-kart, and drive down the hill. It felt like you were in a Mario Kart race. Although you have to take the beginner’s course for your first ride, they had another route to enjoy for your other rides, which was good as the beginner’s route would clog with people needing more confidence in their driving skills.

After our three rides were up, we headed inside the center to warm up and grab a beverage. We took some pictures of Queenstown before heading back down the gondola. We stopped by the iFly in town to see what kind of price Grant could get for a session, but the instructors were shocked to learn how cheap Grant gets to fly for being a STEM educator. So, we skipped the session and headed to our dinner reservations. We grabbed dinner at Goku Shabu since we both missed our local Shabu place in Redondo Beach. It was enough to satisfy our craving before we could go to ours in a couple of weeks. We returned to pack our bags to prep for our hike the following day.

While researching breakfast in Te Anau, everyone suggested going to Sandfly Cafe. And it was a great suggestion! I grabbed the pancakes while Grant had the Hash Brown Stack. We added a side of hash browns and some bacon, but we were so full that we didn’t finish them. The bacon was more like thick ham slices, so it didn’t whet our appetite. After breakfast, we swung by the grocery store across the street to grab some snacks for the hike and the road trip to our next destination.

Since we planned two long hikes during the next week and a half, we decided to keep this hike shorter. We headed to the Rainbow Reach hike just a few miles outside Te Anau. It was part of the Kepler Track, one of the “Great Walks” in New Zealand, which was also used during some of the Lord of the Rings filming. The hike was relatively easy on a pretty well-maintained forest. We stopped at Motor Hut for a snack break and to relax by the lake. I thought that became hard to do as we soon learned one of the major pests on the west coast of New Zealand…sandflies. They bothered me first while Grant made a pitstop at the bathroom, but they started getting Grant on our way back to the trail. Their bite felt like small pinches, but we realized there was no getting away from them, especially if they were near water sources.

After our hike, we headed back into Te Anau for gas before driving to Queenstown. I thought gas in California was expensive, but the price in New Zealand is just as bad. Most of the gas was $2.50/L, so basically, NZD 9 per gallon when you do the conversion. On our drive to Queenstown, we realized how lucky we got with our first day in NZ being sunny. Most of the drive was cloudy, with the occasional rain shower. We figured out on this drive that similar to how you might see ranches full of cows in Texas, New Zealand has ranches that raise deer. We read they are not native to New Zealand and so are domesticated to use for venison. We also started to realize that New Zealand has some of the best public restrooms of anywhere we’ve been – the country makes road trip bathroom stops easy!

Once we got into Queenstown, we relaxed in our hotel room as we tried to figure out dinner. Thankfully, like in Australia, the food choices are very similar to ours, so choosing a place to eat isn’t as difficult as it sometimes was in Southeast Asia. We headed to Atlas Brewing Company for some tacos and a burger before exploring Queenstown’s “downtown” area. They had an ice bar nearby, so we decided to grab a time slot and enjoy the experience of standing in a -8 degree (Celsius) room. The only time slot was 9 pm, so we toured the souvenir shops and returned to the room to grab Llama Llama. (My sister’s work has a llama that they use during the Christmas season, like the Elf on the Shelf. She brought it to Sydney to take some pics and forgot on her return, so we have enjoyed taking pictures of it in different places in NZ.)

When our time slot arrived, we returned to the bar to check-in. And of course, the one time I don’t bring the passports with us, they ID me. The only form of ID we had was my license in Grant’s wallet, which she thankfully accepted, but told us most places in town will only take a passport as a form of ID. They gave us a thick coat and gloves before leading us into the ice room. Everything was made of ice, even the cups they made our drinks in. We enjoyed our hour taking pictures and enjoying our drinks while they played various US music. And, of course, their ending song is “Ice Ice Baby.” You get to smash your cup in the trash can at the end of your time in the bar. It wasn’t as satisfying as I would have liked, as it didn’t smash into several pieces.

We returned to the room and caught up on some Criminal Minds while waiting for the first Starship launch (though this one was scrubbed right before lift-off). I tried staying up to watch the start of the Boston Marathon but ended up heading to bed to grab some sleep. I got up around 2:30 to watch the end of the elite men’s finish as Kipchoge was going for the record. However, even the GOAT of marathons had rough days and ended up in sixth place.

The following day was an early wake-up as Brittany’s flight was set for 9 am. We rode the train with her and ensured she made it through security before returning to the AirBnB to pack our bags. Needless to say, it was a tearful goodbye! I was so glad she could make it, as there was almost a chance she wouldn’t get a passport in time! But things always work out, as Grant always tells me.

Our flight wasn’t until 2:40 that afternoon, so we could take our time and relax with some coffee before checking out of our place. We headed to the airport and enjoyed our last cheap train ride in Sydney. It is still amazing how affordable and easy it was to use by just tapping your credit card. More places could definitely learn from them!

The flight was a little late in pushing off, so we arrived in Queenstown around 7:45 pm. After getting our rental car squared away, we headed nearby to check into the hotel. We were surprised when we walked outside as we weren’t expecting the temps to be down into the 40s. Getting into the hotel, we quickly dropped off our bags and tried to figure out a place to eat. As most businesses were closing around 9 pm or already closed, we had very few options and settled on Pizza Hut. While munching on our pizza, we figured out a rough itinerary for our time in New Zealand, as we didn’t have anything planned out for this leg of the trip besides the Milford Sound cruise Grant had booked before our flight that morning.

We grabbed some coffee and pastries for our 3.5-4 hour drive to Milford Sound the following day. Since we had flown in at night, we didn’t see the scenery around us. From the moment we started our drive in Queenstown to anywhere we drove in New Zealand, our response to the view was “Wow” everywhere we looked. People had told us the country was beautiful, but you must see it to believe it. I took so many time-lapses on the drives, but it’s hard to truly capture it (especially on our iPhone SE). Grant enjoyed being able to get his drone out and get some aerial views of the landscape, especially as the fall colors were really vibrant all over.

Once in Milford Sound, we grabbed a quick snack and coffee at the visitor’s center before heading on the cruise. We had beautiful clear skies to view the Milford Sound and even got lucky to see some bottlenose dolphins and New Zealand fur seals on tour. The skipper told us that Milford Sound receives the highest amount of rain in the country totaling about 7,000 mm/year (23 ft/year). He said it rains almost 200 days out of the year, allowing multiple waterfalls to be seen throughout the sound. We were quite lucky to see it while sunny. Near the end of the tour, he turned the boat around towards one of the giant waterfalls in the sound to dip the boat’s bow into the falls. Even though we were at the back of the boat, you could still feel the power of the falls, along with the cold shower spraying the boat. Just off the dock we also saw our first Starlink User Terminal of our entire trip (what Grant works on at SpaceX). He was really excited to see something that started in the factory he helped build in Hawthorne so many miles around the globe. We also realized on the drive to Milford Sound how popular van-life is in New Zealand. There were countless rental vans of multiple brands all around the entire country, partly because the government has an “open camping” rule that allows people to camp in most public lands around the country.

After the cruise, we headed about 1.5 hours down the road to Te Anau to grab a bite to eat and a place to sleep for the night. We had dinner at The Ranch and finally got to try the Aussie/NZ dessert of pavlova. I don’t know what I expected to taste when we tried it, but it was delicious! It was very light and fluffy and was topped with passion fruit jam. While we were at dinner, we found an available motel nearby. Or so we thought until we showed up and reception was closed. When we called the number on the door, the guy answered and told us that he had moved our reservation to a different hotel. We were so confused, but when we showed up at The Village Inn, it turned out the same management-owned them, and the room we initially booked was under maintenance. It was an American-West themed motel that reminded us of the western theme park in the movie “Nope.”

It was definitely quite the place with its American western themed design, but it was a place to lay our heads for the night, so that was all that mattered.

On our last full day in Sydney, we decided to head down to a new part of our neighborhood to explore and find a bakery to try more Aussie foods. While most that we found specialized in cakes, we found one that had more options for us to try. We tried so much that morning! We tried the caramel slice (a shortbread cookie with caramel and milk chocolate on top), finger bread, sweet Danish, ANZAC biscuit, and a baguette. The ANZAC biscuits (or cookies as we call them) started way back in World War 1 and were sent to the soldiers abroad by their wives and women’s groups because the ingredients don’t spoil quickly and would keep well during transportation to their men. It was my favorite of the batch, even though it has coconut. I think it was because the coconut was powdered, not shavings, and the other ingredients overpowered the taste. The finger bread was also quite unique in that it had pink icing on top and when you bit into it, it had a thin layer of butter on the middle.

After filling up our sweets, we headed down to the harbor to do some souvenir shopping for the family. After fulfilling the needs of everyone, we quickly dropped off our bags before heading to our tour of the Sydney Opera House. The tour allows you to look inside both sails and get a chance to sit inside the theaters. We got to take a glimpse of one of the small playhouse theaters along with the main concert hall and ballet/opera stage.

Our guide, Suann, was great, and you could tell she was very passionate about her job and truly cared about what she was telling the tourists. It was a very insightful tour and gave us a better appreciation for the main attraction of Sydney. The opera house’s design was a contest that the New South Wales Premier, Joseph Cahill, started. He wanted to build something to help “mold a better and more enlightened community.” Jørn Utzon from Denmark won and spearheaded the project until a new premier forced him out. It took two years for someone else to take the project on to complete it before it was opened in 1973. It was sad to learn that Jørn Utzon never saw his finished project before passing away. Suann did say that his son is a key component in helping to maintain his father’s vision for the place so that future generations can continue to enjoy shows at the opera house. We were lucky enough to catch a small glimpse of the leads rehearsing for the Don Quixote ballet! The purple carpet was also specifically picked for Queen Elizabeth as she was there on the opening night of the Opera House. We had also not realized the opera house actually has 5 different performance venues built-in so multiple plays and events can be shown simultaneously. The playhouse portions are also unique in that there is no left/right backstage due to the shape of the structure so all the sets must go up or down during a set change.

After our tour, we headed to the train for our hour-long ride to the rugby stadium. We had never seen a rugby match previously, so we had no idea what to expect. Grant and I figured it would be easy to pick up like the cricket match was. We’re not sure if it was where we were standing that we didn’t have the best view or if it wasn’t the best game to figure out the rules. But no matter what, we did enjoy the 80 minutes of play and the brief downpour that Brittany and I tried to escape from in the bathroom. And Grant even enjoyed a moment joining a rowdy group of fans in singing “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.” We also laughed at the alcohol purchasing rules here as compared to the US. They had a limit of “4 beers per person” until the last bit of the game so most of the rowdy fans held cardboard holders full of their own 6-pack of beer. As part of her last night in Sydney, Brittany supported the winning team and purchased a shirt to wear back home.

As our last activity of the night, we tried the Aussie favorite, Vegemite. We also initially tried it as Americans do with a thick spread on toast. Needless to say, we all spit it out instantly. We even tried it as you’re supposed to (after consulting the Internet) with toast, butter, and a thin smear of Vegemite. Even by doing it the “right way”, we could not make it through a full bite. It was too salty for us and reminded us a little bit of putting soy sauce on a piece of bread.

It was crazy how fast the week flew by, but I am thankful I got to share my sister’s first international trip with her!

Our rainy morning started with breakfast at a nearby cafe, Philosophy Cafe. We hoped the day wouldn’t be a total washout as we had the zip coaster planned for later that afternoon. But thankfully, the sun started to poke out a little bit just as we were headed up to western Sydney for Treetops Adventure.

We weren’t exactly sure what to expect when driving into the location as the business was in the back of a community park. Walking up to the reception area, I was a little worried that it would be a waste of money as the ropes course looked small and kiddish. However, after putting into our harnesses, we were joined by our guide, who walked us over to the zip coaster area (which also had an adults ropes course). The zip coaster is supposedly one of the world’s fastest rollercoaster zip lines and wounds its way in circles around the trees.

The hike up to the start was a little steep (especially when you’re making the trip several times), but it was well worth trying to get as many rides as possible. The two guides said we probably set a record of how many times a group went in one hour! By the time someone finished, another person was ready to send off down the line.

We let Brittany go first since this was the first time she had ever done a zip line-like activity. And she loved it! The guides were lovely and enjoyed chatting with us (even if we were a little breathless coming back up the hill). We’ve noticed through our travels that people working in that “adventure activities” industry seem to move around a lot to different locations/cities or even countries. But Grant probably has the right idea that doing the same thing multiple times a day would get boring after a while, even though you would get to meet many people.

Although we had the option to add on the ropes course, we decided to skip and head onto the Australian Botanical Gardens as we (mainly Grant at this point) were determined to find a kangaroo in the wild. The guides at the zip coaster had even mentioned they saw a family of kangaroos hop under the track the other day, but we didn’t get to see any. We decided to stop for a smoothie en route to the Botanical Gardens and saw a shop on the map in Liverpool. The shop owner was very talkative as he made our smoothies and eventually asked us why we decided to stop in Liverpool. He told us it was the “Compton” of Sydney, trying to think of something relatable to us after he learned we lived in LA… but we did not feel unsafe whatsoever there so we got a laugh in as we walked to the car.

The walk through the Australian Botanical Gardens was less of a garden and more of an arboretum. They had a small garden at the front of the property, but other than that, it seemed like the main focus was the native trees. As we walked around, Brittany pointed out what she thought was a kangaroo lying down in the shade. It looked so convincing! Even to the point we were calling Grant to run down the hill quickly! It turned out…it was just a log. But from a distance, it definitely looked like a kangaroo… we called it a “log-a-roo.”

We continued our hike around the gardens with little hope of seeing one in Australia. We headed to the visitors center to see if they could help point out where to find them on the property, but it ended up being a few minutes past closing time. We decided to drive around slowly to see if we could get lucky on the off chance. And….WE DID!! I saw what looked like two heads popping out of the grass on the hillside to the right and yelled at Grant to stop. He grabbed out his long Zoom, and sure enough, two kangaroos were hanging out on top of the hill. It looked like they had just woken up.

We drove around the curve to park and tried to walk nearby to see if we could get a closer look at them. However, we couldn’t find them once we were on top of the hillside. The grass was too tall, and they were probably lying out of view. With the mission accomplished, it was time to head back to Sydney to grab dinner and enjoy a relaxing night watching Netflix.

The morning started slow as we tried to plan our day’s activities. We realized we should have planned better as we began planning activities for the day. The original things we wanted to do, like the zip coaster and the tour of the Sydney Opera House, were all booked up for the day. So we went ahead and booked those excursions for the coming days and decided to do the Pylon Climb at the Harbour Bridge. However, when I bought the tickets, I didn’t realize they were purchased for the next day. Grant assured me it was likely okay and we could get in if we stopped by and asked. So we made a quick batch of coffee and had a small breakfast snack before heading out on our walk towards the Circular Quay (area with the opera house).

We got our first up close and personal glimpse of the opera house as we had only seen it from the bridge the first night. After taking pictures, we headed towards the bridge to climb the pylon. On our way there, we stopped by some more street entertainment near the pier. The first guy was “Golden Boy,” who, as the name denotes, was painted in all gold but was sitting in a levitated position. All the kids were enthralled and kept going up behind him to wave their hands underneath to see if he was sitting on anything. He also encouraged people to come and take pictures with him. Our next stop was the local Aboriginals playing their instruments and doing their traditional dances. It was entertaining to watch, and as you can tell in the video below, the guy thoroughly enjoyed entertaining the crowd. Our last entertainer was a guy (who looked like he was in his teens) rocking out on his guitar to some ACDC. It is crazy how many street entertainers there are daily along the harbor.

Once we finally reached the pylon, Grant headed to the receptionist to ask if we could exchange our tickets for that day. The guy said it shouldn’t be an issue, but he still had to call someone and verify. We could head on and learn more about the bridge’s history. They had a small museum detailing the bridge’s construction and the celebration once it was finally opened. It is crazy to realize how they built things back in the 1920-1930s with no safety protocols. They were climbing up the structure with only cable ropes and a steal beam they sat on, along with throwing hot rivets into a guy’s bucket up high for him to install on the bridge before they got too cold. Surprisingly, “only” 16 people died during the construction period. After climbing about 13 flights of stairs, it opens to the outside to give you an aerial view of the harbor. It is sad to see so many tall buildings being constructed in the area, but I guess time has to keep moving forward. Although you don’t get as high as if you walked onto the bridge (where we saw several groups going up and down), it was still a neat experience.

While up there, we decided on our next activity…a jet boat tour of the harbor. Brittany had read that one of the companies likes to ensure you get soaked. Our internet wasn’t the greatest, so we couldn’t verify which one it was. It turns out it was likely the one we did! We signed up with the first stand we came across and waited about 45 minutes for our tour to load up. The driver gives you hand signals for when he is going into a spin and in which direction. We were with a large group of kids on what seemed to be a field trip, so they thoroughly enjoyed getting soaked on the ride, except maybe for the boy in front of us. It was a fun and quick way to get a tour of the other parts of the harbor we had yet to see. And by the time we got off the boat, we were definitely soaked. Myself more than Grant and Brittany. And I thought the middle seat would have helped me!

As I was in jeans, I wanted to head back to change before we hopped on the ferry to Manly Beach. After a quick pitstop back at the apartment, it was back on the train to the pier. We decided to pay extra for the Manly Fast Ferry, which got us there in about 20 minutes. We headed to the beach to watch the sunset and see some surfers tackle the waves. It was funny to see those who didn’t have as great surfing skills as others.

One of the week’s goals was to try as many Aussie foods as possible, and the next on our list was kangaroo meat. I was able to find a place that had kangaroo burgers. We had heard kangaroo steaks were delicious. However, they are also very pricey, so we settled for the burger instead. I was initially skeptical, but it turned out to be a decent burger. The meat is definitely leaner, but surprisingly not too gamey. After finishing our meal, we headed to grab some gelato. It was some of the best gelato we’ve had on the trip, and there were so many flavors to choose from! Usually, I go with the fruity ice cream, but this time I decided to grab some chocolate. It was good but a little too rich to finish all of it. Since most of the shops and restaurants on the island closed around 7-8 pm, we decided to ferry back and head home for the evening.

Although we could have used a bus to head into Blue Mountains National Park, we rented a car, so we weren’t constrained to a specific timetable. And I’m glad we did! We got to see some parts that would have been hard to see while getting bussed around the different towns in the park.

As we only had coffee that morning, I found a cafe right off the highway to try, and it turned out to be a great stop! They tested the AJs Bae sandwich while I grabbed an açaí bowl. Their sandwich was a fried egg, bacon, and cheese on a bagel with BBQ sauce. As we realized in Cairns, they like to put BBQ or ketchup on their breakfast sandwiches here in Australia.

After our food pit stop, we headed into the national park. I hadn’t realized many of the stops within the park were part of small towns scattered within the park. Most of the big hikes or scenic lookouts were near the town center. We first stopped in Katoomba to see the Three Sisters and Echo Point Lookout. We headed down the Giant Stairway but decided to turn around about 1/3 of the way down. The stairway supposedly had almost 1,000 steps leading down into the forest, and most were pretty narrow rocks. It was probably a good decision, as we all felt the burn in our quads on the way back up.

We had heard about Scenic World in Katoomba and decided to check it out. It has a tram leading down into the forest for a forest walk and a gondola ride across the gorge. We took a trail along the ridge to the entrance and saw Katoomba cascades and falls. The nature in this part of the country is stunning. They reminded me of the Appalachian mountains. Once we reached the visitors center to purchase tickets for the tramway, we decided the time waiting in line wasn’t worth it and would instead proceed to see more parts of the Blue Mountains.

Our next stop was Evans Lookout, located near the highest point of the Blue Mountains. We were impressed at how manicured the walking trail looked, and we later learned that they had recently renovated the area in 2022 to allow wheelchair access. After grabbing our panoramic pictures, we hiked down the trail about 3/4 mile to see what the ridge line held. We decided to turn around early since we hadn’t brought our packs to do a longer hike, and it would get dark by the time we finished the entire distance of the trail. On our way back, we caught various birds along the trail! From the Australian king parrot to cockatoos and a quail-like bird (not sure of the name of it).

We tried to head to the Givers Lookout, but it was closed due to renovations (the same ones they did to Evans). So we headed inside the visitors center for a quick bathroom break and to ask the rangers where the best place in the Blue Mountains was to find wild kangaroos. It was crazy to some people we talked to in Australia that were surprised we had yet to see one. So they mentioned some kangaroos liked to hang out in the gardens of houses in Mount Victoria but reminded us they only like to come out at dusk and dawn. Thankfully it was getting to that time, so we were hopeful we could see them.

We headed towards Mount Victoria and found a small hike to do as we waited for the sun to go down even further. I randomly picked a spot off the map, and it was a great surprise. We had the whole cliff area to ourselves for about 45 minutes before others showed up to enjoy the view and watch the sunset. Brittany was not a fan of Grant getting close to any of the ledges, especially when he sat on the edge of one.

Getting cold and determined to find a wild kangaroo, we headed into the town center of Mount Victoria to drive around. Eyes peeled on the sides of the roads into the hills; we looked until it got too dark to see past the trees. With an almost two-hour drive back to Sydney, we drove through the windy mountain roads, only stopping for a quick bite of Thai food. We planned on heading up to enjoy some relaxation in the jacuzzi, but unfortunately, we were too late, and the area was closed for the night.

This was the first time we made breakfast in our place this whole trip. But it felt nice to relax and not feel rushed to grab breakfast before starting our day of activities. After breakfast, it was time to head to the Tower Eye for our time slot. Like the Burj Khalifa, the entrance was attached to a mall. It was a short elevator ride up to the observation deck to get a sky-eye view of the city.

We could see the key icons of the harbor along with the airport and the Syndey Olympic Park. We learned that the main stadium will be used during this upcoming women’s World Cup and with the summer games in 2032 when they return to Australia (Brisbane). We also figured out where our apartment was next to Hyde Park, and we were surprised at how clearly you could see people swimming on the rooftop with binoculars.

Afterward, we started our bus journey to Bondi Beach for the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. We’ve had many people recommend the walk to us, and we’ve read about it in our research on things to do while in the city. Grant’s little brother also had mentioned a show called Bondi Rescue featured on this beach. And let me say the 4-mile walk was worth it! The spectacular views offered so many different cliff views and opportunities to watch the surfers do their thing on the waves.

The blues of the water are beautiful to see though the water was a little too chilly for us to hop in and enjoy (especially with the wind). The height of the waves was also crazy! One of the areas along the beach had what looked like a giant natural wave pool people could swim in. You had to be an excellent technical swimmer not to get swept away by the waves!

Once we made it to Coogee Beach, we grabbed a quick snack at one of the food joints along the strand. The birds were waiting for us to drop a fry or piece of chicken for them to enjoy. I felt like we were getting the stare-down by one of them! It was then time to hop on the bus back to Hyde Park. We thought we knew the bus route and got up to get off by the grocery store, but we were surprised when the stop was about a block farther than we thought.

We headed into the grocery store to try and find some kangaroo meat, but the only thing available was a 1kg bag of ground kangaroo, so we decided to grab some pasta for dinner. As we enjoyed our spaghetti dinner, we got to experience all the Aussie accents in the dating show Farmer Wants a Wife.

We ended the night with a quick dip in the jacuzzi on the rooftop and enjoyed the night skyline.

Our first full day in Sydney was jam-packed as we purchased the four-park package, including an entrance into WildLife Syndey, SeaLife, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, and the Syndey Tower Eye. Walking towards Darling Harbour, we stopped in to the ANZAC memorial located in Hyde Park across from our Airbnb.

Our first stop was the WildLife Syndey Zoo. From the outside, it didn’t look like it was going to be much, but it turned out to be bigger than we thought it was. This zoo focused on the animals native to Australia and included exhibits on tree kangaroo, echidna, Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, various reptiles from snakes/lizards to crocodiles, and of course koalas. 

We ended up staying in the kangaroo exhibit to listen to the guide give a talk about them. I had yet to learn about some of the facts the guide told us about these animals. 

• They are only pregnant for about 30 days before the Joey (the size of a jellybean) travels from the uterus into the pouch, where it continues to grow for several months.
• Kangaroos and Australian sea lions can experience embryonic diapause, meaning they can pause their pregnancy for up to 1.5 years before completing the cycle. 
• They are only active at dawn and dusk, while they are resting most of the day and night. 

Brittany’s favorite part was getting to touch the kangaroo! Afterward, we continued through the zoo to the final portion, where we saw the koalas. In New South Wales, they’re not allowed to have guests touch or hold koalas, so the next best thing was to get some close-up pictures with them! The baby in the exhibit was very active while we were there, so we got to grab some good shots of her before leaving. 

Our next stop was Madame torsades wax museum. None of us had been through one before, so we didn’t know what to expect. It was one of our favorite parts of the day, as we had fun posing and taking pictures with all the figures. Of course, we didn’t know some of them as they were part of Australian culture, but there were still plenty we came across that we knew. It is honestly crazy how lifelike they make these wax figures. 

Our last stop was the SeaLife Aquarium, as we saved the Tower Eye for the following day. This was probably the busiest of the three, as it seemed smaller than the other two locations. We were sad as we had just missed the boat ride that takes visitors through their penguin exhibit. But we did get to walk by and see the penguins native to Australia. There supposedly is a penguin beach down south, but it was too far from Sydney to explore. One of the cool things about this aquarium was seeing their dugong, which is only the second or third in captivity. It has very similar characteristics to a beluga whale. 

After finishing our activities, we headed back to the place to rest and figure out where to grab some dinner. This was a struggle as anything we found we liked was either closing soon or was closed due to Easter. We found a pizza place that sounded good and headed that way. However, when we got there, it turned out it was closed, but there happened to be a pizza parlor right next door, so we tried that. And the pizza was delicious! We tried a Mediterranean pizza and a Mexican pizza and ended up eating two large pizzas between the three of us. 

Grant wanted to enjoy the night a little more, so we headed to a nearby bar to grab a drink. It was a small bar with a friendly beach vibe and killer drinks. I’m not really a martini fan, but I tried Brittany’s espresso martini, and it was probably the best I’ve ever tasted. They also had some games to play, so we grabbed Yahtzee and played three rounds (I lost every one). 

We ended the night visiting a boutique little bar called Kandi Luxe. All of their furniture was velvet, and there was a whole red velvet room. We got to meet the owner, Trishy Dishy, who told us her life story about how she left the Jehovah’s Witness religion and became Australia’s party queen. They’ve even made a documentary about her life called Witness My Journey (see trailer below). She was super friendly and even showed us pictures of her family and grandson and some of the parties she’s thrown over the years. It sounded like we missed quite the party the night before at this bar. 

We headed back to get some rest before we had a full day of walking planned the next morning. 

That 4:30 alarm came early and with some bad news. In the few months we have been traveling, we have not had a big hiccup in our travel plans…until now. Grant woke up to an email saying our flight with Jetstar was canceled, and most options would be getting into Sydney late at night. I had a slight panic attack knowing that we were meeting Brittany in Sydney and she would already have to wait 3 hours until we arrived. And this was also her first international flight ever. Thankfully, Grant found a flight on Virgin that would get us in at 1 pm, so it was just a couple more hours for Brittany to wait in the airport. Though it did give me the time to check in on her and make sure she made it through customs okay.

When we arrived at Cairns airport, we were surprised the only time our ID was checked was when we checked our bags in. They never checked while we went through security (and water bottles were allowed) along with at the gate. Since we had time to kill at the airport, I explored the stores to see what candy was available. It’s been interesting to see the various candies popular in stores and airports worldwide. I’ve also been on a mission to try different sour candies in the countries we’ve been visiting. So far, Cambodia has my favorite sour gummy bears, while South Korea has the best sour gummy worms (in case any of you want to know).

I breathed a sigh of relief once we boarded, knowing we were headed to meet my sister in Sydney. It wasn’t until we got to see Cairns from the air that we realized how truly large the Great Barrier Reef is. You can tell from the timelapse above that the reefs go for miles – we learned on our snorkeling excursion earlier in the week that the Great Barrier Reef is the size of Italy or Japan along the coast of Australia. This was by far the coolest stretch of ocean we flew over in all of our travels.

As we landed in the domestic terminal, we had to shuttle to the international terminal to pick Brittany up before heading to our Airbnb. Brittany got to experience her first metro ride into the city, and the perfect part was all we had to do to enter was tap our credit card! It was like this for all forms of public transport: metro, train, bus, and ferry – we have not yet encountered a city where your credit card works for all public transit without a separate city-specific transit card.

We met the sweetest couple who let us into the apartment and gave us some pointers on activities we should do during our week in Sydney. Once they left, we settled in and unpacked while deciding what to do with our evening. They had given us a complimentary bottle of wine, so we popped the cork and poured some to celebrate my sister’s first international trip across the world from Boyd, Texas.

Our first stop was heading towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge and exploring the nearby area called The Rocks. We walked on the bridge to get a glimpse of the Sydney Opera House and to see if we wanted to attempt the bridge walk. We realized it was 1) too expensive and 2) too high for our liking (especially since most of the week was supposed to be windy). Afterward, we stopped at Lord Nelson Brewery for dinner and drinks, as it was supposedly one of the four oldest pubs in Sydney. We got to start our quest of trying particular Australian foods beginning with the meat pie.

Our friends from Austria had told us there were Saturday night fireworks in the harbor, so we headed towards Darling Harbour to find the best spot. The show started 30 minutes earlier than advertised online, and we made it just in time!

We walked along the water and saw a street entertainer standing on top of a bike on a pole. We’re not sure what was happening, as he talked a bunch before he finally started juggling a ball of fire and two knives. He was quirky, but we would at least get to see some better street entertainment later in the week!

Grant and I were surprised at how well Brittany did with the time change. She was probably doing better than us, as we were ready to crash when we returned to the room. Grant headed to the grocery store to grab some breakfast things since we weren’t sure what would be open on Easter Sunday, while Brittany and I headed back to the apartment.