[Trip Report] Sydney 2024

This is an abridged version of a more detailed post I'd been preparing (and subsequently never got around to finishing). As with the Wellington one, I might come back to attach some photos to it at some point, but the aim is to just get quick and dirty up so I have some notes on it. So without further ado, here is the "abridged" version

So back in July this year, we headed over to Sydney for a week - mainly to attend a cousin's wedding, but also to do some sightseeing. Oh, and it was our first overseas trip in 5 years (i.e. the previous was pre-pandemic in June 2019, and as it happens, was also for a family gathering in Sydney).

 

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BTW, Crowdstrike happened while we were there, which made for an interesting experience.

  * It was surreal walking around the bustling waterfront at twilight:

          * Just before leaving the hotel after a nap, I'd seen the headlines, and started hearing all the bad news filtering in... But then, out the window I'd seen the stunning sunset, so wanted to dash outside to photograph it from the waterfront (knowing that I wouldn't get another chance to do so during the rest of my stay). So, there I was at the waterfront, wondering how things were going to pan out (i.e. it was still a developing story at that point, with lots of doom and gloom news spooling up at that point in time).  

          * It was quite a spectacular sunset (though sadly missed the best part of it by the time I'd gotten outside after waiting for the slow lifts), with a piano-busker playing "The Pachelbell  (AKA RIP Cellists)" (funny/timely since we were going to a wedding the next day), while watching the crowds of people (a mix of tourists + locals) just going about their business blissfully unaware/ignorant of all that chaos unfolding around the world, while also looking up at all those office towers with lights on feeling for all the IT guys there (and also back home) who now had a terrible fire on their hands

   * It's funny that only days earlier (Tuesday to be precise), I'd only just learned about the existence of Crowdstrike. And that was because my office workstation was running slow that day (and had been for a few days), when launching any new processes, prompting me to investigate what was happening (i..e I thought was only MsPaint, but it soon turned out to be everything, including opening new tabs!). 

         * At the time, I'd chalked it up to me not applying some Windows updates yet, which I assumed would get applied while I was away. But since I was heading away the next day, I decided to leave it alone. Little did I know.... the first time I'm out of the country in a few years, this thing then proceeds to knock out everyone's IT systems. 

         * Who knows... could I have helped the world avert this thing if I'd sounded the alarm that it was acting weird at few days earlier???

Short-Short Highlights:

* Flying in Premium Economy to Sydney on an Emirates A380, out of my home airport - Lots more to say, but will leave that for the longer-version of this report.  (Let's just say, it was awesome, and the overriding thought was that I just wished the flight was longer / that this was my seat for future long-haul flights)

 

* Visiting the Blue Mountains - This was the first time I'd taken the day trip out there, which turned out to be a very fun experience. Again, more to say (and probably could get a post here someday, if I ever get around to writing it up)

   * Oh, and if anyone's heading out that way, the "Teapot Museum" at Leura is pretty neat. Apparently has the world's largest collection of teapots. (A bit of sensory overload yes, but the scones were nice)

   * Seeing the Opera House from the water at night was nice too - got some nice shots of that

* Managed to visit the Botanic Gardens, along with Macquarie's Chair lookout + NSW Art Gallery!  (Had previously confused St James Square for the Botanic Gardens)

  * The Botanic Gardens in general were quite "boring" (well, at least compared to our own... on the other hand, it was less hilly than Wellington's). Lots of areas with just grass, and ordinary-ish trees :P

    (Then again, this was mid-winter, and there were so many people out in t-shirts sunbathing, while looking at the harbour... so, that was a thing)

  * A big highlight was running into a kookaburra sitting on a sign, and letting us snap away for a good 5 minutes or so

  * Macquarrie's Chair is quite a neat location for taking photos of both the Harbour Bridge + Opera House in the same shot. Bit hard lighting wise in anything other than the morning (or after sunset), but nice to know...

     * Also, why on earth is a major navy base (with lots of big military-grey boxes) right beside a major tourist attraction?!  Who approved the security arrangements on that :P 

  * Didn't have much time to explore the art gallery (i.e. only really saw the "classical" section, which had on its first wall a painting of Milford Sound from here in NZ, out of all things). Was quite neat seeing in real life a "traditional" art gallery building, with the high ceilings and vintage styling (as opposed to all the modernist approaches seen everywhere else)

* Fish Market at Pyrmont - First time heading out there. Deserves a more detailed post, but:

   1) Fish and Chips there were some of the best I've ever had. Really light + crispy batter.

   2) The Lobster with Ginger + Spring Onion was great too

   3) Saw a whole bunch of Pelicans everywhere which was neat

* Found a bunch of nice places near our hotel (in Circular Quay) to eat at:

   * Neptune Palace is a really nice Chinese/Malay-Chinese restaurant. A bit on the fancy side with white tablecloths, but the food + atmosphere is nice there.

   * The two cafes on either side of our hotel were quite good too. One was really busy at 6am/7am (!), especially with all the construction workers across the road coming for breakfast, while the other offered cheap but good value breakfast offerings. Both run by hard-working Asian families.

Accommodation Notes

Speaking of our hotel, here are some notes about that:  After a lot of back and forth, we ended up staying in at the Mariott in Circular Quay

Pros:

* That location is really convenient to get to places, especially as the Blue Mountains tour had a pickup there, and the monorail stop + ferry terminals were at the end of the road.

Cons:

* Especially with the room we stayed in, housekeeping standards were not great. (i.e. On check-in, there were stale boxes of cereal + bread + other crap in one drawer, and half-eaten biscuit trays, and other garbage in other places)

* It was tricky for various vehicles to get into its drop-off area, which often had a lot of cars parked on either side (+ outside), making access tricky

Low Lights

There were a few downsides / less-than-great sides of this trip:

* Flying home in a Qantas 737-800 in the second to last row in Economy - In short, that was an abjectly terrible experience. Have never felt as cramped on a flight as that night - was cramped both in forwards direction (i.e. couldn't reach feet or move them at all) AND also horizontal (i.e. eating was awkward with my elbow halfway-across the middle seat... holding food on a dinky bamboo spoon angled weirdly to not keep elbowing my neighbour, while trying to keep two cups of liquid from spilling off the tray table, with a bit of light chop... that was bad)

I was instantly reminded why I hadn't flown on them (i.e. actively avoided) since my last bad experience in economy on one of their jets... Clearly I hadn't missed anything, as they seemed to have found a way to get worse!

* Losing my brand new tube of toothpaste at my home airport to security!

 

* Apparently, you can no longer actually hug koalas. (At least I still have the photo from my trip to Lone Pine sanctuary back in 2001, though that isn't really a photo I'd probably show anyone)