Hello my loves! First of all, let me tell you that I have missed you all so much. I can’t wait to share recipes with you soon!
As you probably know Tony and I headed to Australia to spend time together and attend one of my best friend’s wedding. I already miss the bright blue water and silky smooth sand on my toes. The smell of the ocean, too.
We took a flight from Chicago to LA, then headed to Sydney. Our travel time was long and draining, but we flew Qantas which I highly recommend! Our flight was fairly comfortable, and we especially loved the service, free snacks, and safety. The inside of the plane was gorgeous, too. What are your favorite airlines?
When we arrived in Sydney, we checked into the 1888 Hotel. It’s a small boutique hotel and overall we really enjoyed it! Our room was beautiful, bright and clean; everything we could have hoped for.
Although we didn’t spend much time at the hotel (we were out exploring the city), I would still recommend staying there as the staff are extremely helpful and the hotel is close to many attractions including the Harbour!
After we got cleaned up post 22-hour flight, we headed straight to the beach! GIVE ME THE SUNSHINE.
We walked through the Harbour all the way to Circular Quay and took a ferry to Manly, a small Northern suburb of Sydney. It’s cute, fun, and a complete beach town.
Laying out on the beach and jumping into the ocean was the best feeling ever!
Unfortunately, I have to admit that we didn’t put on enough sunscreen and both got burnt.
After our day out, we were quite tired so we headed back to the hotel got ready and went out to dinner. For some reason we were both CRAVING Italian food and our hotel recommended Made in Italy. Actually it didn’t really surprise me that Tony was craving Italian, he could eat that every day.
To start we ordered a bottle of wine and some pretty incredible garlic bread. The bread itself was thick and circular but almost tasted like an english muffin with garlic butter and just the right amount of salt. I’m actually craving it again right now. I think I have a carb addiction.
Okay, moving on… Tony ordered the special pasta which was Fettuccine with Fig & Pork Belly. It was a combination of sweet and savory plus he ate the entire plate so I know he enjoyed it. I settled for traditional spaghetti with marinara, Parmesan, and red pepper flakes. I wish I would have taken pictures but was too busy stuffing my face. Sorry… not sorry.
It was such a great start to our vacation.
DAY 2 of our trip:
On the second day we woke up early and headed straight to the Harbour for breakast. It was quiet, beautiful and a little misty, but we both enjoyed our meals. I do have to say that Australian breads are like no other; they’re thick, chewy, full of grains and seeds! I swear it’s the best bread you will ever have. They also cook their eggs perfectly over easy and each one of our breakfasts came with a small roasted tomato (pictured above). I could eat that breakfast every single day for the rest of my life.
Also I must mention the BACON! It was outrageously flavorful and delicious. Compared to America’s bacon, Australia’s is much thicker, not as crispy, and isn’t cut into strips. Perhaps it’s more like Canadian bacon? I don’t know but it has started my bacon obsession. In fact, I was literally craving meat our entire trip! At one point I looked at Tony and said, “I’m craving beef like a crazy person.” I don’t even eat beef so no idea what was happening there.
We should also chat about the coffee. The Australians had no idea what brewed coffee was. In fact, they don’t even know what coffee pots are. Or at least none of my friends did. Their coffee is much stronger and the equivalent to a cup of coffee is something called a long black which is basically espresso and water. Yeah, it’s a lot stronger but that didn’t stop us from drinking it.
I think most Australians drink their coffee with milk. They also have incredible lattes, mochas, and cappuccinos. If you go to Australia, you MUST try the coffee.
After breakfast we hadn’t decided on our plans yet, but I wanted to get some exercise in so we decided on a hike. Tony found this incredible path on our map that went from the Spit bridge in Sydney to Manly beach. We were both in and excited to explore!
I get really crabby if I don’t eat every few hours so Tony packed lots of snacks, water, and his baseball stuff just in case we found a spot to play catch. We had no idea how to get to Spit bridge but knew we needed to take a bus to get there so down to the bus station we went. We literally jumped on a random bus because Tony ‘had a feeling’ it was the right one and surprisingly it was! The bus drove us fairly close to the bridge and it was an easy mile walk to get to the path.
We snacked on granola bars since we had already walked about 3 miles and got ready to start our trek to Manly.
The path was gorgeous. There were stairs, rocks, and secret beaches in between.
There were lots of cute little lizards, too!
After an hour we found a lovely secluded beach. Of course we had to climb down some pretty treacherous rocks to get there but it was so worth it.
Here we are at the beach! We played catch for a while and swam. It was definitely one of my favorite days out of the whole trip.
PS. Excuse my nail polish. I have a bad habit of not removing it immediately when it starts to chip.
I swear I think we walked at least 18 miles total that day. Our feet were full of blisters and we were exhausted but still had to make one last stop: The Sydney Opera House!
We took a few pictures and decided to head back to rest for a bit before dinner.
That night we enjoyed a nice dinner at the Meat & Wine Company then went back to our hotel to sleep before our flight to Brisbane in the morning.
I’ll be back with more details of second part of my trip soon! xoxo
19 comments
I was in Australia a year ago, flew the Qantas, the best airline ever…in to Brisbane, then to Perth my destination..Left from Perth to Sydney, waved at the Opera house, as we took off over the ocean when the sea breeze changed (awesome runway.) loved the coffee and all the food, evenings by the Indian Ocean..heaven on earth…amazing….hope to go back again some day…left from KC to Dallas….longgggg flight, but so worth it!
That breakfast looks to DIE for!! You guys are so adorable too 🙂 Totally jealous of your time in the sun. Winter can be done soon. Can’t wait to hear all about the rest of your trip.
The picture of the breakfast is pure perfection. I usually fly Delta, within the US anyways. Otherwise I like SAS when I fly home to Sweden. The trip looks fabulous!
It looks like you had an incredible time! I was born in Sydney and we live here but the first time Jesse ever came here (as he’s from Louisiana) he was totally blown away – and he’s still in love with Sydney now that he’s living here!
Loved to hear about your trip and seeing the pictures (I got to day dream when I looked at the beach pics I’m so sick of our winter). looking forward to the 2nd part. Lol btw I completely understand the nail polish issue!
So glad you loved Australia! Ah if only you ventured out to the cafes in Bondi and the delish Lebanese food in Greenacre!
Until I went to America the first time (I was 12) I had never seen bacon in strips! Aussies and Kiwis drink much stronger coffee than most of the rest of the world, I think NZs is #4 in the world. IIRC my family members were ordering triple shot coffees on our last trip to America! Glad you seem to have had a great time.
that is so cute! I am one of your Australian readers so this was really funny! Hope you made it to Melbourne, food and coffee is even better!!!!
Seems like a fantastic trip so far!!! So jealous though, it’s my dream to go to Australia one day… 🙂
yay! I am a fellow Aussie and I am so glad you enjoyed it here! We are truly lucky!!
Enjoy your stay!! I’m a Canadian expat currently living up in Brisbane. We visited Sydney in January, stayed in The Rocks, and LOVED Manly beach as well 🙂
Totally agree about the coffee: spectacular. I don’t actually like the bacon here…it doesn’t remind me of Canadian bacon, but more like ham. Aussie’s have something called “streaky bacon”, which is a bit more reminiscent of the Canadian variety!!
Enjoy your time!!!
Wow, this trip is amazing. I am in love!!!
Looks like you had an amazing trip! I could definitely go for some of that warm weather right now!
Totally living through your trip! My sis went to Australia for her honeymoon, and I’ve been dying to visit ever since. So happy you enjoyed your time!
Love all of the photos, what an amazing adventure!!
Love the pictures! Looks like you two had a great time 🙂
So glad you had a good time in Australia!! 🙂 and thanks for reminding me how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place! I was so confused with American coffee on my recent trip to the US, we had to search for places with espresso machines everywhere as it was all brewed! haha
As a Aussie living over here in Texas…… I am sooooooo jealous!!!! I miss my big breakfast and our bacon and coffee.. I got the strangest looks from my in-laws when I made them a full breakfast for the first time with grilled tomatoes, sausages, bacon, poached eggs, mushrooms and baked beans lol. Your pics look amazing and really enjoyed reading about your adventures 🙂 I can’t wait to see what recipes you will posting. I really miss the fresh, vibrant clean flavours that comes with healthy Australian food that I just can’t find here.. hopefully I can make it to a Coastal town to get my fresh seafood fix 🙁 I’m from the Gold Coast in Queensland and the food is AMAZING and so diverse where ever you go! Hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation. xoxoxox