Off Season Adventures: Sydney

For Part Two of my adventure down under, we flew to Sydney, Australia. 

The view from above - coming in for a landing!

I flew in first midday to do a little exploring by myself. I dropped my bags off at the Pandora office in the Chippendale neighborhood, a former industrial neighborhood that through gentrification (it’s happening everywhere!) that has transformed into a creative scene. It’s south of the city center, between the downtown and the airport, so it was an ideal place to start walking. I walked through Surry Hills, to the fun Darlinghurst/Kings Cross area and had lunch at Sweetheart’s Rooftop, which had been recommended. The restaurant has this super cool, spacious rooftop area that would have been perfect on a sunny day. 

At least I had it all to myself? More drinks for me!

I was the only person up there on this ominously gray afternoon but the bartender was super nice. He whipped up his own creative cocktail and recommended one of their massive burgers. 

So many yums

After this massive lunch I went to get some more steps in and walked toward the city center, through the Domain and Hype Parks, past the Australia Museum. George St was a fun road to walk down to get back to Chippendale, as it has a lot of shops, restaurants, and interesting looking buildings. 

I would so live here!

There was a night market I was hoping to check out in Chinatown, but unfortunately right as I was heading there the sky opened up and it began to torrential downpour. I booked it with my luggage in tow to the closest movie theater to kill some time while I waited for evening activities (which were thankfully indoors).  If you have to see a movie during your time in Australia, Event Cinemas on George St was really nice. I saw “Money Monster,” with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It actually exceeded my low expectations and was an interesting spin on bank corruption. After the movie I may way to the Sydney Opera House, the most epic of venues to see a show at. It was a special show in support of VIVID Sydney, a light, music and ideas festival where they do really interesting light installations on popular landmarks around town and have a ton of events and parties over the course of 23 days. The photos from VIVID 2015 look AMAZING but when I was there the rain shut down a lot of things. Back to the show, I got to the Opera House a little early for a bite and a drink. The show was Ta-Ku, an Australia DJ from Perth who gained notoriety online with his mixtapes, remixes, and EPs that have an interesting blend of lush soul and dusty hip hop. His set featured the singer WAFIA from Brisbane, who was an absolutely beautiful and haunting vocalist, along with a string quartet, backup singers, and a kaleidoscope laser light show.

LASERS 4 DAYZ

 The next morning we woke up in the apartment we were staying in by Bondi Beach, which would have been the ideal location with the exception of the fact that it still felt like we were in the middle of a hurricane. I will give it to the surfers though, these guys were still out on their boards catching the massive storm waves. Now that’s dedication! Still, that meant no coastal walk for us.

What is this, a beach for ants?

We got lunch at a trattoria on the main street running down the coast, Campbell Parade, that was good but nothing worth writing about. After lunch we walked to Hall St, which is a cute stretch of shops and cafes. As another great indoor backup activity, we decided to get massages. In theory this sounds like a relaxing option, when in reality we went to the Siam Cabana Fine Thai Massage parlor, which was a really nice place but they really go deep with their elbows on your spine. A hurt-so-good moment while you hear your friend in pain through the curtain and realize you’re not alone in this intensity. That evening we went to another VIVID event in Bondi, a Brazilian dance night. It was this super cool underground bar that had a massive front room with a stage and dance floor where the band played.

Brazil Down Under

There was a second bar room in the back that felt almost like a completely separate venue, with fun cocktails and a speakeasy feel. They had a bluesy, vintage band planning which was a big contrast from the Brazilian festivities going on in the other room. 

We woke up to day three in Sydney and guess what, it’s still raining. That morning I attended my first (and so far only) Australian book club, where we read “We Are Completely Beside Ourselves,” which I did not love since I found the main narrator unlikable. However, the brunch we had at Trio during the brunch club was very enjoyable! I had their corn fritters, topped with bacon slices, tomato jam, arugula, and goat cheese. It was the perfect blend of sweet and savory.

Bacon makes everything better

In the afternoon we went back to downtown city even though it was still pouring so I could at least enjoy a little more of Sydney despite the storm (thanks again to my hostess friend for being a good sport and traipsing through the rain). We went to the Museum of Contemporary Art in The Rocks, which is across an inlet from the Sydney Opera House. Usually I find modern art a little bourgeois and ethereal for my taste, but this had a lot of really interesting exhibits using modern art to talk about the issues of immigration and being a refugee.

This one actually has nothing to do with immigration, it just looked cool

There’s a café on the top floor that is windowed and has a good view of the Sydney Opera House and bridge, so we had a snack and waited for the sun to set so we could see the VIVID light display. Sadly, they didn’t appear to be working so we went to Sailors Thai, nearby in The Rocks. It was tasty Thai food, so I definitely recommend it. After dinner we grabbed some gelato and wandered back to the water where the lights were finally up! We watched the lights change on the Opera House for a bit before grabbing a cab back to Bondi for the night.

VIVID #success