Australia

Day one – Monday 10th of February 2025

This February has a very big birthday in it. So a friend and I decided to spend a week in Sydney celebrating it.

I booked an Uber to get me to town then we caught the Sky Drive bus to the airport, which was a lovely feeling because from that moment on everything would happen without needing to organise it or stress about it – our holiday had begun.

According to the weather forecast and concerned friends the weather in Sydney was stormy with massive downpours affecting all travel, but about 30 minutes before landing all that cleared up and we arrived in sunshine.

Passport control and immigration was incredibly easy and fast and bag collection was amazing – our bags turned the corner the second we arrived at the carousel. The airport train turned up two minutes after arriving on the platform and the hotel was only a 5-minute walk from Wynyard Station.

After checking in and discovering our rooms we headed out in search of a liquor store so I could buy beer. Strange thing about the Sydney CBD – none of the supermarkets are licensed to sell alcohol, but luckily there was a liquor store not too far from the hotel – turns out everything was not far from the hotel – this hotel is in an awesome location.

Day two – Tuesday 11th of February

Big huge day of shopping. We started out with breakfast in a Martin Place cafe, then straight to the Lego Store. From there we went up to a fancy shoe store and then a wander round David Jones.

Lunch in a cafe up from the Myers food court, clothes shopping in Uniqlo (where they even do fast free alterations), then over to the Apple Store. Lastly Dymocks then back to the hotel to relax.

No idea why WordPress decided the Apple logo should be that huge, and I can’t adjust it.

Day three – Wednesday 12th of February

Today we had a couple of tours booked so we were very excited and up early, but first – breakfast on the landing in the hotel lobby – most fabulous indeed.

First was a backstage tour of the Opera House and this time I even got to sit inside the main concert hall, the tour was awesome, and we learnt so much. After this we wandered around Circular Quay and filled in time till our 12:30 Long Lunch Harbour cruise this was on a large multi storied Captain Cook boat, the food was great and the staff were lovely.

After the cruise we caught a ferry across the harbour to check out Luna Park, but when we got there, we found out it closed at 2:00 so we missed out by about 20 minutes. Instead, we wandered around the waterfront and caught a train across the bridge back to the hotel.

Day four – Thursday 13th of February

The big birthday – this required a special breakfast in the hotel lobby restaurant before setting off for the Rocks area and the Art Gallery.

After enjoying the air-conditioning in the art gallery we headed for the bridge, walked under and around it getting some great shots of the Opera House and harbour.

From there we headed for the QVB building to have lunch and buy a new Penhaligon’s fragrance.

For dinner we had reservations in the O Bar & Dining revolving restaurant, on the 47th floor of Australia Square. Because it was my birthday we received a free glass of bubbles each when we arrived plus they gave me a really lovely birthday card and exquisite dessert.

The views were amazing, the staff we awesome and the food was sensational. We were also incredibly lucky with the weather – it was a beautiful sunny day and after our two-hour time limit they found us a table in the bar so we could watch the sunset and enjoy a cocktail.

Day five – Friday 14th of February

Our last day was all about getting home. My hotel tv had a cool alarm feature, you could pick a time to wake up and what channel you wanted to wake up to, so I chose Channel 7 for the breakfast tv. I woke to the stressful news that the Sydney train staff were on strike and there were hour long queues to get on an airport train and traffic in the city would be gridlocked. So, we decided to check out early and get an Uber around 9:30 – this was a great plan and we got to the airport without incident and in plenty of time.

About 30 minutes after we got inside the terminal it started to rain – the first time since we arrived on Monday and the rain was so heavy there was flooding, however it didn’t affect take off and apart from the screaming babies in rows near us the whole trip home was great.

February 11 – Tuesday

I made it!!! There have been several times recently that I was afraid I might not make it to Sydney because of bushfires, smoky skies, corona virus and debris on the runway closing Auckland Airport twice. Ok that wasn’t all in one day but for the past few months there have been events that made me think I might not get to go.

At last all the stars aligned and an awesome friend who also lives on the North Shore got up extra early and gave me a lift to the airport. Because of the corona virus I needed to be at the airport an hour earlier than normal, so I was there three hours ahead of departure and I had the place to myself, there was no queues anywhere and no holdups, so I managed to get through check in/bag drop, passport control and security really fast. This meant I had loads of time to wander around Auckland airport checking out all the fab new areas and flash shops that weren’t there two years ago when I was last there. If you take a walk beyond the food court towards the really far away departure gates and look up you will see this amazing art installation.

At last it was time to board and take my seat, luckily I was the first in my row so I could wipe down the window, touch screen and everything else I’d be touching with wet wipes. As the name implies they were “wet” wipes and I ended up soaking the window, so I had to hurriedly dry it with something before the people seated next to me wondered what happened. The airplane was one of the new Boeing 787s, was very comfortable, had really big windows and a clever window tinting instead of a blind.

For many days before departing I had my eye on the weather forecast and sadly it was all doom and gloom with nothing but thunderstorms forecast for the whole week I was going to be there, however 1/2 an hour before landing the Captain announced the great news that all the horrible weather they’d been having had cleared up!

A friend recommended I catch the train from the airport to Circular Quay as it is cheap and easy, so I did and it was. But it wasn’t air conditioned and the heat was unlike anything I’d experienced in a very long time, maybe not since living in Japan. Once I stepped off the train I was hit with a wave of heat and sunshine that was both a happy surprise and unbearable. I was dressed for rain, cold and thunderstorms, I didn’t even have a cap. So here’s my first pics of sunny Sydney.

Luckily the Hotel Intercontinental was only 5 minutes walk away from the train station and it was stunning. As this trip was for my 55th birthday I splashed out and treated myself to three nights of luxury in a 5 star hotel in a great location very close to the Opera House.

While checking in at the very flash & luxurious reception desk the friendly and welcoming guy at the counter went through my booking and noticed the reason I gave for this trip was for my birthday. He asked how old I was then refused to believe it, so then he went to the office to see if there was anything they could do and came back with an amazing free upgrade to a room with a view on one of the top floors. But the room wouldn’t be ready for a while, so he gave me some free drink vouchers to enjoy a nice cool beer (or 2 or 3) in the lobby bar while I wait. I was quite early, it was only 11:30am, but 1:30 New Zealand time, so I headed to the bar and had lunch plus several free beers.

After several beers and lunch I decided to go for a walk to fill in time before my room would be ready at 3:00, at the rate I was going I’d be too drunk to make it in to my room. But it was very very hot and humid outside so I didn’t last very long, but I did manage to cross the road and have a quick look at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

The hotel from across the road.

The Royal Botanic Gardens (Sydney Conservatorium of Music in the background)

After what felt like an eternity I headed back to the hotel and waited in the beautiful air conditioned lobby for my room to be ready. Just after 3:00 my fantastic room was ready, everything was awesome; spectacular view, a bath, fully stocked minibar, a Nespresso machine, a flash desk with executive swivel chair, an electric blind that was controlled from the bed, a sofa and a very handy window bench seat to lie back on and enjoy the view and a few more beers.

And just when I thought I couldn’t get any luckier there was a knock on the door from Room Service – they gave me a special birthday treat of a cake with an Opera House type decoration. Wow!!!

Eventually I felt brave enough to go back outside in the heat and take a stroll around the Opera House. Actually it was early evening so I figured it should be cool enough. While I was wandering around the Opera House a very rusty looking cruise ship (the Ruby Princess) departed which was a very impressive sight from where I was standing.