Back to the Beginning: Sydney

On Saturday morning, our alarm went off at 5:30 AM. We took a refreshing shower to wake up and quietly packed everything. Bob made me a cup of coffee to help me wake up and drove us to the center. We were picked up at 7 AM from the bus station in Byron Bay. Luckily, there were only four of us for the twelve-hour journey to Sydney, so we had plenty of space. Our driver was a young and friendly person. After driving for about an hour, we quickly stopped for breakfast and continued until noon. We took a half-hour break and had a quick lunch to keep us going. In the afternoon, we made a couple more stops and had a meal at McDonald’s (oops!) before we were ready to tackle the final stretch. Ely switched seats with the co-pilot occasionally to keep an eye on everything, which was quite amusing. I found my spot quite comfortable and listened to some music while watching Orange Is The New Black.

We arrived around 7 PM, driving through the bustling center of Sydney over the Harbour Bridge. It was funny to feel a sense of familiarity with this city. We still had to take a bus from the center because our Airbnb was located 10 kilometers away. To pass the time while waiting, we grabbed a quick meal from McDonald’s again (not the healthiest choice, I know!). When we arrived in Canterbury, we quickly found our bed. We briefly used the laptop, but our eyes closed faster than expected. It’s strange how traveling and sitting for long periods can tire you!

We slept in, and a shower felt refreshing. We took the bus to the city center. On Sundays, you only pay $2.50 for a whole day of public transportation in Sydney, which is a great deal! We had a nice breakfast (or should I say brunch) and explored the shopping streets. Ely’s glasses had broken, so we first looked for an optician. After that, we found a local game store. Ely secretly missed gaming and bought himself a Nintendo Switch. On the other hand, I looked for H&M and bought a new pair of pants and some extra underwear.

After all that shopping, we got thirsty and headed to a pub. I had tried a delicious cocktail in Byron Bay, an Espresso Martini, and wanted to have it again. I’m usually not a fan of cocktails as I find them too sweet and with too much alcohol mixed together 🙂 Unfortunately, it wasn’t available today. Ely searched for the best places to get Espresso Martinis in Sydney, and we ended up at the ‘Primus Hotel,’ a fancy hotel. My cocktail was served with a spectacular presentation using liquid nitrogen. We felt like we weren’t backpackers for a moment, hihi. We also ordered a tasty cheese platter to end the enjoyable day. The temptation to book a room for the night here was strong. Fortunately, we didn’t have our passports with us, so we had no choice but to take the bus back to Canterbury.