For Travel Info and Day 1 Itinerary, click here.
For Sydney’s full itinerary, click here.
For Melbourne travel info, click here.
For Melbourne itinerary, click here.

Sydney Itinerary Day 2: Day Trip To Blue Mountains & Chinatown

We found an online deal for day trip by AAT Kings to Blue Mountains & Wildlife Park for AUD57.50/pax and managed to get the agency to pick us up at a location near our hotel. For the deal, we were brought to Waradah Aboriginal Centre to watch a short performance on aboriginal song, dance and didgeridoo. Then, we visited Echo Point where we viewed the famous Three Sisters rock formation. Next we arrived at Scenic World where you can choose to join the rides or take a short hike to the next meeting point.

We were then brought to Leura Village, a delightful blend of groomed gardens and quaint shops for lunch. We opted to have lunch on our own expense and chanced upon The Red Door Café (134 Leura Mall, Leura, NSW 2780; T:02 4784 1328) along Leura’s main street. You can easily identify the café by its red door.

This little cosy café sits probably max 20 pax but the atmosphere was great. We saw many locals sitting, reading papers or books while sipping a cup of coffee. There are many food options and do look out for the daily specials on the blackboard. We only realized there are more options after ordering from the menu which the waiter brought us. We ordered eggs and bacon on a baguette but we swapped the bacon for ham instead. We also ordered Chicken Pide which is basically Chicken pie and it was really some good pie. The hot mocha was really comforting since it was really cold. We didn’t take note of the price but since it didn’t bother us much when we paid, so it should be reasonable!

After lunch, we were brought to Featherdale Wildlife Park where we took pictures with koala, kangaroos, wombats, dingoes and penguins!

After the day trip, we asked the driver to stop us at Chinatown. You can visit Chinatown Night Market that opens from 4pm – 11pm on Fridays only, located at Dixon Street, Haymarket, New South Wales, Australia.

For dinner, you have to go to Sydney Madang (371 Pitt street, NSW 2000) which serves Korean BBQ in Korean town, located near Chinatown. Even though it is inside some alley, you can easily spot it because there will be hordes of people lingering outside, waiting for tables. We were there at about 8pm and waited in the cold for at least 1.5 hours to get a table with grill. We ordered Marinated Beef Ribs (AUD19, above), Sliced Pork Belly (AUD14) and Army Stew with Kimchi & Sausages (AUD38, below). The BBQ meat was ok but the army stew was the bomb. It was my first time having such awesome rice cake, it literally melted in the mouth! The stew was probably the best I’d ever had. Then again, I’ve only tried Korean food in Singapore.

From Sydney Madang, you can walk to Town Hall or Martin Place station back to the hotel. We actually walked back from Sydney Madang because we were so stuffed.

Sydney Itinerary Day 3: Weekend Markets

There are some markets in Sydney that open only on Saturdays, so please visit all the Saturday only markets!

To get to Paddington Market (Saturdays only 10am-4pm), take bus 378. As we were staying in Kings Cross, we took bus 311 to Oxford Street and then changed to bus 378. We didn’t buy anything there. The stalls mainly sell homemade candles, self made jewellery, leather bags etc.

From Paddington Market, we took Bus 378 and alighted at Lee St, then take bus 431 from a bus stop nearby to alight along Glebe Point Road to Glebe Market (Saturdays, 10am-4pm). This is the market for me. I managed to buy 2 pairs of neon flats for only AUD2/pair! SO SO SO WORTH IT. There are also some stalls selling nice clothes and tees.

There are many nice cafes near Glebe Market. After shopping, just chillax at some nice café! We went to The Wedge Espresso which is just across Glebe Market. It is a long, narrow café that serves some kickass coffee. We ordered Flat White for AUD4.50.

You can take bus 431 or 433 opposite Glebe Market to get to Paddy’s market (daily 9am-5pm). Alight at George St and walk to Paddy’s Market. You can skip this if you are not into buying souvenirs. We didn’t really like it here. Walk over to BBQ King (18 Goulburn Street , 11.30-1.45am daily)  for a late Chinese lunch!

It is easy to identify B.B.Q King because there were rows of meat hanging on display. Once seated, we were served complimentary tea and Chinese soup (corn + carrot). How awesome is that! We had the Roast Duck, Roast Pork and BBQ Pork rice (AUD16) to share between 2 people. Serving was huge! The meat was succulent.

After the late lunch, you can take a walk to the following places Sydney Aquarium, Cockle Bay Wharf, Wild Life Sydney (zoo), and Skytower.

At 8.30pm, catch fireworks that happens at Harbourside (Darling Harbour) every Saturday.

At Darling Harbour, you can go to Hurricanes for dinner, famous for garlic mushroom and ribs. Or you can go Pancakes on the Rocks (227 & 229-230 Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour 7am-12 midnight).

Be prepared to queue at Pancakes on the Rocks! We had Nachos (AUD14.95) and Fisherman’s Catch (AUD21.95).

Nachos: Crunchy corn chips smothered in spicy Mexican beef sauce, beans, jalopeno peppers and a generous melt of tasty cheese. Topped with sour cream, guacamole, tomato salsa and shallots. We loved this! I couldn’t get enough of the guacamole.

Fisherman’s Catch: Crumbed fillets of flathead served with chips, tartare sauce and mixed lettuce. Hmm there should be better main courses in the menu.

For desserts, we had Chocolate Jewels (AUD11.95). Chocolate pancakes with cream and chocolate ice cream, smothered in chocolate sauce. We requested to change the chocolate ice cream to vanilla cos everything is so chocolatey! Maybe because it’s Chocolate pancake, the texture was like cake. We spent AUD48.85 in total.

After dinner, go Kings Cross for some drinks or clubbing. It was interesting to witness the clubbing scene in Sydney.

Sydney Itinerary Day 4: Sydney Fish Market, Manly Beach, Bondi Beach

Tip: Our flight was on Monday so remember to call the airport transfer 1 day prior to departure.

Take train along Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line towards Cronulla Station & alight at Town hall Station. Walk to York St to take 443. Alight 2 stops along Harris St. U-turn, turn right along Pyrmont Bridge Rd to reach Sydney Fish Market (SFM).

At Sydney Fish Market, we bought our food from Claudio, which is cheaper than the rest. I had soft shell crab, salmon sashimi and fresh oysters! My soft shell crab had a huge surprise for me. Crab roe!!! Om nom nom nom.

Deep-fried crab

The roe within the crab

From SFM, take 443 to Bridge St near George St to The Rocks Market (10am-5pm, Sat & Sun). Walk along George St and you will find The Rocks. We didn’t buy anything from The Rocks but this market is definitely better than Paddington in terms of the stalls and market size. You can snap nice pictures of Sydney Opera House from The Rocks.

If you have time, you can choose to go Manly Beach where there’s a weekend market. To get to Manly Beach, you have to take a ferry from Circular Quay. We didn’t have time to go there, bummers.

From Circular Quay Wharf, walk to Alfred Street & take 333 to Bondi Beach (market opens 10am-4pm on weekends). The bus ride costs about AUD4.60/pax. There is a weekend market, but we didn’t have enough time to go because the beach was so inviting and we spent most time there. Chill out at some bar on Bondi Beach because it’s just so beautiful there! You can also visit Watsons Bay but there’s nothing much there, unless you crave for Gelatissimo ice cream.

Photos and Words by Chiobu