What’s trip to Sidney without cruising down Parramatta River or a stop at the iconic landmark of Sidney opera house. When I was a kid, I often imagined that someday I would visit the opera house. So on my trip to Sidney, I made sure that I covered everything I wanted to see in 3 days. Even for an optimist, I know that’s a pretty ambitious plan, since Sidney is a big city and offers ton of things to see and to do.

To be able to cross all my to-do list in Sidney, first, I chose the location of the hotel next to the central station to minimize the travel time. I could walk to central station to catch a train and board the hop on and hop off tour bus. Second, I prearranged my airport transfer so I could save time traveling between airport and hotel. Third, I decided to play as a tourist and booked a tour. And the fourth, I skipped activity that I previously experienced such as climbing the Sidney Harbor bridge. This activity is so famous even Oprah did this on her trip to Sidney. But as an engineer, part of my job is inspecting and climbing on the bridge. Bridge is a bridge after all regardless what bridge it is. Since I do this for a living, I was quite sure that I could live with myself skipping this must do activity in Sidney.

On my first day, I didn’t waste my time. I checked in at the hotel, dropped the bag and walked to central station to board hop on hop off bus. I figured this is the best way to cover all the landmarks I wanted to see. Hop on hop off bus stops at a total of 34 points. There are two routes, one is Sidney explorer route and the other one is Bondi and Bays explorer route. The first route starting point is Circular Quay and the second one is central station. Since both of route stops at central station, if you want to exchange the bus/route, you can do that at central station. I hopped on the Sidney explorer bus, stopped at King St. Wharf, Campbells Cove, The Rock, Circular Quay, Queen Victoria building, passing El Alamein Fountain while enjoying it from the bus and made a final stop at the Sidney Opera house.

You can explore Sidney Opera house from outside and inside. It lives up to my expectation, the architecture is beautiful. From there I walked to the Royal Botanical Garden all the way to Mrs. Macquarie Chair (it is an sandstone rock cut into the shape of the bench, it was name after Governor Macquarie’s wife Elizabeth). The area around it is a popular viewpoint, where you can see the view of Sidney Opera House and the Sidney Harbor Bridge. Done exploring the botanical garden, I hopped on the bus and exchange it to Bondi and Bays explorer route at central Station. Bondi and bays explorer route stops at China Town, Sidney Tower, Cook and Phillip Park, William Street, Bondi Beach, Rose Bay, Double Bay and Australian Museum. Just like the first route, I had to pick what stop I could explore due to time limitation. So I picked the Tower and the Bondi Beach. To avoid the queue at the tower, buy the fast track ticket or book the lunch buffet and dinner buffet at the tower. The day was nice and perfect for a picnic on Bondi Beach. Again I hopped on the bus to take me back to central station and walked back to the hotel.

On the second day, I took a tour bus to Blue Mountain. The trip also included a stop at Sidney Olympic Park and a cruise on Parramatta River. Sidney Olympic park was developed for 2000 Olympics and the facilities built continue to be used for sporting and cultural events. It was a brief opportunity to visualize what might have gone in 2000 Olympics. The cruise down Parramatta was the last part of the tour which took me back to Darling Harbor.

The cruise passed waterside suburb, traveled under the Sidney Harbor Bridge and I caught a view of Sidney opera house from the ferry. As the ferry approached the Darling Harbor, I could see there were many shops and restaurants surrounding the Darling Harbor. It was dinner time, perfect place to grab a bite. And you can party too if you want inside the night clubs in surrounding area. Darling Harbor is a nice place to chill and it’s easy to reach by bus, train, ferry or light rail. I concluded the night by hopping onto the light rail back to central station.

I wanted to enjoy the city by foot on my last day in Sidney. There are many things to explore around the central station within the walking distance. I started my day by exploring central station, Belmore Park Art market (outdoor market), Chinatown and Surry Hills Library. You definitely see more of the city when you explore it by foot. Unfortunately my time in Sidney had come to an end as I had to catch my flight back to Kuala Lumpur. But I promise myself whenever I return to Sidney in the future, I will definitely   take a surfing lesson at Bondi beach.