Mates of State (NSW)

It was exciting to arrive in Sydney, a city with some of the world's most famous landmarks. It was there that we had our first accommodation hook up. Our friend Pete happens to own an empty flat that sits above an old post office in a prime spot just outside the city. This means we were walking distance from all the sights you would want to take in while in Sydney. See that balcony? That's where we stayed. So cool.

Where we lived while in Sydney.

How we lived while in Sydney. I know, it's disgusting.

Stairwell in our flat with old clock and creepy toilet on landing. This place was huge with 3 levels and several bedrooms, each with a fireplace. One for Danielle, one for me, and one for our tent*.

Spider that has been collecting dust for what I'm guessing was a long time.

The one issue about our accommodation being in a central location is that there was no parking to be found. The street parking is only for an hour, 24 hrs a day. After a lot of frustration, driving around and getting stuck in city traffic at 6 pm, and a prayer, we met a man who gave us a good direction to go on and we found a little pocket on a street where there wasn't a sign keeping us from staying there. From what we could see, it was the only 10 meters of parking without a sign anywhere near central Sydney. A miracle. The only issue was that we had to walk about 15 minutes to the flat, and that took us through a park which, looking back, was a bit dodgy.

I love this photo. One day when we were walking back from our car we saw this elderly couple meet up and kiss. They did so with such anticipated excitement, it was as though they just started dating. Maybe they did, but we like to think they have been together for a long time, considering their age. It makes the story better.

Crossing the Darling Harbour bridge heading into the city. We had a lot of rain in Sydney.

The Darling Harbour. This is a central location for restaurants, IMAX, and my favourite: a Lindt chocolate cafe!

A beautiful cathedral in Sydney.

Typical street in Sydney.


I think my favourite area in Sydney would have to be The Rocks, one of the early settlements which has the charm of London with its markets and quaint shops. This is a view of the Sydney Opera House from The Rocks.

View from Sydney Harbour Bridge of Opera house. It was freezing up there and since we were dressed as Canadian tourists (that means under dressed), we decided to give the bridge a try another day. This photo has turned out to be one of my favourites. I love the gritty look, almost like I captured the photo from another century.

Some of the things you might see when wandering Sydney: a cushion in a tree.

Rubbish in the walls.

Contemporary art, which we called "Trunk Art". I can't remember who did it and what the statement was about, but it had an impact.

Under the bridge heading into the Darling Harbour to meet our friends Will and Justin. I met them about a year ago when they were up in Brisbane and they showed up at my house with some mutual friends, and then made fun of my no-bake chocolate cookies.

The day I will always remember when Will introduced me to Lindt in hot chocolate form.

My attempt for a cool photo with the 4 of us.

Another version taken when a local came by and took pity on me and my time & run routine.

The boys took us to Chinatown for some dinner. Our quest was to find a restaurant which was both lucky, and happy. We settled for the best price and a hostess who assured us she was both happy and lucky.

The theme of the night being found not in Chinatown, but the fancy town shops. I have no idea what we are doing here, but I blame Danielle and her direction on this one.

Still happy. The good thing about being Mormon is that you don't need Happy Hour to have fun, you only need the sign. It's a lot cheaper that way, and we didn't need to take a taxi home.

That sums up our first day in Sydney.

*After our first camping experience with the tent which was given to us, we believed it was too small and therefore we needed to get a new one. We decided to do this while in Sydney, so we set up new tent in one of the spare rooms to test out the length. We were confident that we would fit, but the tent remained in position until the day we left.