Sydney, June 30, Part 1

After breakfast on Thurs we headed out again. We thought we'd walk to the Opera House, about a mile from our condo. Another cool but sunny morning and Maddy felt good enough to join us for a while. We walked past the gorgeous St James cathedral and into the start of the botanic gardens. We arrived at Circular Quay and enjoyed stunning views of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. From there we walked over to explore The Rocks district, where the original Europeans, (mostly convicts), set up shop.

The thing about the people I'm traveling with (my children) is that they like to eat on a normal schedule so we weren't in The Rocks long when we realized it was lunch time. I'd found a Mexican chain that seemed would make everyone happy, not always an easy feat, so we headed back over to Circular Quay and ate at Mad Mex. (Kind of like Chipotle. Was tasty but would be better with a margarita.)

By then Maddy was ready to go back to the apartment and crash. We know we didn't want to do the 1.5+ miles back so we figured out Sydney's public transportation system. It's pretty awesome, extensive, and very easy to use! We took her back, regrouped, and the 5 of us headed out again.

We wanted to bike ride across the Harbor bridge, so back into The Rocks we went to Bonza Bikes. The guy there was super helpful and soon we were off. We had a nice ride across the big bridge and around a little on the other side. The bike guy told us about Wendy's Secret Garden over there and we found it. So gorgeous and such a gem that usually only locals know about! Eventually we headed back over the bridge, around the piers, and back to The Rocks. I always love exploring with my family on bikes! Hate hate hate that Maddy didn't feel good enough to join us. :(

We found a big grocery store near our apartment, so after we turned out bikes in, rode the train back to our neighborhood, got soup again. We had to keep moving because we had tickets to the Opera House!

We all got dressed in our 'best' clothes (still looked like super casual tourists) and headed out. We went to Pulse 2016- a night showcasing performing arts in the public schools from all over New South Wales. I chose it because I thought the kids would enjoy it and it was pretty good. Although it took us about 60 seconds it was basically a 'best of' school concert and we were the only people in the crowd not affiliated with a performer! Still, I'm glad we went. We've seen a show in the Sydney Opera House!

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