A walking Tour through Sydney, Australia

On our last day in Sydney, we set out on foot to explore the Queen Victoria Building (QVB), Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, the Historic Rocks and Paddy’s Market.  It sounds like a lot of places to visit, but, if you ask anyone, it’s all within walking distance, about 30 minutes.  You can save time by hopping on the Monorail and having it take you closer so you do not have to walk very far.

Our first stop was the Queen Victoria Building. 

This building was originally built for the Queen’s Inaugural ball, but, it is now a huge upscale shopping mall with 5 floors.

To say the inside is beautiful or amazing is an understatement ~ the tile work, stained glass and wooden stair cases are absolutely incredible.

In the center of the building, you enter a round about ~ to the right you see two arched stained glass windows.

The ceiling is a large stained glass dome with bright red, blue and gold colors on all the walls.

There are also several clock towers and brick castle like buildings on display throughout.

The Queen’s letter was posted in 1986, however, nobody is allowed to open it until 2085.  I wonder if the original posters will get a chance to know what she had to say.

After another stop at Haigh’s Chocolates, we stopped for iced coffees at Gloria Jean’s.  I was so excited to finally find a Vanilla Slice since one of my favorite readers has been telling me to try it out.

I am pretty sure he would’ve licked the plate if he thought I’d put my camera away   It was light, flaky, creamy and that frosting top was the best part.  I also really liked the Cherry Coconut Slices that Qantas serves on their flights.

We snapped a few pictures of more buildings on our walk to the harbour.

This castle was in the middle of a park where everyone was walking, jogging, relaxing in the sunshine and eating lunch.

I love all the history in the buildings and how you can see a castle like structure in the midst of the city downtown sky scrapers.

Oh, I also took a few other random pictures on our walk and we made up our own interpretations for them

After checking out how high the people climb to get to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and reading the “short walk” is 2 hours depending on the wind, we decided to settle on just taking pictures.

 

If you look closely on the picture above, you will see the little people at the top.

 

Snapped from the Opera House Pier.

 

You can take a tour inside the Opera House as part of the combo package that I told you all about yesterday.  It is pretty fascinating from the outside, but, it is incredibly beautiful at night when they light up the Opera House, Bridge and City.

We stopped at a bench over looking the water and snacked on cheese & crackers with a Lift (just like a Lemon Squash to go).

Next up on our list was a visit to the historic district called The Rocks.  The Rocks is a row of shops and restaurants all set up in historic buildings from the 1800’s, like this first pub ever built in Sydney.

Aside from the fantastic rock architecture, you can read about the history on signs located outside most of the buildings.  (it’s really neat).

The roads and sidewalks are layered in brick as well.

We stopped for lunch at Guylian’s Belgian Chocolate Shop mainly because I fell in love with the fact that they grow their produce right out front in the garden boxes you see.

Oh and there desserts on display looked so pretty.

We both ordered the Ciabatta Sandwiches topped with mozzarella, tomatoes, oregano and olives.

Served up with side salads and tomatoes from the garden with a lemon mustard vinaigrette.

Can you believe we didn’t have dessert or even a coffee?!  I wanted to order an iced take away mocha but I couldn’t justify spending $9 on a coffee.  Instead, we settled for two of their chocolates that we shared for the perfect finish to our healthy lunch.

The last stop on our agenda was Paddys Markets.  These markets have been in place since the 1800’s as well and it is where several people use to do al their selling/trading for food, animals and tools of the trade. 

I was excited to check it out as I thought it would be a great place to get some souvenirs, but, we did not really think the markets were that great.

The best part was the farmer’s market section where you could score some fresh, fairly reasonable produce.

Scoopable spices!  I love this idea because so often I buy a whole jar when I only need a pinch.

Yes, I totally took pictures of the fruit and vegetables as we went up the escalators.  I am pretty sure the people behind us thought I was crazy.

The Husband cooked us dinner for our last night ~ Basil and Parmesan Ravioli’s (they called them something else, but, I cannot remember the name).

I love the French Dressing that they serve on all the salads out here ~ it’s not really like the French we have at home which is orange.  This version is like a sweet and tangy Italian Vinaigrette.

I pondered trying to bring a bottle back with me but figured it would be pretty awful if this exploded in my suitcase with my clothes.

He also picked out dessert ~ The Natural Dinosaurs!

I am so proud of him for picking a healthy candy that is Aussie made.  I am definitely bringing some of these fruity gummies home ~ they are delicious!

There you all have it ~ our quick two week Australian Adventure!  We had a blast touring Adelaide, Glenelg and Sydney and we definitely agree there is still so much more we want to see.  Until then, we will have to remember the fun we had with these recaps.

• Pie Face ~ Our Trek to Australia
• Mount Lofty and Hahndorf, Australia
• Wordless Wednesday ~ Crazy building’s we saw in Australia
• The Aussie Beach Board Walk
• Coogee Beach, Australia
• Sydney City Center & Darling Harbour
• Wordless Wednesday: Cake Walk
• Sydney Wildlife Zoo & Sea Life Aquarium

It is great to be home and get settled back into our routine.  Meatless March is now in full swing!  I am taking tomorrow off but, will be back on Sunday with this week’s Meatless Menu.

Night all!