It’s hard for us to believe 12 years have passed since we were last in Sydney, Australia. That trip was a lot simpler then. We were newlyweds with kids far from our minds. Fast forward to the present and things are a little different. Although its not always easy traveling with kids, we wouldn’t change it for the world. The wonderment in their eyes is priceless. Originally we did not plan to go to Sydney, but since our plane was going to have a layover there anyway, we decided to show the kids one of our favorite cities. We were only there for 2 full days but we packed a ton into our visit.

We arrived around 3pm after our 3.5 hour flight from Auckland. Our Airbnb apartment was located in the heart of the the city just 2 blocks from the ferry boats. After settling in, we headed out to see the Sydney Opera house. It is one of the coolest views in the world to walk along the boardwalk and to come around the corner and see the Opera house for the first time along with the spectacular Harbor bridge in the background. It’s such a magnificent building. By far one of the neatest buildings in the world. We walked around the whole building taking photos. After that we walked over to The Rocks neighborhood and got some dinner at a really cool brew pub. We checked out the harbour and some of the huge boats before heading back for the evening.

The kids woke up super early due to the time change from Auckland to Sydney. That allowed us to get a jump start on what would become an action packed day. We headed down to the ferry terminal and grabbed some pastries for breakfast before boarding our ferry to Manly. Over night a cruise ship has docked in the harbour. The boys had never seen one up close and could not believe how big it was. Mason could not figure out how something so heavy could float. A video about water displacement became one of his school lessons for the day! We were told the ferry to Manly offered some of the best views of Sydney Harbour including the Opera House and Harbour bridge. After about a half hour boat ride, we disembarked at the Manly terminal. We walked a few blocks to Manly beach passing small shops along the way. It was a beautiful sunny day that was perfect for the beach. Manly Beach is great for surfers, but it was not one you would want to let your kids get to far out into the ocean. The waves were very big with a strong current. We layed out while the kids played in the sand. We grabbed a quick lunch at a place aptly named The Hotdog Man. They had some crazy concoctions like the Aussie big dog with an egg, bacon and BBQ sauce. They were all really good.

We took the ferry back to Sydney and headed over to The Royal Botanical Gardens. Mason had spotted a little train there from the Opera House steps the previous day. We had promised him we could ride on it the next day. The train took us all over the gardens while our conductor/tour guide told us about the place. It is a huge place that would be fun to explore more given more time. Next we grabbed a few drinks at an outdoor bar by the opera house to take in the atmosphere a little more.

Mason also had his eyes on the double decker trains that run around town. We took the T line from Circular Quay over to Chinatown where we walked around for a while and had dinner at one of the many Chinese restaurants. By this time it was getting dark and we set out to find a train back. On our way we stumbled into the Darling Harbour area of Sydney. The architecture in the area was incredible. All the buildings looked really cool lit up at night. There was an awesome kids park that the boys played on for a while along with a large grass area filled with light up balls to kick around next to a building that looked like spaghetti. Just as we were about to leave, the kids spotted a ferris wheel. Even though they were exhausted we had to oblige. The ferris wheel was lots of fun and offered incredible views of the harbour area. Nobody else was on the ride so they stopped us at the top for a while and let us go around several more times.

We finally got on the train and took it back to the Circular Quay stop. We realized we had walked over 20,000 steps that day or around 10 miles. Tom walked over to the Opera house to see the smallest sail lit up while everyone else went back to the apartment. The sail looked really cool with the projected image on it.

On our second full day, we decided to check out the famous Bondi Beach area a short bus ride away. Bondi beach was really cool. It was quite busy even for a weekday. There were lots of people tanning in their scantily clad swimwear. The boys dug a deep hole in the sand and were so proud of it. They kept finding kids to come over and see it.

We got off the bus next to one of Tom’s favorite places to the chagrin of Chelsea…The Lego Store! It was fun to see all of the new sets and for the kids to get to play for a while. We grabbed a quick lunch at a burger place across the street and then caught a train back.

After going back to our place for a bit to pack and rest, we headed out to dinner. Cooper really wanted to eat dinner at the Lebanese restaurant located in the basement of our building. They had really good food. We got some hummus with pulled lamb and pita bread along with a roasted cauliflower. Tom got a Lebanese beer called Almaza that the owner had suggested.

Since it is such a magical area, we decided to head back down to the Opera House for one last look. We grabbed some icecream and walked over to see the small sail on the building light up. Unfortunately, they could not get the projector to work that night, so we had to settle for a YouTube video of the light show.

The next morning we got up early and caught an Uber to the airport. We were all really glad we decided to spend a few days in Sydney. It really is an amazing city with so much to do and see. The views will forever be ingrained in our minds.