The first few hours in our plane ride from San Francisco to Sydney were filled with regret at having to leave America, but a couple of airline meals and movies later, we were looking forward to the adventures that lay ahead Down Under. Our two-hour stopover in Auckland was timed perfectly, with us coming out into the lounge just in time to catch a New Zealand sunrise and grab a coffee.

And take an airport selfie!

And then, before we could shake the dust from America from our shoes, we were blinking our eyes in the Sydney sunshine. And posing for pictures at interesting spots.

We lived in a youth hostel for two days, and will spare you the photographs of the  tiny room, the shared bathrooms and the anti-social elements on the street outside. Instead, here are some pictures from our time in sunny Sydney.

We spent a lazy day walking down along Sydney Harbour, which is incredibly beautiful, and stopping to admire the gorgeous greenery all around.

I’m a total parks and garden buff when we’re travelling, maybe because we don’t do them so well back in India, and so traipsing about in the Royal Botanic Garden was a large part of the plan.

We took advantage of a free guided city walk, and fell in love with the historic Rocks district. Sailors and convicts and nurses and barmaids lived in small shanties in this area when it was one of the poorest areas in the city, and our tour was full of grisly murder and robbery stories (brilliant!). Today it’s all renovated and houses expensive shops, but the important landmarks have been preserved, and the legends are still repeated in hushed voices.

We also discovered a wonderful diner with traditional British food, and made it a point to stop there to refuel.

Where we spotted some retro wall art

 

And tried to do some similar selfie art of our own

 

And with that, two days in Sydney were done. Back to the hostel room without windows and ventilation!