We have fallen in love with Sydney

We just loved our time in Sydney. We spent a full week there and could have happily spent another. There is so much to do and the city is amazing. We had a action packed week, seeing the sights and fitting as much as we possibly could into each day.

We visited the world famous Sydney Opera House and were impressed by the building inside and out. There is something really special about seeing such an iconic building face to face and the architecture is fascinating.

We walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens and along the Harbour side to Macquarie Point to look back towards both the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

We walked over the bridge for great views of the city and harbour.

We visited Darling Harbour and made the most of Santa Fest, watching a Christmas movie on the village green and the evening firework display over the water.

We went to a Christmas Carols Concert and singing workshop held inside the Opera House and hosted by the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra, which was definitely more of a Louise type activity than Steve, but he was a good sport and joined in.

We had a look around both the Rocks and Paddington weekend markets, sampling lots of local produce and treating ourselves to some decorations for our Christmas tree.

We took the ferry over to Manly, walked along the beach, had a ice cream on the harbour and walked the cliff tops of the North Heads National Park.

We took the train out to the Blue Mountains National Park, visited the famous three sisters and walked the bush trails to Leura, stopping at various spectacular lookout points and waterfalls along the way.

We had an afternoon surf lesson which was great fun. We learnt about the key techniques of managing your surf board and discovered that surfing is really hard work. Eventually we both managed to ride a wave after many attempts and being wiped out. But we loved the experience and would like to have another go.

We visited the famous Sydney Fish Market. The stalls were filled with everything from lobster to octopus, mud crab to sword fish, oysters to huge snapper we wish we could buy fish seafood like that at home.

We walk the eastern beaches coastal path from Coogee to the famous Bondi Beach, stopping along the way for a picnic at Bronte and watching surfers wide the waves of Bondi with a ice cream at the end.

We caught the ferry over to the beautiful Watsons Bay where we walked through the nature reserve to Hornby Lighthouse. We walked up to the gap where you can look out to the ocean from side and back across to the city skyline from the other. We also enjoyed fresh fish and chips washed down with local wine and beer at the famous Doyles on the Beach Restaurant looking back over the city.

On our final day in Sydney we went to the top of the Sky Tower to take in views over the city.