This is going to be kind of embarrassing but let me first say that no, we did not go to Sydney recently.  You may recall that our family went to New Zealand and Australia in the middle of 2013.  I slowly but surely blogged our New Zealand north island highlights in three parts: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3.  Now, nearly 8 months after we returned, I am getting around to posting about Sydney.  Yikes!!  But, I do believe that in blogging, late is MUCH better than never.  Let’s jump into it!

I had been dying to visit Australia since I was a child.  I had all these dreams and visions of kangaroos and boomerangs and the Opera House.  I wanted to put shrimp on the barbie and what not.  😉  Well once we knew we were going to New Zealand last year, we knew we had to take advantage of flying halfway around the world and make a stop in Australia!  We could only stay for 5 days after our extended time in NZ (we were also in the middle of escrow at this time; we literally had the notary greet us with paperwork when we got home from the airport!!!) so we decided to stay in Sydney the entire time.  I’m hoping that we can take future visits to Melbourne, Perth and beyond!

In those 5 days, I felt like we were able to soak up quite a bit of the major attractions in Sydney.  First and foremost, I have to tell you that our trip was truly anchored by the incredible hotel we stayed at: the one and only Park Hyatt Sydney.  It is a world renowned 5 star property that sits right on the Sydney Harbour in the Rocks and is pretty much the opposite of the type of place Erik and I would typically stay.  Thanks to the incredible generosity of my parents and their coveted Hyatt Diamond status, we were able to experience the phenomenal luxury and hospitality of this hotel.  I told Erik over and over that I couldn’t believe we were staying there!  Our room was modern yet warm and had a private balcony perched right over the harbour.  We were fortunate enough to be staying during Vivid Sydney (a light festival) so we had the most spectacular views each evening.  We began each day with breakfast on-site in the Dining Room.  Imagine beautiful glass-doored fridges stocked with fruit platters and bowls, yogurts, cheese and meats, and stations with artisan breads, freshly baked pastries, nuts, cereals, juices, etc. We sampled different hot entrées everyday as well.  The service was impeccable and we were treated like royalty by everyone on property.  I have to give a special thanks to Jonathan, the debonair hotel concierge, who always had the best dining recommendations and truly made our stay in Sydney complete.

I could write for ages about our trip but for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to dump a bunch of photos here and comment along the way…

the magical view from our room on the first night in Sydney // we were in awe.

Olive enjoyed the view as well 😉

the rooftop pool was gorgeous but never dipped a toe in it — it was winter in Australia!

view of the Opera House from the walking path on the Harbour Bridge

we did lots of strolling // Sydney has so much gorgeous architecture!

We took in some culture at the Art Gallery of NSW

We meandered through the lovely Royal Botanic Gardens.  My favorite was the fernery!

We tried not to laugh (or offend anyone) while visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art

A view of the Harbour Bridge from the Opera House

We took a guided tour of the Opera House and were so enchanted by it, we couldn’t resist getting tickets to a show that evening!

One of my fave photos from the entire trip!

The concert that evening featured Saint Saëns symphony No. 3, so their organ (the largest in the world) was played that evening.  I’ll never forget the experience.

The sails of the Opera House (and the façades of most buildings downtown) featured funky changing light projections each evening.

We visited the Sydney Aquarium and Olive’s mind was blown.  We had never seen her so excited about anything before!  To this day, she still loves and is fascinated by marine life.

There’s one more Australia post coming soon.  😉  It was fun to relive some of these moments now, so many months later.  Olive looks like such a baby!  I am so grateful we were able to take this special trip as a family and make treasured memories together.

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