Expat Travel Mom

We touched down in Sydney during our Singapore years, ready for a few days of city exploring before making our way out to Bondi for the back half of the trip. Between wildlife parks, wild pies, and a whole lot of walking, this one delivered.

We started with an Airbnb in Sydney, and then transferred to one on Bondi Beach (no longer listed).

Tiger Pie

Let's start with food, we were told we had to try a "tiger pie," a meat pie topped with mashed potato, peas, and gravy, and it was really good. The best one is from Harry's, where we ate it, of course. Turns out "Tiger" isn't just a nickname for the dish, Harry's Cafe de Wheels has been serving it since the 1930s, named after the founder himself, Harry "Tiger" Edwards.

Darling Harbour

Day one, the kids were loving the park at Darling Harbour immensely, especially the giant slide. I honestly think they could have stayed here all day, every day. They miss the option of playing outside all day without the oppressive heat and humidity that we have in Singapore. Sometimes the simplest things win.

Madame Tussauds

Next up was Madame Tussauds. The kids had a hoot playing with Spiderman, E.T., Audrey Hepburn (well, that one was for me), and many more (some I admittedly didn't know but they were pop culture enough that the kids knew). I'm always in awe of the realism achieved in these museums. (Sorry kids, how do I show photos of the wax museum without you guys, as you posed with every single one! LOL!)

Darling Harbour Wildlife Park

From there, the Darling Harbour Wild Life Sydney Zoo, learning about kangaroos, the Australian flag, and the fact that roos actually can't hop backward. They also had a butterfly park, which entertained the kids far longer than I expected, because who doesn't love a butterfly landing on you? There was a koala too, where we learned that in NSW, you're not allowed to hold one due to conservation laws, but you can get close.

Featherdale Wildlife Park

Another day, we went out to Featherdale Wildlife Park, a great small, not overly touristy place that seemed really ethical, with a lot of hands-on for the kids. We spent a whole afternoon here, so much to do and see even though it's small. My daughter even held a chocolate chip lizard thing here. They have koalas too, and while they're usually asleep, we got to see an active one moving around. The highlight, surprisingly, were the dingoes. We were all a bit freaked out by them, and rightfully so, but they were also so cute in a way.

(Updated: A note on this one, reviews on Featherdale are genuinely mixed now. They're accredited by the Zoo and Aquarium Association and have scored well on official welfare audits, but some more recent visitor reviews describe distressed animals and crowded conditions during busy periods. Worth doing your own current research before visiting. We did not experience this back in 2016, and in fact, we were one of a handful of families there.)

Bondi & Tamarama

After Sydney, we made our way out to Bondi with a beachfront Airbnb (sorry, no longer listed). Tamarama Beach was full of bluebottle jellyfish, which we learned about very quickly, as well as how a lot of poisonous sea life tends to be bright blue, fun facts everywhere here! Of course there's yet another dangerous, deadly or poisonous animal here in Australia! We walked by the famous Icebergs Bondi pool, which fills with sea water thanks to the waves and its position right on the ocean. It's quite spectacular! We spent a lot of time walking the beaches, checking out the sculptures along the Bondi to Tamarama Sculpture Walk (the kids really enjoyed this), trying foods (ok, tip...you must have fish and chips, on the beach, with chicken salt...yes, it's a thing), and really enjoying Australian hospitality. 

Between the wildlife, the whales, and a meat pie that somehow lived up to the hype, Sydney and Bondi gave us exactly the mix of city and coast we didn't know we needed.