It’s been a long road, and after spending years traveling the world, I finally crossed Sydney off my list! As this was my first visit to Australia, I had a very clear purpose: fly in from Jakarta, make it through Sydney Airport, get into the city with public transport, see the Opera House, try Australian cuisine, and check into my hotel downtown.
The first leg of the journey started in Jakarta where I had a flight to Kuala Lumpur and then took an eight-hour overnight flight to Sydney. Upon arrival in the morning, the biggest surprise was how easy it was to enter the country. The whole immigration process took just a few minutes. Customs was quick too. Since I’m a German tourist, I had completed all the necessary online authorization in advance, so I could skip the visa formalities at the airport.
Upon landing, Sydney felt much cooler than Southeast Asia. I withdrew 150 AUD from an ATM at the airport and headed to the train station. Instead of taking an Uber, I decided to try public transport.
The moment for which I had long been waiting arrived at last. Walking out of the station and seeing the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge for the first time was a moment that will stick in my memory forever. The unusual sight of the white sails of the Opera House, bridge, harbor, and city skyline gave me one of those memories of traveling that are hard to capture in photographs.
The Opera House itself was much bigger than one expects it to be and has a great number of theaters and about 1000 rooms. The Opera House was opened in 1973 when the construction took 14 years. The initial estimate of the project budget changed dramatically from around A$7 million to more than A$100 million.
After walking along the waterfront, I got really hungry. The first meal I had in Australia was Tiger Pie at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels. It is a café that opened in 1945 and has been operating ever since. The pie was made with mashed potatoes, peas, and gravy, and I drank ginger beer made in Australia as well.
The journey continued in the heart of Sydney where we visited the Queen Victoria Building, one of the oldest buildings in Australia. The discovery that Burger King is called Hungry Jack’s in Australia made us laugh. While we were at the supermarket, we also decided to buy Vegemite, one of the most popular Australian spreads.
However, the Vegemite experience did not go so well. Tasting it straight from the spoon was a rather unpleasant bitter experience compared to the sweet spreads that I was expecting. Australians might not agree with my opinion but I would say that it is not my ‘top’ food.
On another note, we couldn’t resist the famous strawberry watermelon cake from Black Star Pastry. The watermelon and strawberries were combined with cream and cake to create an unexpectedly light dessert.
After the long trip, it was finally time to check-in to the Hilton Sydney. The hotel room located on the 37th floor offered spectacular views over the impressive skyline over the city, offering a good conclusion to a busy first day.
With smooth arrival to the airport, a perfect train ride to the great places, tasting Australian food, trying many dishes that were not tried before, and some friendly interactions with the locals, the city of Sydney left an unforgettable first impression. With many parts of the city still awaiting to be discovered, only the first part of the Australian journey was completed.
