On my way to New Zealand I had a 7 day stopover in Sydney and Canberra.
Visiting my good old friend Ryan whom I met 9 years ago in Auckland, New Zealand.
Sydney
Sydney is currently threatened by severe bushfires just 15-20km from the city centre.
We spent the first day visiting Sydney's northern side and the CBD, including Hyde Park and the Anzac Memorial.
On the second day I went to Manley by ferry for 2 shore dives at Shelly beach. Shelly beach for sure isn't a real highlight, but I was happy to dive again, to stay on top of my skills. We saw 5-6 Wobbegong carpet sharks which are quite big, but nocturnal and harmless for divers. On my way back I spent a few minutes on Manley's beautiful beach and enjoyed clear blue skies, while Sydney was hazy.
Manly Beach
Day 3 was spent on Sydney's Seven Shillings Beach and followed by a Pub visit with a pretty good 10 AUD steak special.
Shelly Beach
Canberra
On the fourth day we took the 7 am train to Australia's capital, Canberra. For just 40 AUD (icl. 10% disc. with YHA Membership) it was quite a cheap and comfortable 4 hr train ride.
Once in Canberra we went straight for the old parliament by bike and spent a few hours visiting it.
Speaker's Chair ;-)
In the morning of the next day we first visited Australia's National museum with interesting exhibitions about Australia's colonization and native people. This was followed by a visit of the new parliament, the national gallery and last but not least the Australian war memorial. In total we did some 20km by bike in 30oC.
Australia National Museum
Old and new parliament
House of Lords
National War Memorial
We went back to Sydney early Thursday morning and spent the rest of the day at Sydney's Circular Quay and The Rocks and visited a cinema to watch "official secrets". My flight to Auckland, Nz was scheduled for 7:40 am on the next day.
Sydney Opera House
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Crocodile Burger