Big city living in Sydney

Whenever anyone hears that you're from Australia, they automatically assume that you live in Sydney, for where else is there?  Some of the most popular Australian cultural icons are the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge - both of which you will find in Sydney.  As we discovered during our stay there, it's just the beginning of what this big city has to offer.
 
On our way to Sydney, we stopped in Toronto which shares its name with the Canadian town where Colin & Melissa used to live. The point of this was to take a few cheesy pictures and make fun of this small town by comparison. The New South Wales version of Toronto, however, was completely beautiful and put us to shame, with a spectacular lakefront surrounded by superb cafes.
 
Sydney's waterfront is equally superb. It boasts the famous bridge, the opera house, an area called 'The Rocks' (where there are plenty of pubs and eateries), Darling Harbour, the Sydney casino and the beautiful botanical gardens. All this is within a stunning 30 minute ferry ride from Manly Beach, where we ended up staying for four nights.  Manly is a suburb to the north of Sydney and is a beautiful seaside resort. From there, you can take a break from the fast paced Sydney lifestyle, catch a few waves or soak up the sun.
 
The purpose of our visit to Sydney, apart from all the touristy stuff, was to see Tori Amos perform in the Sydney Opera House (!) and visit a couple of Colin's mates who are now working down there.
 
Both the opera house and Tori were amazing, with each complementing the other superbly in acoustic quality.
 
We caught up with James and his new wife Elli amidst the hustle and bustle of Newtown, which is filled with great cafes, eateries and shops.  This particular location has a great bohemian/post punk feel about it, which is another great thing about Sydney:  each area has its own distinctive character.  We enjoyed a lovely Thai meal with them, followed by a quick city tour.
 
Meeting up with Peter, required a quick bus ride south of the city, to a location famous to surfers:  Bondi beach.  We ate lunch at the exclusive Icebergs restaurant - Well actually, we sat in the bar area overlooking the beach, which was just as good.  We checked out the beach in the afternoon, and then in the evening we ate tapas at The Bondi Social Club, also overlooking the beach.  (This time in the moonlight!).
 
Melissa loved Sydney and has in the past said to Colin 'and you came to Canada why?' From the harbourfront, to the botanical gardens, from Manly to Bondi beach, from Newtown to the Rocks or to Oxford street - all this together leaves travelers wanting to come back for more and more.  For us it has been too much for one visit - we will definitely be back!
 
Next up:  Back to sunny Queensland.