After 40 odd hours of travel we have made it to Sydney! YAY! It was a seriously long, long journey and anyone who has ever flown from London to Sydney will attest to that fact. We arrived to the most spectacular weather (even though it is still officially Winter in Australia) and I am pretty sure we were the only people wearing shorts and t-shirts but we are absolutely loving the sunshine and truly making the most of it! We spent yesterday exploring beautiful Watson’s Bay, relaxing at the beach, watching surfers at Manly Beach and marvelling at the sunset over beautiful Sydney Harbour.
After a three hour car ride in awful traffic from Gatwick to Heathrow Airport we checked in and strolled through security to the Plaza Premium Lounge in Terminal 4 where we were flying out of. We have made it almost a tradition of late by booking into lounges before our trips as we enjoy starting off our holidays in a very relaxed and luxurious manner. The Plaza Premium Lounge did not disappoint, it was incredible and by far the best lounge we’ve experienced to date! We enjoyed champagne, a few drinks and delicious food before catching out flight.
After what seemed like an eternity and layovers in Paris and China we arrived in Sydney and it always makes me smile to see these signs each time I land back in Australia.
We had organised an airport transfer through Hoppa and it could not have been a simpler or hassle free way to get from the Airport to Watson’s Bay where we were staying. Our lovely driver Mike was waiting for us and quickly whisked away our bags to the comfortable and luxurious car waiting out the front. Talk about service! We were very pleased and impressed. Mike dropped us off in Watson’s Bay around half an hour later and we hopped out of the car to these beautiful views…
It was only 9am and way too early to check into our room at the gorgeous, waterfront Watson’s Bay Boutique Hotel so we dropped off our bags and as the ferry terminal was literally right in front of the hotel we jumped on the next ferry across the harbour to Manly (quite a bargain for $15 return)! We were pretty happy to show off our pale skin in the sunshine in the hope of getting a nice, lovely tan over the next few weeks!
The trip across the harbour was a lovely ride in the beautiful weather & we stopped in at a few bays to pick up extra passengers which were beautiful little coves we would not have otherwise visited! We were just loving the sunshine!
We then arrived at Manly and strolled along the short shopping street until we made it to the beach! Both of us were incredibly happy to be at the beach, and particularly a nice, sandy one.
As we strolled along the beach we stopped to watch some surfers at Dan’s request! Our surfing adventures in Cornwall have made him so excited to surf in Australia!
Between our beach strolls and adventures we stopped in for lunch at a lovely, healthy beachside cafe, Fresh at Manly. I had made an executive decision that we needed to get some freshly squeezed juice and healthy food into us after 2 days of plane food. The food was delicious and juices made us feel so much more rejuvenated. We loved it so much that we’ll be posting a review in the next few days.
After we spent another few hours at the beach we decided to head back over to Watson’s Bay on the ferry to check in and finally shower! The swells had picked up and we went though five metre swells across the Harbour where I squealed like a little girl the whole time (in fact the little girl behind me was SO much braver than I was). Dan on the other hand loved the ride and kept laughing at me!
We were very happy with our Loft Room at Watson’s Bay Boutique Hotel and Dan was so happy when he got to lay on the bed for the first time in two days (and nights)!
I should not have laid down as once I was ready for dinner I dozed off whilst waiting for Dan to shower oops!
After we cleaned up we headed down to the Bar to have a few drinks and we caught the stunning sunset over the Harbour. It was the perfect end to a long but exciting few days. We truly could not have picked a more picture perfect location to stay! The hotel has a very enviable position.
We had booked dinner at the hotel and there was a little bit of confusion with our bookings and the service but it all was all eventually sorted out and we had a great meal and cocktails to end our first evening, before heading to bed absolutely exhausted at the very late time of 7:30pm!!
We had an amazing first day and did SO well to stay up as long as we did. Dan especially is loving Australia so far and I am loving showing him around and also playing tourist in my own country! Tomorrow it is off to the city to see the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and explore the city a little.
Stay posted because we’ll be posting on the blog regularly whilst we are away and you can also follow our daily Aussie adventures on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter! x
