A week in Sydney, Australia

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A week in Sydney, Australia

I and my wife had been to Sydney, Australia in June 2012. My friend Akarsh stays in Australia. He had arranged my stay  and he was the one who planned the entire trip. I did an early booking and was able to get a good deal in Malaysian airlines. 

We reached Sydney on 2nd June, Saturday night. My engineering college friends Amit and Smitha accompanied Akarsh in receiving us at the airport. We then moved to Sydney city centre. We checked in at Hotel Park Regis. We had the hotel booking for 5 days and then were to stay at my friend's residence in Homebush for the rest of the trip.



The hotel is located at the city centre and easily accessible by public transport. The view from the hotel room was just stunning. 
We all had dinner together in one of the Thai restaurant near the hotel. After dinner got back to the room and crashed over.

Our week plan was as follows:

3rd June: Sydney Aqua
4th June: Cogee-Bondi walk
5th June: Madame Tussauds
6th June: Tarango Zoo
7th June: Scenic Valley, Jenolan Caves
8th June: Sydney 360, Sydney Eye, Sydney Wildlife
9th June: Mount Tomah

Sydney Aquarium
Sydney Aqua, Madame Tussaud's and Sydney Wildlife are all located at the Sydney Harbour. The location is spectacular.
Sydney Aquarium (formerly Sydney Aquarium) contains a large variety of Australian aquatic life, displaying more than 700 species comprising more than 13,000 individual fish and other sea and water creatures from most of Australia's water habitats. Additionally, the aquarium features 14 themed zones including Jurassic Seas, Discovery Rockpool, Shark Walk, and the world’s largest Great Barrier Reef display. Along the way, visitors encounter animals unique to each habitat, including two of only five dugongs on display in the world, sharks, stingrays, penguins and tropical fish, among others.






At night we witnessed Vivid Sydney festival at the darling harbour. Vivid Sydney is a unique annual event of light, music and ideas, featuring an outdoor 'gallery' of extraordinary lighting sculptures, a cutting-edge contemporary music program, some of the world's most important creative industry forums and, of course, the spectacular illumination of the Sydney Opera House sails. Sydney Opera House is a designated UNESCO World heritage site.



Coogee to Bondi Walk
It is a spectacular 6 kms walk along the Sydney beach coast from Coogee to Bondi.












Madame Tussaud's
Next day we went to my friend Akarsh's house at Homebush. Evening we went to Madame Tussaud's. 

Tarango Zoo
Taronga Zoo is the city zoo of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and is located on the shores of Sydney Harbour in the suburb of Mosman. It was officially opened on 7 October 1916. Taronga Zoo is managed by the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales, under the trading name Taronga Conservation Society, along with its sister zoo, the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. Divided into eight zoogeographic regions, the 28-hectare (69-acre) Taronga Zoo is home to over 4,000 animals of 350 species. It has a zoo shop, a cafe, and information centre. We had to travel through a yacht to reach the zoo. The yacht starts at circular quay.












Scenic World and Jenolan Caves
For the next day we had booked a package tour to the scenic valley and Jenolan caves. The package for 2 of us costed about 300 australian dollars. 
Katoomba Scenic World is a privately owned tourist attraction located in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, about 100 kilometres west of Sydney. Scenic World is home to four attractions, of which the most famous is the Katoomba Scenic Railway. The site also includes the Katoomba Scenic Skyway, the Cableway and Katoomba Scenic Walkway a 2.4 km elevated boardwalk through ancient rainforest. The Blue mountains is also a designated UNESCO World Heritage site.



The Jenolan Caves are limestone caves located within the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve in the Central Tablelands region, west of the Blue Mountains, in New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The caves and 3,083-hectare (7,620-acre) reserve are situated approximately 175 kilometres (109 mi) west of Sydney, 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Oberon and 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Katoomba.




Sydney Tower and Wildlife
Next day we had lunch at Sydney 360 Bar and Dine located in the Sydney tower. It is a revolving restaurant which rotates 360 deg in 1 hour giving a breathtaking view of Sydney.




After lunch we headed to Darling harbour to visit Sydney wildlife. Wild Life Sydney Zoo (formerly Sydney Wildlife World) is a wildlife park in the heart of the city of Sydney, Australia. Officially opened in September 2006, it is located on the city side of the Darling Harbour leisure and retail precinct, next to Sydney Aquarium and Madame Tussauds Sydney.





Mount Tomah
On our last day in Sydney, some of my other friends joined us and we all had planned a drive to Mount Tomah. Mount Tomah is a locality and a mountain that is located in the Blue Mountains region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The locality is known for the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden on the Bells Line of Road.




Finally, Next Day we headed back to Bangalore. It was my first abroad trip. Both of us had a great time. Thanks to Akarsh. It was his flawless planning because of which we could make the best out of our week stay in Sydney.


















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