If Melbourne is Australia's version of San Francisco, then Sydney is Australia's version of New York. Bigger, more urban, and not as many free and artsy stuff to do. We walked around Darling Harbour, the Opera House, the Botanical Garden (there's a huge pack of bats that live in the trees here- very cool!), the New South Wales Museum, the Sydney Contemporary Art Museum, Chinatown, Paddy's market the Blue Mountains (took a peek at the 3 Sisters rocks), hung out at King's Cross and swam at Bondi Beach. Basically, all the major stuff to do in this city.
We didn't like the city as much as Melbourne, but we did have a great time with my cousin, Theresa, and her husband, John. They took time to show us some of the highlights, and we enjoyed some great meals together, including kangaroo steak!
Overall, Sydney was pretty expensive, and the distance between things outside of the city was pretty far, but within the city, it was easy and fast to get around. We walked most of the time because the public transportation was really exy (expensive). We ended up hanging out most of the time and opting not to do stuff that required a high priced admission fee because we felt it usually wasn't worth it. One such place was the Jenolan caves, which was $26 each for a 1 hour tour of a cave with stairs and lights and a boring guide. Bleh.
We learned it was good value to go to the RSL Clubs for food, since they offer members a reduced price on food, and we could go as guests since we did not live in the area.
We were glad to say sayonara to Sydney after 10 days...
