Sydney Trip - Day 1

So, Australia trip.... my first trip outside of Asia. A trip that I have been waiting for more than a year, I couldn't say that it is one of the best trip I had, and it probably was the worst trip due to what had happened to us when we first arrived.

Things doesn't go too well for us when we touch down at the kangaroo land. Why? Because we have been held for more than half an hour by the immigration officer. They checked our return flight ticket, our cash, took away our identity card, passport, and even handphone. To be frank, I was really pissed at that moment. We told them every detail they need, we all have a job back in Malaysia, we showed them all the online tickets that we have bought for the trip and still we were left there for more than half an hour. It just doesn't feel good when you were not being trusted and the people were talking to you in a sceptical tone. 

Thinking about the incident just made me mad again. But like what my friend said, we already paid for the trip, we need to move on and try our best to enjoy the city. 

Finally, we were good to go. For those who rely heavily on internet, my first advice is to purchase an OPTUS 3G prepard simcard, it comes with a 500MB data per day @ $2 only. Especially for those who are travelling in group, it can be shared among each other with hotspot. 

I just can't believe that things can go from bad to worse. Most of the trains in Sydney was currently under maintenance and will be back to operation after 2 days. But we were suggested by the airport staff there to take a cab instead as there are 4 of us. The taxi fare most probably won't be exceeding $60, and the bus fare is already $14 per person.

And it prove that the staff was right, we manage to reach our hostel, Jackaroo hostel King Cross with the taxi fare of $55.50. Slightly cheaper than what all of us would have to pay for the bus ride. For those who wants to know how's the taxi fare system in Sydney, I shall enlighten you. It starts from $4 and rise by 10 cent every 3 seconds, which is kinda scary. 

I have to say, you can't be more picky about the hostel location. It is just beside, literally beside the train station. (http://kingscross.jackaroohostel.com/)  So, after drop our bag at the hostel, we are good to go for our first destination, St. Mary's cathedral. We could have travelled from Kings Cross Station to St James Station. But since the train station is closed. For those who plan to stay in Kings Cross, always walk to the Bayswater Rd to catch a bus. Look for a bus start with 32+, It will get you to Elizabeth St where you can walk to Hyde Park or the St Mary's Cathedral.

I'm just so glad that we bought that prepaid simcard. google maps do come in handy. We seek for directions from google maps and figure out where we should get off the bus. 

I love google map!!!

I guess I need to highlight this, despite how the immigration officer treat us, we met a very nice bus driver. Probably we didn't do enough homework, as we never plan to travel by bus, we realize most of the people are using an OPAL card (please get one from any convenience store), we asked the bus driver how much is the bus fare and we were told not to worry about it. So we got a free ride, yahoo!!!

So, there's St Mary Cathedral in our background

So, this is me, right in front of the cathedral, look at the crowd back there, it's a wedding

We went in the cathedral and it is even more beautiful from the inside, we can't take photos but the beauty of it will always be in mu memory

Next, we walk towards Market St. Along the way, you will pass by Sydney Tower too, right above Westfield shopping centre. And then we reach the Queen Victoria Building. I have to say, it is the most beautiful shopping mall I have seen.

We tried out the extremely delicious macaroons from Zumbo...

Exiting the Queen Victoria Building, we continue to walk along Market St to reach the SEA Life Sydney Aquarium. We manage to buy the ticket at an cheaper rate via Groupon Australia (a good site to search for interesting deals) I can't say that I am really impress with the aquarium, but it is still pretty amazing to be able to see Duyong.

In the aquarium

Right in front of the aquarium, here we are at darling harbour. It's pretty crowded, I guess everyone waiting for the weekly firework show on Saturday 9pm.

at Darling Harbour

The night view of Darling Harbour

The firework show~ I hope I'm still in Sydney to enjoy the show again

Our first day in Sydney started pretty rough, but our journey just get better and better. The fireworks spark in the dark and finally chase all the clouds away from my heart and certainly anticipate for another great day in Australia.