Weekend in Sydney

This is another hidden gem for local delicacies and not so delicacies ranging from fresh fruit and veggies for your Chinese cooking dishes to snacks and cookies for the kids (or the kid in you). You can find sour plums, Chinese herbs and spices, noodles galore and shop like a local in here, rather than like a tourist in your standard Coles and Woolies. You’ll also find that you often a range of brands to choose from and the prices are a little better. Try some of the dry biscuits or the preserved fruit for snacks, or a sweet soya bean or mango fruit juice box. Guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth if the numerous bakeries around Chinatown don’t do the trick.

Looking for a cool Chinese painting brush/caliigraphy set with traditional ink stick and stone plate, wax seal in a simple silk green box for under $10? Also, here you will find wonderful Chinese paint brushes of various widths for a fifth of the price you will find in Art stores. Pick up inexpensive, nifty trinkets like "old fashioned calculators" (abacus), postcards, cool Chinese magazines and the usual little knick knacks to dress up your cell phone that you might find in malls, but here you pay half the price for authentic items!

Located in the heart of Chinatown, this little store is usually packed with locals and tourists buying anything from standard sweetish breads with red bean paste, egg tarts to curry puffs and creamy cakes. This is a wonderful place to stock up on tasty treats to keep you energized as you walk around town. Treats run anywhere from 80cents for some of the tarts to $2 for the larger bready or cake desserts.
Also check out the small window next door where you can buy profiterole type cream éclairs. Yummy. No counting calories at this store!

Manly Beach

A fun people-watching beach with tons of beach town shopping. The water is clear and calm and we saw Manta ray swimming in the more secluded areas of the beach. BUT, no sharks!

There are lots of food places along the shopping strip, and these serve anything from McDonalds type fare to fish and chips, ice cream, doughnuts. Also, lots of places to pick up a swim suit, and glasses and everything else you might need if you arrive unprepared for a stay at the beach.

Oceanworld Manly – Aquarium

Two minutes from Manly Wharf you’ll find Oceanworld Manly, an aquarium open from 10am - 5.30pm every day except 25 December.

There are three levels. The main Oceanarium is on the lower level featuring sharks, giant rays, sea turtles and other marine life. There is a 100 metre Oceanarium tunnel to view the 4 million litre tank. On the entrance level are tropical fish, crocodile, baby sharks, sea horses, corals and venomous sea creatures as well as touchpool.

The upper level features reptile exhibits and reptile shows.

This is not a fully wheelchair accessible building. Only the entrance level can accommodate a wheelchair. There is a stroller bay to leave your stroller while looking through the aquarium.

If you are a diehard aquarium lover, then you will probably enjoy this place, however, Sydney aquarium offers similar views and items and on a grander scale, so if you don’t have free tickets, you might want to save your money for fish and chips.

The walk about through the whole place takes about 1-2 hours depending on whether or not you catch a reptile show. Parking on the streets is limited to 2 hours and can be sketchy on the weekends so arrive early!

Adult $18.50
Child $9.95
Family (2A+2C) $45.95
Discounted Admission after 3.30 pm 15% off all prices

Unlike Canberra, and some other cities, Sydney has a very decent Chinatown – a REAL Chinatown/International district with food galore and stores selling everything from trinkets and trash to herbal remedies and cheong sams or other ‘chinese’ clothing.

We went to a Yum Cha/dim sum restaurant that was fantastic – Marigold restaurant. Turns out that this restaurant that was recommended to us, is a favourite of several other people who live in Canberra. Very reminiscent of Hong Kong yum cha restaurants, this three (or four) level restaurant smelled delicious from the street and with the traditional carts around, it was even more enticing to be inside the restaurant. The food was fantastically tasty with all the usual from delectables from har gow (shrimp balls) to chicken’s feet and a huge assortment of desserts.

If you leave Marigold feeling not quite full, the asian bakeries along the way will be sure to fill you up! Bring a shopping bag to fill with these treats so you can snack when you get back to the hotel room!
Recommended restaurants and snackeries far too numerous to mention. Just remember to look for the restaurants with the locals, rather than the ‘boulevard’ restaurants filled with tourists!

A short but scenic ferry ride from Circular Quay brings you to Darling Harbour, filled with everything from The Maritime museum and Sydney Aquarium, a large playground area to shopping and restaurants, theatres and movies. It’s easy to spend a whole day wandering around here, eating in the restaurants that serve anything from Italian to Indian, small eats and sit down meals as well as sitting down and enjoying the view, the water fountain/structures and people watching.

We went into the Sydney Aquarium, and while not huge, it was quite spectacular with its tunnels through huge underwater tanks, the open seal tank/oceanarium and the boat trip across the tank of shark tank.
The aquarium is stroller friendly but make sure you book to enjoy the shark feeding from the boat. This is actually a boat that is hand pulled across the shark and fish tank (you see the people looking at the fish on the levels below) and allows you to throw fish food. Nothing as dramatic as hand feeding the sharks. Since the boat is glass bottomed, you sometimes see the sharks swimming directly under. It was interesting, but had the tickets not been free for us, I don’t think it was really worth the money for 20 minutes($10 per adult and $5 per child – a hefty total if you have a couple of children). $30 adult admission and $15.

If you aren't a huge fan of aquariums and don't need to get out of the heat, you might want to spend your time and money walking around Darling Harbour rather than the aquarium. Highly recommend Harbour and somewhat recommend the aquarium

This hotel is not to be confused with the JW Marriot, Sydney which is located in the middle of town.

Marriott Circular Quay is located about 1 block from Circular Quay which is bordered by the famous architectural beauty of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Great location!

The Marriott hosts its usual high standards with clean rooms and excellent customer service (an extra cot was already in the room in anticipation of 2 children in the room). The suite was a decent size, 1 bathroom and 1 huge, full bathroom with shower and Jacuzzi tub and toilet all in separate areas of the bathroom. The executive lounge was relatively small compared to some of the other Marriott hotels and the food selection slightly smaller, but when in the middle of Sydney, it is not difficult to find food around the hotel.

The lobby and first floor hosted shops and bars/restaurants with live music in the evening weekends. The hotel was comfortable enough, but really the fun was right outside this centrally located hotel.

Circular Quay is the hub of Sydney harbour, bordered by Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. It is the start of/drop off point for ferry rides to the Rocks, Darling Harbour/ Sydney Aquarium/Chinatown, Taronga Zoo, shopping and restaurants as well as spectacular walks with view of the Opera House and Harbour bridge.

We took the ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour to make our way to the Darling Harbour/Sydney Aquarium. It was a fabulous ride, with grand photo opportunities of various angles of the bridge and Opera House, as well as the carnival face of the gateway to Luna Park (an amusement park), not to mention the general harbours and landscapes. While the train and a walk to the Aquarium may be faster, the ferry ride is a definite must do!

Fares for an adult - $5.20 each way.