A short trip to Sydney and Canberra was just the break we needed. Although we thought it wouldn't be as packed as our usual travels, we actually did heaps and had some amazing experiences!
The Chemical Brothers
Andrew bought me tickets to The Chemical Brothers for Christmas, and planned our trip around this. I’ve been a huge fan of them for as long as I can remember and seeing them perform was bordering on a religious experience, which seems apt since their set finished with churchy stained glass window visuals, and also I was literally glowing!
We had a dip in the rooftop pool, then dinner at Spice Alley beforehand to fuel a long night of dancing.
My outfit felt so out of place during the daylight, but I was pretty happy with how my makeup turned out, thank god it’s Mardi Gras tomorrow haha.
The Presets DJ set beforehand was pretty good; their set played well to the crowd and included Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine, they definitely nailed the CB audience!
I’m getting goosebumps writing about The Chemical Brothers, the experience was nostalgic and exciting, overwhelming at times and full of surprises. They dropped so much on us, metaphorically and literally! The giant balloons during Saturate were so much fun, the confetti drop was magical, the robots with laser eyes during CHEMICAL was a hilarious surprise, everyone was completely soaked with sweat from 2h of dancing and my face hurt from smiling the whole time (but my glitter makeup stayed put, thanks Glitter Girl!).
Star Guitar was my favourite track; they changed it up quite a bit and it was just so cool hearing it that way, but Block Rockin Beats, Galvanise, and Hey Boy Hey Girl were all close seconds. Andrew loved it too, but I would challenge anyone who had never heard them to not enjoy that gig.
Firedoor
The next day Andrew went for a 16km run around Sydney (including the bridge, when he finally found it!) while I went for a walk/run/explore. Then we made the most of the rooftop pool, putting on some music and relaxing on the chairs. The rooftop at The Old Clare is great, although a little weird; at 3pm when the bar opens, very well dressed people start to filter in and sit at the bar tables facing directly to the pool. Bit hard to relax when you’re way off the dress code! It’s not that bad, but not the most relaxing either.
Firedoor is now on the list of the most memorable food experiences we’ve ever had, up there with Quay, Attica, and tasting Kobe beef in Kobe. The set menu and wine pairing was generous, and sitting at the chef's table means we had the privilege of seeing the care and attention to detail required as each course was being assembled.
We sneakily captured a video of the amazing knife skills required to thinly slice the plum for the kangaroo rose dish, it was genuinely unbelievable!
My favourite dish was the kangaroo, Andrew's was the John Dory. My favourite moment was mentally preparing for the mussel dish - not something I’ve ever had before. They came and put down the utensils which included a very scary looking knife, which I assumed was for opening the mussels. After the waiter brought us and finished explaining the dish, I asked what the knife was for (he neglected to mention this part) and he let me know that it was in fact for the butter.
We found the hills of Surry Hills on our way to a night cap at Bar Conte, where I also confirmed that I actually do like mortadella. We then jumped on a bus to Newtown, where we passed a Yo-chi (which had a line!) and a Mr Potato, so we were basically in Leederville. We got a drink at Odd Culture while we waited for a call from ANTE, the sake listening bar that we wanted to compare to one of our favourite Perth bars, Astral Weeks. Andrew had a sake flight, where the makers of one of the sakes was in the bar at the time! I had a penicillin, which included a candied ginger; I gingerly nibbled on it then finally gave up and Andrew at the whole thing in one bite which blew my mind.
Mardi Gras
The next morning Andrew went for a run around Centennial Park while I caught up with JP and Serjana quickly before their friend’s wedding. We braved the crowds at the Sydney markets to buys some expensive cheap beads (the one day that all the cheap market shit is actually valuable!), then got an amazing brunch at Reuben Hills on Iva’s recommendation.
We headed to the start of the Mardi Gras parade and were lucky enough to see all the floats setting up and practicing. Andrew ducked into the liquor shop to get the parade drink of choice, White Claws and got a free DJ set while waiting in line. We watched the parade at where it starts, mostly through peoples phones as they filmed over the crowds; it’s impossible to get anywhere close unless you’re there from midday! The atmosphere was really lovely, lots of happy, cheering, and colourful people, my outfit actually seemed quiet compared!
Canberra
After a nap, we caught the short flight to Canberra to see Olga, Iva, Michael and Nena. Olga is so beautiful, and so smart! I can tell she’s going to be a nail girl, she was really obsessed with my bright pink Glamrdip ones.
It was a really short visit but it was so nice spending time together with everyone. We visited the best book store ever, Paperchain in Manuka, then went to Capital Brewing for a beer and burger (and too many chips, but I rose to the challenge). Nena cooked a delicious pork-neck based dinner (that doesn't have a name, but is called the Nena and Michael Special) and then Michael took us to see the bats head out to hunt over Lake Burley Griffin, and there were also bunnies!
Coogee, Sean’s
After our goodbyes, we headed to breakfast at Ona with Michael, then took the relatively short drive to Sydney. We spent some time enjoying the view from our room, then headed into Bondi for another 2-hatted dinner at Sean’s. The food was delicious, and the venue was charming; like eating at someone’s eclectic house with a view of surfers doing aerial tricks.
Speaking of aerials, turns out Bondi muscle club has a pole!
Baths, Banksy, Yussef Days
Andrew drove into Sydney and went for a big run at Centennial Park while I made my way from Coogee to Bondi. The walk was very picturesque, which meant I was doing more site seeing than running. I stopped at Bronte baths for a quick swim, then kept going to Bondi, before going back to Bronte to meet Andrew. This area is the first time I’ve been genuinely awe struck by a beach that wasn’t at home. The baths, cliffs, hills, and unique shape of the beaches was really fun to explore!
Next was the Banksy exhibit, which wasn’t part of our original plan but glad we made it. I had no idea he was so active politically, it was all very impressive and surprisingly moving. The anaglyphs rat and barcode cheetah were my favourites.
After a quick Ona coffee and cookie/quiche at the Queen Elizabeth Building we headed to the Opera House for a tour. It was a great tour, we loved the sphere epiphany (we're all about the universal principle of the sphere), and we were also lucky enough to see Yussef Days setting up for that night (through a monitor but still!). Because Yussef was setting up, the tour went through the smaller group of shells which are for ballet, theatre and smaller productions, which was great because we saw the big concert shell that night.
After the tour we got a drink at Maybe Sammy’s (we loved it last time, awesome this time too), got a delicious burger at Bar Luca, then headed back to the Opera House to see the concert.
Yussef Days was awesome, seeing live drumming that good is so impressive, and the sound in the venue really did them justice.
We finished the night with a margarita at Cantina OK! which we missed out on last time because it’s such a teeny tiny bar. It was delicious, we loved the little ice chips from the cool hand crank machine.
Baths, Icebergs, and home
Wylie’s heritage-listed baths were pretty but charged entry (probably to keep tourits like us out while people did their laps) so we went to Ross Jones Rockpool instead, where we sat precariously on the moss wall, and Andrew even got shunted off by one of the waves. Andrew had a dip in Coogee beach while I did handstands on the sand. I even made a handstand friend who didn’t speak much English, but the handstands spoke for themselves! The universal principle of the handstand!
Icebergs was glorious, I can see why it’s Nigela’s favourite restaurant. The view was unbelievable, and the food was excellent even despite the view - turns out you can sometimes have both.
We spent as much time as possible enjoying Bondi then made our way to the airport. Sad to see the end of another incredibly organised and jam packed holiday by Andrew, but I now have a new love of Sydney and it's beaches. I think next time we go, we'll have to make time for another bath at Bronte beach.
